NuVoid

Playlist Week of 1-28-12

2012-01-28T18:38:00.027-06:00

* Marais: Pieces De Viole Du Troisieme Livre, 1711 (Savall, et al.) (Alia Vox SACD)
* Marais: Pieces De Viole Du Quatrieme Livre, 1717 (Savall, et al.) (Alia Vox SACD)
* Venice Baroque Orchestra (Marcon/Carmignola): Concerto Veneziano (Archiv Produktion CD)
* Venice Baroque Orchestra (Marcon/Carmignola): Concerto Italiano (Archiv Produktion CD)
* Beethoven: String Quartet, Op.130 (Alban Berg Quartett) (EMI Classics CD)
* Sun Ra: Chateauvallon, France 8-25-76 (AUD 3CDR)
* Sun Ra: Solo Piano Vol.1 (Improvising Artists, Inc. CD)
* Sun Ra: St. Louis Blues: Solo Piano Vol.2 (Improvising Artists, Inc. CD)
* Wayne Shorter Quartet: Piazza Della Riforma, Lugano, Switzerland 7-13-01 (SBD CDR)
* John Abercrombie & Ralph Towner: Audi Max TU, Vienna, Austria 5-11-84 (FM 2CDR)
* John Abercrombie Quartet: Wait Till You See Her (ECM CD)
* Pat Metheny Group: Travels (ECM 2LP)
* Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet: Apparent Distance (Firehouse 12 CD)
* Olu Dara: In The World: From Natchez To New York (Atlantic HDCD)
* Grateful Dead: City Hall, Newcastle, England 4/11/72 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)
* Grateful Dead: Musikhalle, Hamburg West Germany 4/29/72 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)
* Grateful Dead: Olympia Theatre, Paris, France 5/3/72 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 4HDCD)
* Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left (Island CD)†
* Nick Drake: Bryter Layter (Island CD)†
* Nick Drake: Pink Moon (Island CD)†
* King Crimson: Beat (DGM HDCD)
* Genesis: A Trick Of The Tail (Atco LP)
* Big Star: Keep An Eye On The Sky (d.1) (Ardent/Rhino 4CD)
* Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Echo (Warner Bros. CD)
* The Police: Synchronicity (A&M SACD)
* Shockabilly: The Ghost Of Shockabilly (Shimmy Disc CD)
* Bob Mould: Workbook (Virgin LP)
* Yo La Tengo: Painful (Matador CD)†/‡
* Yo La Tengo: “Shaker” (B-sides) (Matador CDEP)†/‡
* Yo La Tengo: “From A Motel 6” (B-sides) (Matador CDEP)†/‡
* Beck: Sea Change (Geffen/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* Gastr Del Sol: The Serpentine Similar (Teenbeat/Drag City LP)
* Gastr Del Sol: Crookt Crackt Or Fly (Drag City LP)
* Gastr Del Sol: Mirror Repair (Drag City CDEP)
* Porcupine Tree: Recordings (KScope CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: In Absentia (Lava/Atlantic CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: Deadwing (Lava/Atlantic CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: Fear Of A Blank Planet (Atlantic CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: Nil Recurring (KScope CDEP)†
* Porcupine Tree: The Incident (Roadrunner 2CD)†
* Steven Wilson: Grace For Drowning (KScope 2CD)
* Opeth: Still Life (Peaceville/Icarus CD)†
* Opeth: Blackwater Park (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)†
* Opeth: Deliverance (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)(†)
* Opeth: Damnation (Music Forn Nations/KOCH CD)†
* Opeth: Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner CD)(†)
* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD)†
* Opeth: In Live Concert At The Royal Albert Hall (Roadrunner 2DVD/3CD)†/‡
* Opeth: Heritage (Roadrunner CD+DVD/2LP)(†)
* Katatonia: The Great Cold Distance (Peaceville CD)
* Tool: Lateralus (Volcano HDCD)
* Agalloch: Marrow Of The Spirit (Profound Lore CD)(†)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Several folks have asked me for a show-by-show rundown of the Grateful Dead: Complete Europe ’72 box set, so I thought I’d share some preliminary thoughts after having lived with it for a while. All twenty-two shows are still available (minus the box and books) for $450.00 at dead.net—at about six bucks a disc it’s a relative bargain—and hardcore Deadheads will want them all. For the less obsessed, Europe ’72 Vol.2, a two-disc compilation is nicely done and contains the unique “Dark Star>The Other One” pairing from the Bickershaw Festival on 5/7; that may be all most people need. And, if you already have previous archival releases from this tour, like Hundred Year Hall; Steppin’ Out With The Grateful Dead; or Rockin’ The Rhein, you will probably want to hold on to those discs no matter what since the sound quality is noticeably better than what is found here. I attribute this fact to the sheer magnitude of the Complete Europe ’72 project, which prevented the kind of time and care being put into the mixing that makes those earlier releases sound so sweet(ened). That said, the workmanlike mixes found here are fine and certainly sound way better than the “soundboard” tapes which previously circulated (which I suspect are actually rough mixes of the multitrack tapes). As with all other official releases over the last several years, the CDs are mastered in HDCD and benefit greatly from proper decoding, revealing extended dynamic range and smoother frequency response than with vanilla Red Book playback (though that sounds good, too).

What makes this tour so special? For one thing, it’s the last one with Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, arguably the Grateful Dead’s original leader and frontman, who, despite failing health, wrote a bunch of new songs for the occasion and gives his all on rave-ups like “Good Lovin’”; “Caution (Do Not Stop On The Tracks)”; and “Turn On Your Lovelight.” He even contributes some tasty Hammond organ and percussion from time to time—if you don’t look at the photos, you can hardly tell he has less than a year to live. Moreover, new keyboardist, Keith Godchaux, has really started to come into his own and he propels the group to new heights with his mellifluous, multi-stylistic piano playing. Finally, the entire band sounds overjoyed to be on an extended working vacation and inspired by the glamour and glorious acoustics of the prestigious Old World venues in which they (sometimes) found themselves performing. They deliver powerful, remarkably professional shows night after night—even in the more mundane settings like the low-ceilinged lunchroom at Aarhus University or the sterile broadcast studios of Radio Luxembourg and “The Beat Club” in Bremen. Each show is also available individually and, while every one of them is worth hearing, some are definitely better than others. The first sets are somewhat repetitive, with “Mr. Charlie” being performed at all twenty-two shows. Even so, Jerry Garcia’s guitar playing is so fluidly inventive (and the tone of his modified Stratocaster so completely gorgeous); each version of this relatively simple song is subtly different, making them well worth listening to. But it’s all about the jams for me and every night has either a “Dark Star” or “Truckin’>The Other One” of epic proportions—how can you go wrong? But for those who wish to pick and choose, herewith is my individual assessment:

Wembley Empire Pool, London, England 4/7/72 (3CD)
Wembley Empire Pool, London, England 4/8/72 (3CD)
The tour got off to a bumpy start. These shows were supposed to occur at the fabled Rainbow Theatre, but financial problems had temporarily caused it to shut down, leaving the Dead to scramble to find an alternate venue. At the last minute, the cavernous Wembley Empire Pool was made available and the shows went on as scheduled. Perhaps because of these logistical difficulties, the first night is the only recording with significant flaws: “Big Boss Man” stopped recording with less than a minute to go in the song and is therefore omitted on CD and while “Casey Jones” was apprently performed later in the same set it was not recorded at all. Despite these technical glitches, the playing is incredibly strong, capped with an hour-long jam: “Truckin’>The Other One>Drums>The Other One>El Paso>The Other One>Wharf Rat” Whew! The second night is even better, with the incredible “Dark Star>Sugar Magnolia>Caution” sequence appearing on the better-sounding Steppin’ Out set.

City Hall, Newcastle, England 4/11/72 (3CD)
A nondescript concrete venue with terrible acoustics leads to a somewhat subdued performance. Typically good, but not terribly memorable either except for maybe Garcia’s pedal steel accompaniment on “Looks Like Rain” and a jazzy “Other One.” An off night, booked en route to the Continent.

Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark 4/14/72 (4CD)
A couple days’ rest and a posh concert hall does the band a world of good and they deliver a long, twenty-nine song concert. Garcia again jumps on the pedal steel for “Looks Like Rain” and the “Dark Star” is long and exquisitely spacey, with a thoroughly ecstatic segue into “Sugar Magnolia.” A note-perfect show with a richly reverberant acoustic.

Stakladen, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark 4/16/72 (3CD)
The “lunchroom” show. The Dead give it their best, but the ambience is a little tense. The overflowing crowd is going bonkers, climbing the rafters and threatening to take over the stage. Garcia responds appropriately with “Dire Wolf” (“don’t murder me!”). “Truckin’” devolves into an interesting seventeen-minute jam before resolving into a strangely short “Other One>Me & My Uncle>Other One” sequence. Very odd; I guess you had to be there.

Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark 4/17/72 (3CD)
Back to the Tivoli, this time for a TV broadcast. This is the famous “Bozo & Bolo” performance, where the band wears clown masks for one song—even Jerry! It’s a shame a DVD is not included, but my “bootleg” copy is fine. This is another great show, if a little less polished than the previous one. It opens with a semi-rare “Cold Rain & Snow” and features the first performance of “He’s Gone,” in its embryonic form, minus the bridge and coda. Curiously, they reprise the “Dark Star” sequence in the second set but with a very different, more aggressive feel with Garcia doing some nice slide and fingerpicking work during the twenty-four minute “Caution.” Another totally great show.

Beat Club, Bremen, West Germany 4/16/72 (1CD)
Another TV broadcast, this time recorded in the tiny confines of the Studio 3 of Radio Bremen. Unlike most bands, who would record a quick rendition of whatever single they were promoting, the Dead play an eighty-minute set, including a long “Truckin’>The Other One” that must have bewildered the stoic TV technicians. Since this was not a concert per se, two takes of “Playing in the Band” are attempted and some songs breakdown hilariously. As it turns out, only the “hit” single, “One More Saturday Night” was ever broadcast. Blair Jackson’s liner notes hint that video of the complete performance might someday be released—but I’m not going to hold my breath.

Rheinhalle, Dusseldorf, West Germany 4/24/72 (4CD)
Rockin’ The Rhein sounds a bit better, but is incomplete. “Dark Star>Me & My Uncle>Dark Star” is where it’s at, so choose your poison.

Jahrhundert Halle, Frankfurt, West Germany 4/26/72 (4CD)
Another long show with lots of great songs and inspired performances. Hundred Year Hall presents highlights on two discs in better sound (now out of print), but it’s nice to have the whole thing. One of only three performances of “Turn On Your Lovelight” on this tour.

Musikhalle, Hamburg, West Germany 4/29/72 (3CD)
Overshadowed by Hundred Year Hall and the Paris shows a few nights later, this one is rather short and while it has its ups and downs, it opens with a nicely jammed “Playing in the Band," a rare occurrence in any year. The second set features an outrageously dissonant, thirty minute “Dark Star” into “Sugar Magnolia,” ending with a nicely-jammed “Caution.” What more could you want?

Olympia Theatre, Paris, France 5/3/72 (4CD)
Olympia Theatre, Paris, France 5/4/72 (4CD)
The Paris shows are revered for good reason, with five songs appearing on the original Europe ’72 LP (with overdubbed vocals) and spectacular performances all the way around. Those overdubbed vocals are hardly noticeable and do not interfere with the flow of the concerts so don’t worry about it. Both shows are lengthy affairs, spread out across four densely-packed discs. The first night has an epic eighty-minute jam cemented by “The Other One” while night two gets the “Dark Star.” Both are essential.

Bickershaw Festival, Wigan, England 5/7/72 (4CD)
A cold and rainy outdoor festival, the Dead bring some California sunshine to the proceedings, delivering a solid, at times transcendent, show. The hour-long “Dark Star>The Other One>Sing Me Back Home” appears on Europe ’72 Vol.2, but really stands out in the midst of this sprawling, surprisingly mellow concert in the mud. Pigpen attempts “Lovelight” again, but the inclement conditions keep it short.

Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Holland 5/10/72 (4CD)
Finding themselves in one of the finest halls in all of Europe, the Dead are on their best behavior—a near-perfect show with “Truckin’>Drums>The Other One>Me & Bobby McGee>The Other One>Wharf Rat” taking up all of disc three. “He’s Gone” appears on the original Europe ’72 LP, with the vocal coda, which was added later in overdubbing sessions. It’s interesting to hear “He’s Gone” develop over the course of the tour; while songs like “Ramble On Rose” and “Tennessee Jed” seemed to have been born fully grown, “He’s Gone” took a while to come together.

Grote Zaal De Doelen, Rotterdam, Holland 5/11/72 (4CD)
As good as the Amsterdam show is, I like the Rotterdam show even better. The band is a little looser and the forty-five minute “Dark Star” is by far one of my all-time favorites. Essential.

Lille Fairgrounds, Lille, France 5/13/72 (3CD)
The Dead were supposed to play the Opera de Lille (or perhaps La Rotonde in the town of Faches-Thumesnil, outside of Lille) on May 5 or 6 but those plans were scuttled by an altercation with a self-styled revolutionary after the second Paris concert. Remember, this is not too long after the 1968 student uprisings that nearly toppled the French government and young idiots were still feeling encouraged to behave badly. After the band and management rebuffed his increasing aggressive entreaties (by dumping a bucket of ice cream on his head), he responded by sabotaging the equipment truck, pouring water in the gas tank. The Dead found themselves at the edge of the Belgian frontier with no gear and a restive audience. The concert had to be abruptly cancelled and the band barely escaped out of the bathroom window (documented by photos in the booklet included in the box set). To make amends, a free show was negotiated for the 13th. The band set up in the middle of a park and put on a remarkably relaxed concert, considering the ill-feelings the whole episode generated. Bob Weir songs dominate the show with a long “Playing in the Band” in the first set and an extended “Truckin’>The Other One” in the second. You can sense, though, they’re playing it safe in hostile territory. Frankly, the story is more interesting than the music.

La Grande Salle Du Grande Theatre, Luxembourg 5/16/72 (2CD)
Recorded for broadcast on Radio Luxembourg in front of a small invited audience, this show has circulated widely amongst Deadheads ever since. It offers everything that makes Europe ’72 so special—tight performances, exceptional jamming—and packs it into a miniaturized setting. Even though the “Truckin’>Other One” sequence is cut in half, it still packs a punch. As a radio broadcast, it is just about exactly perfect; but this is not the first show I’m going to grab when I’m looking for some E72. Maybe it’s a bit too perfect, without enough edge to keep it interesting. Casual listeners would do well to check it out since it makes for an unusually accessible introduction to the band.

Kongressaal, Munich, West Germany 5/18/72 (3CD)
I wasn’t very familiar with this show at all, but, boy, it’s a stunner. The first set is long and energetically played and the old electrified jug-band tune, “Sitting on Top Of The World” makes a welcome reappearance to open the second. A twenty-eight minute “Dark Star” is deliciously weird and twisted as it winds its way to a cathartic “Morning Dew.” Incredible!

Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5/23/72 (3CD)
Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5/24/72 (3CD)
Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5/25/72 (4CD)
Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5/26/72 (4CD)
To top it off, could these last four nights of the tour be the best of them all? Yes, I do believe so. 5/23 was new to me and it’s a corker: “Sitting On Top Of The World” returns from a long absence, followed by a ridiculous cover of “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.” Maybe there was something in the water (or the Kool-Aid) but this is one of those shows where even “Mexicali Blues” sparkles—the forty-minute “Dark Star>Morning Dew” is just the icing on the cake. The next night is just as good, though, with another “Rockin’ Pneumonia” and the only performance of “Black Peter” of the tour. The usual “Truckin’>Drums>The Other One” jam is concluded with a heartfelt “Sing Me Back Home,” Merle Haggard’s heartbreaking prison ballad—a beautiful rendition. 5/25 stretches things out even further with some interesting song choices. “Brokedown Palace” makes a rare appearance in the first set and the second gets an unusual sequencing: “Uncle John’s Band>Wharf Rat>Dark Star>Sugar Magnolia; Comes A Time; El Paso; Sitting On Top Of The World.” Wow! As if that couldn’t be topped, 5/26 is just a mind-blower, start to finish. It’s almost like they knew they had accomplished what they set out to do: conquer Europe, record a killer live album and go home. The audience is in the spirit: their spontaneous clapping of the Bo Diddley beat prompts a rare first-set “Not Fade Away>Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad>Not Fade Away.” A crazy-collage of “Truckin’>The Other One>Drums>The Other One>Morning Dew>The Other One>Sing Me Back Home” is just as wild as it looks. Without their usual set closer, the show ends with what feels like a series of encores; fitting, I suppose given the last night of the tour. While some of this stuff is on Steppin’ Out, I couldn’t live without any of these four complete shows. Essential.

Well, there you have it. Rumor has it their cooking up the next multi-disc box set for 2012. Some ideas floating around are Fall ’73 and Spring ’90. I may sound like a heretic, but of those two choices I would pick Spring ’90. Sure, Fall ’73 is a peak period—but they were only recorded to two-track tape, copies of which circulate widely (with some exceptions). Spring ’90, on the other hand, was recorded to multitrack and was arguably the pinnacle of the Brent Mydland era—the era in which I discovered the band. Whatever they put out, I will likely buy it anyway since I am a hopeless Deadhead. But I’d love to see the same lavish attention devoted to the 1980s and 1990s as the 1970s. But that’s just me. Purists should be overjoyed with the Complete Europe ’72 box set—and this is evidenced by its quick sellout. Now, how about the rest of us weirdoes, the really hardcore Deadheads? We want it ALL.

Sun Ra Sunday

2012-01-22T15:50:00.014-06:00

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Châteauvallon, France 8-24-76 (AUD 2CDR)

The Arkestra stayed in Europe almost two months during the summer of 1976, opening the tour at Mutualité in Paris on July 8 and immediately traveling to Switzerland to record Live At Montreux on the 9th. On July 10, the band was in Pescara, Italy where an eighteen-minute portion of their performance was broadcast on RAI, Italian state television but I have not seen this (I do not believe a recording circulates). From there, the tour crisscrossed the continent: July 11 in Nimes, France; July 18 at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Gravenhage, Netherlands; July 20 at Giornate del Jazz in Ravenna, Italy (an audience recording is purported to exist, but I don't have it); July 25 at La Pinéde, Juan les Pins, France; back to Montreux on August 6; Arles, France on August 7; and, after recording Cosmos at Studio Hautefeuille in Paris, concluded the tour with two shows at Châteauvallon on August 24 and 25. (See Campbell & Trent pp.222-227.) These last two concerts were recorded from the audience (probably by the same person) and is widely traded amongst Sun Ra collectors. The sets are mostly complete and while the sound quality is not very good (hissy, boomy, distorted, etc.), they are certainly listenable, as these things go (a little tweaking of the EQ helps tremendously).

At only about one-hundred minutes, the concert on the 24th is considerably shorter than on the 25th and is notable for the absence of June Tyson (leaving John Gilmore to lead the way on most of the sing-a-longs). Perhaps this was an impromptu appearance by the Arkestra, with the “official” gig being the 25th? Moreover, Sonny has not been provided a piano, meaning the old-timey numbers have a souped-up, electrified feel quite different from the Montreux arrangements. In any event, they would play a more conventional set the following night.

The opening improvisation has a wonderfully exotic, “Strange Strings” sound that goes on for a few minutes until Gilmore starts chanting “For The Sunrise” and Sun Ra enters the stage to enthusiastic applause. After a world-shattering space chord, “Discipline 27” follows. The band sounds big and full-bodied (if dimly recorded), the baritone saxophones heading the charge while Ahmed Abdullah delivers a tasty trumpet solo. Then Sonny charges into “The Shadow World” and we’re off! Despite the dodgy sound quality, this seventeen-plus minute version is extraordinary. We get the usual freakouts from Gilmore on tenor sax and Eloe Omoe on bass clarinet, followed by a mad-scientist organ solo from Ra—but then there’s a long, spacey group improvisation featuring colorfully smeared trumpet (Chris Capers?) and James Jacson’s throaty bassoon (!) and it goes about as far out there as the I've ever heard the Arkestra go! Astounding! After Ra signals a quick reprise of the fanatically complicated head, the sudden ending is met with stunned silence from the crowd. Seriously, all you can hear is tape hiss!

Undeterred, Duke Ellington’s “Lightnin’” is taken at a rollicking tempo but the ensembles sound a little shaky and Ra’s phasey Rocksichord sound is just plain strange. Meanwhile “Watusi” is the usual (including an overlong drum solo from Clifford Jarvis), but it has an unusually skronky improv in the middle that makes it worthwhile. The old Noble Sissle/Fletcher Henderson stomper, “Yeah Man!” is even better, with Gilmore on clarinet for the surrealistically authentic-sounding ensemble sections and switching to tenor sax for a rip-snorting solo. Incredible! But then an awkward version of “Taking a Chance on Chancey” follows, Ra duetting with Vincent Chancey’s wobbly French horn, sometimes accompanied by eerie drum taps and a distant flute. Very weird—and not in a good way. The new composition, “Jazz From An Unknown Planet,” is given one last performance and yields a nice trombone solo from Craig Harris. Too bad this tune was apparently dropped from the repertoire; it definitely had some promise. Next up, Ra’s swirling organ gives “Take The A-Train” a circus-like feel and although Gilmore tries his best during his solo, he never quite builds up a full head of steam and the overall effect is muted by the incongruously maudlin organ swells. Oh well; it is a noble effort nonetheless.

“Space Is The Place” is given a surprisingly energetic reading, led by Gilmore’s vocals and augmented by a howling alto solo from Danny Davis. Or, rather, I’m guessing it’s Davis. Honestly, I have a hard time telling him apart from Marshall Allen. Based on his flute and oboe playing, I think Allen’s playing is slightly more lyrical and brilliantly virtuosic than Davis—but I could be wrong. Anyway, it’s ragingly great solo, whoever it is. The tempo slows as they effortlessly segue into “Lights on a Satellite,” which features a gorgeous tenor solo from Gilmore atop a delicate arrangement of swooshing Rocksichord and twittering flutes. Although the woefully unbalanced recording is difficult to hear through, it is a lovely rendition of one of my favorite Ra compositions. A hypnotic “Love In Outer Space” is driven by Sonny’s furious comping on the Rocksichord and a tasty solo from Abdullah. For some reason, “Images” is less successful: although Abdullah and Gilmore deliver the goods, the band never really takes flight. Well, they certainly make up for it during the lengthy “space chant” segment that opens with “Theme of the Stargazers” and moves through “Next Stop Mars,” “Second Stop Is Jupiter” and concludes with “Calling Planet Earth.” The singing and chanting is ultimately overwhelmed by waves of freestyle group improvisation which gets crazier and more intense as it goes along: buzzing trombones, screaming saxophones, bashing drums and impressionistic, almost rock-ish chording from Ra—until, finally, Sonny goes completely nuts on the electronic keyboards, driving the crowd into a spaced-out frenzy. Just when you can’t take it anymore, Ra eases the band into “We Travel The Spaceways” to end the set. Wowza!

This show is a decidedly mixed bag with iffy sound and inconsistent performances—yet the group improvisations are particularly strong and “The Shadow World” is just about as good as it gets. Accordingly, it’s definitely worth seeking out if you’re a hardcore fan—but I wouldn’t recommend it to a novice. We’ll take a listen to the second Châteauvallon show next time on Sun Ra Sunday. See you then!

Playlist Week of 1-21-12

2012-01-21T18:25:00.007-06:00

* Hesperion XXI (Savall): Orient-Occident 1200-1700 (Alia Vox SACD)
* Hesperion XXI (Savall): La Folia 1490-1701 (Alia Vox SACD)
* Marais: Pieces a Deux Violes du Premier Livre, 1686 (Savall, et al.) (Alia Vox SACD)
* Marais: Pieces a Deux Violes du Second Livre, 1701 (Savall, et al.) (Alia Vox SACD)
* Berio: Sinfonia/Ekphrasis (Göteborgs Symphoniker/Eötvös) (Deutsche Grammophon CD)
* Feldman: For Frank O’Hara, etc. (New Millennium Ensemble) (KOCH CD)
* Lachenmann: String Quartets (Stadler Quartet) (NEOS SACD)
* John Coltrane: Ballads (Impulse!/MCA CD)
* John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (Impulse!/Verve SACD)
* Bobby Hutcherson: Total Eclipse (Blue Note CD)
* Sun Ra: Châteauvallon, France 8-24-76 (AUD 2CDR)
* Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny: Beyond The Missouri Sky (Verve CD)
* The Thirteenth Assembly: (un)sentimental (Important CD)
* The Thirteenth Assembly: Station Direct (Important CD)
* Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On (Motown/Mobile Fidelity SACD)
* Aretha Franklin: I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You (Atlantic/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* Aretha Franklin: Lady Soul/Aretha Now (Atlantic/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* The Beatles: Beatles For Sale (2009 stereo) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beatles: Help! (2009 stereo) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beatles: Rubber Soul (1987/2009 stereo) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beatles: Revolver (2009 stereo) (Apple/EMI CD)
* Grateful Dead: Rheinhalle, Düsseldorf, West Germany 4/24/72 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 4HDCD_
* Grateful Dead: Wake Of The Flood (GDP/Mobile Fidelity LP)
* Grateful Dead: Formerly The Warlocks: Hampton, VA 1989 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 6HDCD)
* Alexander “Skip” Spence: Oar (Sundazed CD)
* Pink Floyd: Animals (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Fleetwood Mac: Bare Trees (Reprise/Pioneer—Japan LP)
* Fleetwood Mac: Mystery To Me (Reprise LP)
* Fleetwood Mac: Fleetwood Mac (Reprise LP)
* Roxy Music: Avalon (Virgin HDCD)
* King Crimson: Discipline (DGM HDCD)
* Tony Levin/David Torn/Alan White: Levin Torn White (Lazy Bones CD)†
* Adrian Belew: Desire Caught By The Tail (Island LP)
* The Police: Zenyatta Mondatta (A&M SACD)
* The Police: Ghost In The Machine (A&M SACD)
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador CD)†
* Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin (Warner Bros. HDCD)
* Radiohead: In Rainbows (TBD CD)†
* Radiohead: The King Of Limbs (Ticker Tape/TBD CD)†
* Tortoise: TNT (Thrill Jockey HDCD)
* Isotope 217°: The Unstable Molecule (Thrill Jockey CD)
* Isotope 217°: utonian_automatic (Thrill Jockey HDCD)
* Isotope 217°: Who Stole The I-Walkman? (Thrill Jockey CD)
* Porcupine Tree: Recordings (KScope CD)
* Porcupine Tree: In Absentia (Lava/Atlantic CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: Deadwing (Lava/Atlantic CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: Fear Of A Blank Planet (Atlantic CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: Nil Recurring (KScope CDEP)†
* Porcupine Tree: The Incident (Roadrunner 2CD)†
* Steven Wilson: Grace For Drowning (KScope 2CD)†
* Opeth: Morningrise (Candlelight CD)†
* Opeth: My Arms, Your Hearse (Candlelight CD)†(‡)
* Opeth: Still Life (Peaceville/Icarus CD)†
* Opeth: Blackwater Park (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)†
* Opeth: Deliverance (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)†
* Opeth: Damnation (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)†
* Opeth: Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner HDCD)(†)
* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD)†
* Opeth: Heritage (Roadrunner CD/DVD)†
* Mastodon: Leviathan (Relapse CD)†
* Mastodon: Blood Mountain (Reprise CD)†
* Mastodon: Crack The Skye (Reprise 2-45RPM LP)
* Mastodon: The Hunter (Reprise 2-45RPM LP)
* The Black Keys: Attack & Release (Nonesuch CD/LP)(†/‡)
* The Black Keys: Brothers (Nonesuch CD/2LP)(†/‡)
* The Black Keys: El Camino (Nonesuch LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:
For the last week or so, rumors have been swirling about a Mastodon/Opeth tour of the U.S. in April and they were finally confirmed on Friday by Mastodon’s singer/bassist, Troy Sanders, in an interview with Belgian state radio, Studio Brussel. No official dates have been announced, but no matter what, I’m going to try to see one of these shows—in fact, I’ll travel a great distance to do so. It’s funny how I have recently gotten way into both of these bands (writing about them here and here) and now they’re going out on a co-headlining tour together. I almost feel…trendy—it’s like, now I have to go! Frankly, I haven’t felt this excited about rock music in a long time and both of these bands are superb (Mastodon's "Curl of the Burl" has been nominated for a Grammy, for whatever that is worth). As a bonus, the mysterious Swedish Satanists, Ghost, are supposed to open the shows. Oooh! Scary! This is gonna be truly awesome and I don’t want to miss it!

Sun Ra Sunday

2012-01-15T18:11:00.003-06:00

STRANGE WORLDS IN MY MIND

strange
worlds
whirl
in
my
mind
with a glow like sunset and a
pillow-like dawn
strange worlds whirl in my mind
with the living people of the living
dreams
strange dreams in my dream world
a world
awhirl
strange dreams
strange world
awhirl
awhirl
dreams
whirl
awhirl

--Sun Ra

Playlist Week of 1-14-12

2012-01-14T19:36:00.011-06:00

* Vivaldi: “Manchester” Sonatas (Romanesca) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* Handel: Trio Sonatas Op.2 & Op.5 (Academy of Ancient Music/Egarr) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue (Columbia/Legacy SACD)
* Bobby Hutcherson: Stick-Up! (Blue Note CD)
* Sun Ra: Cosmos (Cobra/Spalax CD)
* Sun Ra: Chateauvallon, France 8-25-76 (d.1)(AUD 3CDR)
* Bob Dylan: Infidels (Columbia SACD)
* Bob Dylan: Oh Mercy (Columbia SACD)
* Bob Dylan: “Love And Theft” (Columbia SACD)
* Grateful Dead: Wembley Empire Pool, London, England 4/7/72 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)
* Grateful Dead: Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark 4/14/72 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)
* Grateful Dead: Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark 4/17/72 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)
* Jerry Garcia Band: How Sweet It Is… (GDP/Arista HDCD)
* Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin: Love Devotion Surrender (Columbia/Legacy CD)
* Joni Mitchell: Hejira (Asylum HDCD)
* Joni Mitchell: Painting With Words And Music (Insight/Eagle Rock DVD)
* Crosby Stills & Nash: Crosby Stills & Nash (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity CD)
* Emmylou Harris: Wrecking Ball (Elektra/Asylum HDCD)
* Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon (Capitol SACD)
* Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (Experience Edition) (d.1) (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Genesis: Live (Charisma LP)
* Genesis: Selling England By The Pound (Charisma LP)
* Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Atco/Classic 2LP)
* Phil Collins: Face Value (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity CD)
* Phil Collins: Hello, I Must Be Going! (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity CD)
* Steely Dan: Gaucho (MCA DVD-A)
* U2: Achtung Baby (Deluxe Edition) (d.1) (Island/Universal 2CD)
* U2: Zooropa (Island CD)
* Wipers: Box Set (d.1)(Zeno 3CD)†
* Guided By Voices: Let’s Go Eat The Factory (GBV, Inc. LP/CD)
* Guided By Voices: “Doughnut For A Snowman” (side B) (Fire 7”)
* Guided By Voices: “Chocolate Boy” (side B) (GBV, Inc. 7”)
* Wilco: Kicking Television: Live In Chicago (Nonesuch 4LP)
* Opeth: Orchid (Candlelight CD)†
* Opeth: Morningrise (Candlelight CD)†
* Opeth: My Arms, Your Hearse (Candlelight CD)†
* Opeth: Still Life (Peaceville/Icarus CD)†
* Opeth: Blackwater Park (Music For Nations/Koch CD)†
* Opeth: Deliverance (Music For Nations/Koch CD)†
* Opeth: Damnation (Music For Nations/Koch CD)†/‡
* Opeth: Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner CD)†(‡)
* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD)†(‡)
* Opeth: Live In Concert At The Royal Albert Hall (Roadrunner 2DVD/3CD)
* Opeth: Heritage (Roadrunner CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: In Absentia (Lava/Atlantic CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: Deadwing (Lava/Atlantic CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: Fear Of A Blank Planet (Atlantic CD)†
* Porcupine Tree: Nil Recurring (Transmission/KScope CDEP)(†)
* Porcupine Tree: The Incident (Roadrunner CD)†
* Steven Wilson: Grace For Drowning (KScope 2CD)†
* Ray LaMontagne: Till The Sun Turns Black (RCA/Legacy LP)
* Ray LaMontagne: Gossip In The Grain (RCA/Legacy 2LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

When the so-called “classic lineup” of Guided By Voices reunited in 2010 for a one-off performance to celebrate Matador Records’ Twenty-First Anniversary, they apparently found it enjoyable enough to do a few more concerts—which then led to a full-blown, year-long tour. Six years after Robert Pollard retired the name and fourteen years since this particular grouping (with Tobin Sprout on guitar and vocals, Mitch Mitchell (no, not that Mitch Mitchell!) on lead guitar, Greg Demos on bass and Kevin Fennell on drums), it was a nothing less than the miraculous rebirth of a legendary band. With the accolades they were receiving for their live shows, it only made sense for the reunited band to make a record, possibly rekindling the magic that made those old GBV albums like Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes so classic to begin with. To that end, the band returned to the homegrown lo-fi recording techniques and spontaneous, collagist songwriting approaches which defined those particular albums. Let’s Go Eat The Factory is the result and, while not quite the equal of those classic discs from the 1990s, it’s a surprisingly edgy, experimental-sounding record—a brave effort for what could have been an easy cash-in on their well-deserved victory lap.

In typical record-obsessed fashion, three seven-inch singles were released on three different labels in anticipation of the album’s January 1 release date, with the double-A sided “We Won’t Apologize For The Human Race”/ “The Unsinkable fats Domino” coming out on Matador; the UK label Fire Records getting “Doughnut For A Snowman” (with four B-sides); and, finally, Pollard's own GBV, Inc. putting out “Chocolate Boy” b/w Sprout’s lovely B-side, “As The Girls Sing Downing,” pressed on heavyweight chocolate colored vinyl that looks good enough to eat! All these songs are strange and fragmented (that’s a good thing) and, as usual, the picture sleeves feature Robert Pollard’s fantastical collages. But as cool as these singles are, the A-side songs seem to fit better within the context of the album proper—and Let’s Go Eat The Factory is a fine album that gets better with each listen.

The most striking thing is the return of Tobin Sprout, whose plaintive voice and quirky pop sensibilities always made for a welcome foil for Pollard’s cocksure, rock-god posturing. Some of the strongest songs on the album belong to Sprout, such as “Spider Fighter,” a chugging rocker that yields to a beautifully sad piano/vocal coda, or the arena rock spirituality of “God Loves Us”—and then there’s the pretty ballads, “Who Invented The Sun,” and “Old Bones.” Furthermore, Sprout also adds atmospheric samples and swooning keyboards to several tracks, giving these shambolic songs an orchestral sheen. Frankly, Sprout nearly steals the show. But Pollard sounds happy to be collaborating again with his old friends, playing guitar and singing with gusto, just like the old days. Even if there’s no obvious “hit” on the record, it sounds like they’re having fun just banging it out, being in a band. That makes Let’s Go Eat The Factory fun to listen to, twenty-two weird and wonderful songs in forty-two minutes—perfect on LP (which is housed in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve). “I challenge you to rock!” Pollard announces on “Either Nelson,” a Wire-ish punk number peppered with Sprout’s jazzy piano. We must enthusiastically accept his challenge! It’s never too late!

There was some uproar back in December when the GBV abruptly canceled their 2012 tour, leading to speculation that the band had broken up yet again. Rather, the band has recorded another album due out in the spring with yet another one in the works for the fall. Sounds like things are getting serious! Moreover, GBV performed “The Unsinkable Fats Domino” on The Late Show With David Letterman on January 3—a rare mass-media appearance and an opportunity to bring the band to a wider audience. Sadly, Demos took a nasty spill on stage—perhaps he was a bit too excited! Fortunately, he was uninjured and got up to complete the song like a true rock ’n’ roll hero. Predictably, Letterman had a field day with it. Check it out; it’s GBV who are truly unsinkable:

You can also download a FREE MP3 of “The Unsinkable Fats Domino” here. Good stuff!

Sun Ra Sunday

2012-01-08T16:53:00.006-06:00

Sun Ra: Cosmos (Cobra/Spalax CD)

While on their fourth tour of Europe in August 1976, the Arkestra (a portion of it, anyway) entered Studio Hautefeuille in Paris to record an album for the French Cobra label, which released later in the year as Cosmos (COB 37001). I originally wrote about this album way back in 2009, when I first started posting Sun Ra Sunday (and before I started the chronological assessment) and this is what I had to say:

+++

According to Robert L. Campbell’s discography (1st ed.), this LP was also issued on Musicdistribution 60005 and Inner City IC 1020 shortly after the original Cobra release. It was first re-issued on compact disc by the French Buda label (82479) but the original CD apparently suffers from a boomingly bass-heavy mix. This 1999 issue on Spalax purports to correct that deficiency - but I’m not so sure; it sounds lopsided still, with prominent electric bass and distant drums. Regardless, this is one of my very favorite Sun Ra records.

The sonic imbalances no doubt have to something to do with the cramped quarters of the recording studio. According to French horn player (!), Vincent Chauncey, the Arkestra was reduced to a core group of twelve musicians for this session due to the limited space (Campbell (1st ed.) p.73). Oh, but what a group! Along with Chauncey, Ra’s faithful stalwarts, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Danny Davis, Danny Thompson, Elo Omoe, and Jac Jackson fill out the reed section while Ahmed Abdullah plays sensitive, tasteful trumpet and the incredible Craig Harris virtuosically holds down the trombone chair. The rhythm section consists of R. Anthony Bunn on (nice, but overloud) electric bass, Larry Bright on (barely audible) drums, and, of course, Sun Ra himself on the electric Rocksichord. Caught in the midst of a European tour, the Arkestra sounds well-rehearsed, at the top of their game.

But as great as the band sounds on this date, it is Ra’s electric keyboard that makes this such a delightfully engaging record for me. Throughout the album, Ra’s Rocksichord has this weird, wire-thin, reedy sound quality, upon which he pours some molasses-thick phase-shifter that hisses away incessantly in the background. Now, in anyone else’s hands, this would be unbelievably cheesy, even amateurish. Yet Ra guilelessly tackles the wide variety material and, through his visionary technical abilities, miraculously balances the seemingly limited electronic keyboard textures with the expansive, acoustic Arkestra to create a decidedly strange, but appropriately otherworldly ambience. Ra’s ultra-spacey keyboard turns tracks like “Interstellar Low-Ways,”, “Moonship Journey,” and “Journey Among the Stars” into dreamy, nearly narcotic reveries. Even the more straightforwardly big-band-ish tracks like “The Mystery of Two,” “Neo Project #2,” and the aptly-titled “Jazz From an Unknown Planet” are transformed by Ra’s swooshing, buzzing Rocksichord. The brief title track stands out as a vehicle for another classic John Gilmore solo on tenor saxophone atop an intense Arkestra arrangement, but overall the mood is pretty and mellow and perfect for a Sunday evening.

+++

Not really too much to add except to update the citation to the second edition of the discography (Campbell & Trent p.225). It is a curious feeling coming back to this record after three years (!) of listening to what came before. While it is like visiting an old friend, I now hear Cosmos as clearly a minor effort compared to many of the classic albums of this period. It’s an odd mixture of remakes of older material combined with newer, swing-oriented compositions that is less than totally satisfying, like a slightly off gig. But it remains a favorite record of mine, if only for Sonny’s blissfully phased-out Rocksichord sound. The “narcotic reveries” of “Interstellar Low Ways”, “Moonship Journey” and “Journey Among The Stars” are the standout tracks in that regard, and are essential listening, in my opinion. Cosmos is worth seeking out for those tracks alone; everything else is just a bonus.

Playlist Week of 1-07-11

2012-01-07T18:43:00.014-06:00

* Gesualdo: Tenebrae (Hilliard Ensemble) (ECM 2CD)
* J.S. Bach: Motets (Bach Collegium Japan/Suzuki) (BIS SACD)
* Bobby Hutcherson: Waiting (Blue Note LP)
* Jackie McLean: Destination Out! (Blue Note LP)
* Grachan Moncur III: Some Other Stuff (Blue Note LP)
* Sun Ra: Cosmos (Cobra/Spalax CD)
* Sun Ra: Chateauvallon, France 8-24-76 (AUD 2CDR)
* Charlie Haden Quartet West: The Art Of The Song (Verve CD)
* Pat Metheny/Dave Holland/Roy Haynes: Berlin Jazzfest 11-02-90 (FM 2CDR)
* The Thirteenth Assembly: (un)sentimental (Important CD)
* The Thirteenth Assembly: Station Direct (Important CD)
* Johnny Mathis: Open Fire, Two Guitars (Columbia/Legacy CD)
* Grateful Dead: Anthem Of The Sun (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Grateful Dead: Aoxomoxoa (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Grateful Dead: Aoxomoxoa (selections) (Warner Bros./Rhino CD)
* Van Morrison: Astral Weeks (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Van Morrison: Moondance (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Joni Mitchell: Wild Things Run Fast (Geffen LP)
* Tom Waits: Bad As Me (Anti- LP)
* Santana: Caravanserai (Columbia/Mobile Fidelity SACD)
* Pink Floyd: Meddle (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: Obscured By Clouds (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* King Crimson: Park West, Chicago, IL August 7, 2008 (DGM FLAC>2CDR)
* Genesis: Nursery Cryme (Charisma LP)
* Genesis: Foxtrot (Charisma LP)
* Guided By Voices: Let’s Go Eat The Factory (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Uncle Tupelo: Anodyne (Sire/Rhino LP)
* Porcupine Tree: In Absentia (Lava/Atlantic CD)(†)(‡)
* Porcupine Tree: Deadwing (Lava/Atlantic CD)†(‡)
* Porcupine Tree: Fear Of A Blank Planet (Atlantic CD)
* Porcupine Tree: The Incident (Roadrunner 2CD)(†)
* Steven Wilson: Grace For Drowning (KScope 2CD)(†)
* Opeth: Orchid (Candlelight CD)†
* Opeth: Morningrise (Candlelight CD)†
* Opeth: My Arms, Your Hearse (Candlelight CD)†
* Opeth: Still Life (Peaceville/Icarus CD)(†)
* Opeth: Blackwater Park (Music For Nations/Koch CD)(†)
* Opeth: Deliverance (Music For Nations/Koch CD)†
* Opeth: Damnation (Music For Nations/Koch CD)
* Opeth: Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner CD)
* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD)
* Opeth: Heritage (Roadrunner CD+DVD/2LP)
* Opeth: Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH 9-26-11 (AUD 2CDR)
* Mastodon: Crack The Skye (Reprise 2-45RPM LP)
* Mastodon: The Hunter (Reprise 2-45RPM LP)
* Baroness: The Red Album (Relapse CD)†

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

As you can see, my prog/metal obsession continues unabated. After reading my recent post about Mastodon, a friend suggested I check out the Swedish band, Opeth, whose new record, Heritage, has created controversy amongst fans for its abandonment of “death growl” vocals and a full-on adoption of a prog-rock sound, complete with antique Rhodes pianos and Mellotrons. Well, that sounded pretty good to me! I picked it up and enjoyed it quite a bit, but it was not nearly as heavy as I expected. Sounding more like ‘70s-era King Crimson than Megadeth, I could understand why fans of this (formerly?) extreme metal band would be disappointed. Intrigued, I decided to work my way backwards and listen to their previous record, 2008’s Watershed. With that, it started to make a bit more sense. Watershed is plenty heavy, believe me, but with plenty of proggy influences. And while I still find the guttural growling unintentionally hilarious, I am slowly starting to get used to it. In fact, I find Mikael Åkerfeldt’s voice is startlingly expressive, in its own peculiar way. The more I listen, the more I like it. By now, I have to admit: I’ve fallen in love with this band.

As you can see, I have listened to all ten of Opeth’s albums (or “observations” as Åkerfeldt calls them) in the past week (as well as an audience recording from their recent tour) and I am completely blown away by their breadth of vision and sheer musicality. For such a narrowly defined genre (at least in the popular imagination), Opeth makes putative “heavy metal” music that is all-encompassing: hard and soft, from gentle folk tunes to abrasive noise, from graceful fingerpicking to head-banging riffs, with wildly imaginative compositional structures and jazz-inflected rhythms—all within one (usually very long) song. This is seriously sophisticated music: eschewing the usual verse-chorus-bridge structure, Opeth creates epic constructions of contrasting passagework and intricately modulating meters, not so much “songs” as “suites” of a sort—an approach right out of the prog-rock playbook. Accordingly, it should come to no surprise to anyone familiar with the band’s history that they would one day make a record like Heritage. Heck, there were "clean" vocals, acoustic guitars and piano (!) on their very first album, 1995’s Orchid, where, remarkably enough, their ambitions barely outstrip their inchoate abilities. The truth is, Opeth has not made a bad record in its entire twenty-plus year career, an extraordinary achievement in this day and age. So, why had I never heard of them? Because they exist in the heavy metal ghetto, where most folks fear to tread.

Which brings us back to Heritage. Much has been made of the lack of growling on this record (and on the subsequent tour), leading to accusations of “sell-out” amongst death-metal purists. Like I said, I personally find the “Cookie Monster” vocals utterly ridiculous while conceding that Åkerfeldt has a surprisingly eloquent grunt—but, let’s face it, nobody can do that to their throat for twenty years without losing their voice altogether. Let’s give the guy a break! 2003’s Damnation, a record which also featured exclusively “clean” vocals is widely seen to be a masterpiece (and I agree)—so, why the hate? Frankly, I think it has to do with the keyboards. Heavy metal is predominately guitar music: an electric guitar wielded like a magic wand, like a pulsating phallus. Keyboards – especially synthesizers—are seen as signs of weakness, a sell-out. Almost by definition, synthesizers do not rock. While the presence of keyboards is almost subliminal on Damnation, they are exceedingly prominent on Heritage—heck, it sounds like Weather Report at times. That’s fine with me, but hardcore metal-heads are justifiably upset. Let’s just call it what it is: art rock. In an era of “American Idol” pop-glop homogeneity and fractured sub-underground scenes, I don’t see that as a particularly lucrative career move. But then again, any attempt to escape the heavy metal ghetto is seen as a “sell-out” to adherents. Well, whatever. I’m sold. So, what next?

Åkerfeldt has recorded an album under the moniker Storm Corrosion with Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson, who has worked with Opeth on and off ever since 2001’s Blackwater Park (and whose sonic fingerprints are all over Heritage). The self-titled album is due out in April and it is supposed to be even proggier than Heritage—complete with strings and horns. Can’t wait! Opeth is currently on an extensive world tour and I sure wish I had known about them back in September when they played the Cannery Ballroom on the 28th. Oh well, maybe next time. Thanks to the Internet, I’ve been able to audition a decent-sounding audience tape from a couple nights before and—wow!—they are as impressive live as on record. Åkerfeldt is not only fine singer/songwriter and fluent guitarist; he’s a charming and surprisingly humorous front-man…a little like a modern day Zappa. Oh dear, I think I’m falling in love. Thankfully, my wife thinks Opeth is pretty great, too, so it’s all good. See for yourself with this tantalizing excerpt of “Nepenthe” from the new album, recorded live at Nyhestmorgon, TV4 Sweden on September 13, 2011:

Sun Ra Sunday (New Year Edition)

2012-01-01T19:02:00.004-06:00

LIGHT FROM OTHER WORLDS

I have forgotten
the old ways
the old paths
I seek
I seek a new way
not like this new place of one dimensions
not like this place
this place of shame confused with glory
but a vaster realm
of profitable enlightened vision
a region of chromatic truths
abstracts of living design
full of warmth
and sundry planes of light from other
worlds
and sundry planes of light from other
worlds

--Sun Ra

Playlist Week of 12-31-11

2011-12-31T18:40:00.009-06:00

* Hesperion XXI/Savall: Borgia Dynasty: Church and Power in the Renaissance (Alia Vox 3SACD)
* J.S. Bach: Mass in B Minor (Collegium Vocale Gent/Herreweghe) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* Thelonious Monk: Monk’s Dream (Columbia/Legacy CD)
* Bobby Hutcherson: Components (Blue Note LP)
* Bobby Hutcherson: Patterns (Blue Note LP)
* Jackie McLean: One Step Beyond (Blue Note CD)
* Grachan Moncur III: Evolution (Blue Note CD)
* Ingrid Laubrock Sleepthief: The Madness of Crowds (Intakt CD)
* Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone: Departure of Reason (Thirsty Ear CD)
* Johnny Cash/Willie Nelson: VH1 Storytellers (American CD)
* Bob Dylan: Christmas In The Heart (Columbia CD)
* Bob Dylan: Unplugged (MTV/Columbia DVD)
* Grateful Dead: Live/Dead (Warner Bros./Mobile Fidelity 2LP)
* Grateful Dead: The Closing Of Winterland December 31, 1978 (GDP 4CD)
* Grateful Dead: Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA 9-21-81 (AUD 3CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, LI, NY 3-30-90 (SBD 3CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Boston Garden, Boston, MA 9-20-91 (SBD 3CDR)
* Pink Floyd: The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (Deluxe Edition) (d.3) (EMI 3CD)
* Pink Floyd: The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: Saucer Full Of Secrets (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: Music From The Film More (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: Ummagumma (Pinkfloyd/EMI 2CD)
* Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Jeff Beck: Blow By Blow (Epic LP)
* Jeff Beck: Wired (Epic LP)
* Phil Collins: Hello, I Must Be Going (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity CD)
* U2: Achtung Baby (Deluxe Edition) (Island/Universal 2CD)
* Future Sound of London: Accelerator (Hypnotic CD)†/‡
* Guided By Voices: Let’s Go Eat The Factory (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)
* Beck: Sea Change (Geffen/Mobile Fidelity 2LP)
* Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch 2LP)
* Wilco: A Ghost Is Born (Nonesuch/Rhino 2LP)
* Wilco: Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch 2LP)
* Wilco: Wilco (the album) (Nonesuch LP)
* Wilco: The Whole Love (Nonesuch 2LP)
* Hands Off Cuba: Volumes Of Sobering Liquids (Sebastian Speaks EP)
* The Mars Volta: Frances The Mute (Gold Standard/Universal CD)
* Opeth: Deliverance (Music for Nations/Koch CD)
* Opeth: Damnation (Music for Nations/Koch CD)
* Opeth: Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner CD)
* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD)
* Opeth: Heritage (Roadrunner CD/2LP)
* Porcupine Tree: In Absentia (Lava/Atlantic CD)(†/‡)
* Porcupine Tree: Deadwing (Lava/Atlantic CD)
* Porcupine Tree: Fear Of A Blank Planet (Atlantic CD)
* Porcupine Tree: The Incident (Roadrunner 2CD)
* Coheed and Cambria: The Second Stage Turbine Blade (Equal Vision CD)
* Mastodon: Crack The Skye (Reprise CD+DVD/2-45RPM LP)
* Mastodon: The Hunter (Reprise 2-45RPM LP)
* Baroness: Red Album (Relapse CD)
* Baroness: Blue Record (Deluxe Edition) (d.1) (Relapse 2CD)
* The Black Keys: Attack & Release (Nonesuch LP)
* The Black Keys: Brothers (Nonesuch 2LP)
* Ray La Montagne: Till The Sun Turns Black (RCA/Legacy LP)
* Ray LaMontagne: Gossip In The Grain (RCA/Legacy 2LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

This article, recently posted on the semi-obscure Side-Line Music Magazine website, stirred up quite a bit of controversy (in certain corners of the internet, anyway) with this alarming pronouncement:

The major labels plan to abandon the CD-format by the end of 2012 (or even earlier) and replace it with download/stream only releases via iTunes and related music services. The only CD-formats that will be left over will be the limited edition ones, which of course will not be available for every artist.

Interesting. However, a close reading of the article shows that this statement is completely un-sourced and, even more telling, the rest of the piece is devoted to an “I told you so” self-promotion from the author. Hmm. A later “update” is not very convincing either:

We were approached by several people working with major labels, who indeed re-confirm that plans do exist to give up the CD. We keep trying to get official confirmation, but it seems that the matter is very controversial, especially after Side-Line brought out the story.

OK. Let’s assume the story is true. Could the record industry be that stupid? Yes. And the record industry’s stupidity is not news.

While a well-mastered CD can sound pretty darn good, the compact disc is thirty-year-old technology in bad need of an update. Thirty years is an eternity in high-tech. Of course, the record industry had its chance with DVD and/or SACD and/or DVD-Audio but, this predictably resulted in an ill-conceived “format war” with no clear winner. Of course, by then, the public had moved on to MP3s—lossy, compressed, terrible-sounding computer files they could download over their telephone line—they did not care about sound quality, they wanted their music for “free.” CDs were always way too expensive—they still are!—and the major labels totally missed the bandwagon with the MP3. They could have licensed Napster back in 2000 to “give away” songs (like radio used to do) and then try to sell them high-quality versions at retail. But, no—instead, the major labels sued their customers in federal court, fought iTunes tooth and nail and tried to hang on by endlessly “re-mastering” their catalog of hits, often to disastrous effect. Who needs the CD when it sounds like crap? Might as well “steal” the MP3!

Now, we have yet another new format: “Blue Ray”; but who besides Neil Young (and Tom Petty) has done anything with it? Pretty much nobody.

Interestingly, vinyl LPs not only survived all these changes but have thrived in recent years. Along with a plethora of expensive “audiophile” reissues flooding the market, just about every new rock/pop album is simultaneously released on LP, often with vastly superior sonics. Who’d a thunk it back in 1990? Not me! Oh sure, CDs still vastly outsell their vinyl counterparts—but every time I go into Grimey's, the place is packed with folks buying armloads of LPs. CDs? Not so much. Could this just be a fad? Or does sound quality (or at least pride of ownership) matter after all? But, dammit, as much as I love the LP format, we all have to concede it is downright archaic technology. Dragging a needle across a slowly spinning piece of soft plastic? How 19th Century! Now that the bandwidth and storage problems of the 1990s have been solved, why can’t we have good-sounding digital music?

It sure isn’t to be found on iTunes or on “the cloud.” HD-Tracks offers high-resolution files, but playing them back is still a kludge. And while some artists have at least embraced the lossless FLAC format, they are usually outrageously overpriced. For example, King Crimson has a vast archive of live concerts available for download-only and, at five bucks a piece, I would probably buy a bunch of them—but at fifteen dollars, I will buy exactly none. I do not think I am alone in thinking this way. And while Spotify's subscription model is a great idea, their selection (in the USA, anyway) is, ahem, spotty at best. Don’t get me wrong: even though I am an unreformed record collector, I am certainly not opposed to online music services: not only am I running out of room for more “physical media,” I would welcome the opportunity hear new music without having to purchase it outright in advance—but I am reluctant to pay dearly for poor sound, or for something that is here today and gone tomorrow. I know where my records are and I can play them any time I want—and sell them if I no longer like listening to them. Can you do that with your iTunes library (or the files you bought from DGM)? Nope. Are you one of those people who ripped all your CDs and then sold them? Not only are you risking catastrophic loss of all that data, you’re breaking the law! Don’t be surprised when the RIAA comes knocking at your door! This is the sad state of the music industry today.

So, we’ll see what happens in 2012. While the major labels may indeed give up on the CD as a mass-market format, I cannot imagine the compact disc disappearing any time soon. The mainstream may be moving to “the cloud” but I suspect (hope) all those weird jazz and classical labels will continue to service their niche markets as they always have. Moreover, it appears that vinyl will continue to be the format of choice for true fanatics and serious audiophiles for the foreseeable future. That's fine with me. Either way, I suspect there will be some great music released in the coming years, despite these dire predictions.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:19:00.000-06:00

Playlist Week of 12-24-11

2011-12-24T18:57:00.004-06:00

* Rebel: Violin Sonatas (Manze/Egarr/ter Linden) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* Uccellini: Sonatas (Romanesca) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* J.S. Bach: Sonatas & Partitas For Solo Violin (Holloway) (ECM 2CD)
* J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (Academy of Ancient Music/Egarr) (Harmonia Mundi 2SACD)
* Saint-Saens, et al.: A Hi-Fi Spectacular! (Boston Symphony/Munch) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Eric Dolphy: Out To Lunch! (Blue Note/Music Matters 2-45RPM LP)
* Bobby Hutcherson: Happenings (Blue Note CD)
* Bobby Hutcherson: Oblique (Blue Note CD)
* Sam Rivers: The Complete Sam Rivers Blue Note Sessions (Blue Note/Mosaic 5LP)
* Sun Ra: Live At Montreux (Inner City 2LP/2CD)
* Sun Ra: Cosmos (Cobra/Spalax CD)
* Stanley Clarke: School Days (Epic/Friday Music LP)
* Bob Dylan: Blonde On Blonde (mono) (Columbia/Sundazed 2LP)
* Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour: “Christmas/New Year’s” (FM 2CDR)
* The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour Vol.2 (d.1) (Purple Chick fan/boot 2CDR)
* The Beatles: From Them To You (Purple Chick fan/boot CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Civic Center, Hartford, CT 5-10-80 (set 2) (d.1) (SBD 2CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Boston Garden, Boston, MA 9-24-93 (set 2) (SBD 3CDR)
* King Crimson: In The Court Of The Crimson King (DGM CD)†
* King Crimson: In The Wake Of Poseidon (DGM CD)†
* King Crimson: Lizard (DGM CD)†
* King Crimson: Islands (DGM CD)†
* King Crimson: Larks’ Tongues In Aspic (DGM CD)†
* Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon (Experience Edition) (d.2) (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)†
* Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (Experience Edition) (d.2) (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)†
* Yes: Close To The Edge (Atlantic/Rhino CD)†
* Yes: Tales From Topographic Oceans (Atlantic/Rhino 2CD)†
* Big Star: #1 Record (Ardent/Classic LP)
* Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (Warner Bros. 2-45RPM LP)
* Elvis Costello: This Year’s Model (Columbia/Mobile Fidelity LP)
* Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Armed Forces (Columbia/Mobile Fidelity LP)
* Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Get Happy!! (Columbia/Mobile Fidelity 2-45RPM LP)
* U2: Achtung, Baby (Deluxe Edition) (d.1) (Island/Universal 2CD)†
* U2: Zooropa (Island CD)†
* Thurston Moore: Trees Outside The Academy (Ecstatic Peace CD)†
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador CD)†
* Jim O’Rourke: Insignificance (Drag City LP)
* Guided By Voices: Earthquake Glue (Matador CD)†
* Guided By Voices: “We Won’t Aplogize […]”/”The Unsinkable Fats Domino” (Matador 7”)
* Guided By Voices: “Doughnut For A Snowman” (Fire 7”EP)
* Guided By Voices: “Chocolate Boy” (GBV, Inc. 7”)
* Boredoms: Super Æ (Birdman CD)†
* Boredoms: Vision Creation Newsun (Birdman CD)†
* The Future Sound of London: The Isness (Hypnotic CD)†/‡
* Buckethead: Colma (CyberOctave CD)†
* Wilco: The Whole Love (dBpm/ANTI 2LP)
* Opeth: Deliverance (Koch CD)†
* Opeth: Damnation (Koch CD)†
* Opeth: Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner CD)†
* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD)(†)
* Opeth: Heritage (Roadrunner CD)(†)
* Mastodon: Leviathan (Relapse CD)†
* Mastodon: Blood Mountain (Reprise CD)†
* Mastodon: Crack The Skye (Reprise CD/2-45RPM LP)(†)
* Mastodon: The Hunter (Reprise 2-45RPM LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

I’m having a hard time getting into enforced cheeriness of the season. You see, this is the first Christmas without either of my parents. It’s a weird feeling. The whole Santa Claus thing is for children—and I am no one’s child anymore. Does that make me an adult? Oh dear…how depressing.

And, as you know, I have a conflicted relationship with Christmas music so that makes things even more difficult this time of year. But I found this nice clean copy of The New Possibility: John Fahey’s Guitar Soli Christmas Album, at a record show this summer and I figured if anyone could make listenable holiday music, it would be Fahey. It's been sitting in a pile on the floor ever since; I’ve been waiting for this moment to clean up this 1968 classic and give it a spin. Well, Fahey’s fingerpicked guitar fantasias on hoary old chestnuts like “Joy To The World,” “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen,” and “Silent Night” are truly astonishing—sublime, even. The tone is somber, if not downright sad, and therefore makes for the perfect Christmas record for the clinically depressed. Good stuff.

So, we carry on. We have our traditions, including listening to The Beatles Christmas Album, a collection of hilarious audio Christmas cards the Fab Four sent out to their fan club every year, from 1963-1969. Tracing their hyper-compressed history from cheeky, innocent fun to tripped-out hysteria, these recordings never fail to put a smile on my face. On the one hand, it’s kind of surprising these things were never reissued—and probably never will be—but on the other I can see why: they are just plain weird. That’s why I love them! In many ways, they are the most experimental recordings The Beatles ever made. Thankfully, decent-sounding “bootlegs” are readily available to the resourceful fan.

There’s a fire in the fireplace and The Beatles are on the stereo, making me laugh out loud. Lizzy and I plan to have a tasty dinner and get on with our holiday weekend. We are truly blessed and I am eternally grateful. Maybe being an “adult” is not so bad. Heck, perhaps I feel the Christmas spirit coming on! Best wishes to everyone out there in Blogville. See you tomorrow…

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-12-18T19:10:00.007-06:00

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Live At Montreux (Inner City 2LP/2CD)

Not much is known about the Arkestra’s activities in the first half of 1976, but according to Douglass Walker and John Szwed, they performed at an event sponsored by the so-called People’s Revolutionary Convention on July 4 and, predictably, clashes between police and demonstrators flared up outside the church during the concert (see Campbell & Trent p.222). The “revolution” was on its last legs.

Immediately thereafter, the Arkestra headed to Europe for the first time since 1973. It was, as usual, both boom and bust. Szwed writes:

In the summer of 1976 the Arkestra began their fourth tour of Europe with twenty-eight people and ended with fourteen, playing all the major festivals, Paris, Montreux (where they recorded Live at Montreux), Pescara, Nimes, Northsea, Juan-les-Pins, and Arles, and were greeted everywhere as celebrities. Yet once they returned home to Philadelphia, they still sank back into semiobscurity, the band playing down the block at the Red Carpet Lounge to a neighborhood audience of twenty, or at outdoor free concerts in the parks of North Philadelphia, to which sometimes no one came (p.341).

While very little documentation survives of this tour, Live At Montreux was to become a watershed album for Ra. Recorded for a state television broadcast at the legendary Swiss jazz festival on July 9, 1976, it was first issued as a two-LP set as Saturn MS87976 and reissued by Inner City as IC1039 in 1978 (Campbell & Trent, pp.222-224). Live At Montreux would be one the few Sun Ra records to be widely available in the late-1970s and early-1980s and it was, for many people my age, their first (and perhaps only) exposure to his music. But what a great record it is! Ra was provided a decent piano and he makes good use of it (along with his battery of electronic keyboards), guiding the Arkestra through a remarkably inventive setlist. The enormous band includes many returning alumnus, including Pat Patrick on baritone sax and flute, Chris Capers on trumpet and Craig Harris on trombone, and their performance is uniformly first rate. Moreover, the sound quality is excellent—a blessed relief after all the grungy bootlegs we’ve been listening to lately. In fact, it might be one of the best-sounding releases in Ra’s enormous discography. In many ways, Live At Montreux is the definitive Sun Ra album.

Unfortunately, its history in the digital age is somewhat spotty: It did not appear on CD at all until 2003 when the Italian Universe label reissued it in a handsome gatefold mini-LP-style package, but they reversed the labels on the discs and inexplicably omitted four minutes of “On Sound Infinity Spheres.” To make matters worse, the track numbers do not line up correctly with the music. Sheesh! The Japanese edition on P-Vine corrected these errors but it was horribly expensive and just about impossible to find in the U.S. For a recording that was formerly ubiquitous, it was frustrating to find it suffering from such callous neglect in the CD era (thankfully, I kept my old LP). Finally, in 2008, Inner City reissued Live At Montreux domestically in its complete form, remastered from the original tapes and available at a reasonable price. Although the pedestrian jewel box packaging is not as deluxe as the Universe or Japanese editions, this is the one to have. The LP has that warm, analog sound and an extended top-end (including a fair amount of tape hiss), but I prefer the CD, which lets the music seamlessly unfold, rather being interrupted by having to flip and change the records every twenty minutes.

As many times as I’ve listened to this record over the years—and repeatedly over the last several weeks—I still am at a loss for words for how to describe it. Any attempts at rote description miserably fail to convey what makes this album so special, even beyond its significance in the Sun Ra canon. While there are long periods of intensely skronky improvisation where it seems like everyone gets to solo, it all magically holds together from beginning to end. Everyone plays at such a high level that no one soloist – not even Gilmore!—stands out above the others. The Arkestra is truly speaking with one voice: Sun Ra’s. There’s even some weird new compositions (“From Out Where Others Dwell” and “On Sound Infinity Spheres”), a couple of rarely-played oldies (“Lights On A Satellite” and “El Is The Sound Of Joy”) and a monumental rendition of the Strayhorn/Ellington classic, “Take The A-Train” which needs to be heard to be believed—not even Jarvis’s drum solo can derail it!. Throughout it all, Sonny’s piano playing is just spectacular, with his introduction to “A-Train” being one of his most impressive solos on record, a history lesson tracing the development of the instrument from ragtime to avant-garde and on into outer space. If there is one Sun Ra album I would take to the proverbial “desert island,” it would probably be this one. Live At Montreux is just about exactly perfect.

I would assume that if you’re bothering to read this, you already own Live At Montreux, so there’s really no need for me to go into further detail. If you are reading this and don’t own it, well, what are you waiting for?

Playlist Week of 12-17-11

2011-12-17T20:04:00.006-06:00

* Dowland: Complete Lute Works Vol.5 (O’Dette) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* Rameau: Pièces de Clavecin en Concerts (Rousset/Terakado/Uemura) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* Vivaldi: Cello Sonatas (ter Linden/Mortensen) (Brilliant Classics 2CD)
* Dvořák/Walton: Cello Concertos (Boston/Munch/Piatigorsky) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Copland/Grofé: Billy The Kid, etc./Grand Canyon Suite (Morton Gould Orch.)(RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Sun Ra: Live At Montreux (Inner City 2CD)
* Sun Ra: Cosmos (Cobra/Spalax CD)
* Anthony Braxton: Tentet (Wesleyan) 2000 (d.2) (New Braxton House FLAC>2CDR)
* Joseph Holbrooke Trio: The Moat Recordings (Tzadik 2CD)
* David S. Ware/Cooper Moore/William Parker/Muhammad Ali: Planetary Unknown (AUM Fidelity CD)
* Pat Metheny Group: The Way Up (Nonesuch CD)
* John Lennon: Imagine (2010 remaster) (Apple/Capitol CD)
* Grateful Dead: Live/Dead (Warner Bros./Mobile Fidelity 2LP)
* Grateful Dead: Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5/26/72 (GDP/Rhino 4CD)
* Grateful Dead: Road Trips Vol.4 No.5: Boston Music Hall 6-9-76 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Crosby, Stills & Nash: Crosby, Stills & Nash (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity CD)
* Joni Mitchell: Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (Asylum 2LP)
* Pink Floyd: Meddle (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon (Experience Edition) (d.1) (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (Experience Edition) (d.1) (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: Animals (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* King Crimson: The Nightwatch: Live At The Amsterdam Concertgebouw 1973 (DGM 2CD)†
* Helios Creed: X-Rated Fairy Tales (Subterranean LP)
* Massacre: Funny Valentine (Tzadik CD)†
* Massacre: Melt Down (Tzadik CD)†
* Massacre: Lonely Heart (Tzadik CD)†
* Yo La Tengo: Summer Sun (Matador CD)†/‡
* Aphex Twin: The Richard D. James Album (Warp/Sire CD)†
* Buckethead: Bucketheadland (DIW 2CD)†
* Buckethead: Bucketheadland 2 (ION CD)†
* Cobra Strike II: Y, Y+B, X+Y (ION CD)†
* Mastodon: Leviathan (Relapse CD)†
* Mastodon: Blood Mountain (Reprise CD)†
* Mastodon: Crack They Skye (Reprise CD/2-45RPM LP)(†)
* Mastodon: The Hunter (Reprise CD)†
* Opeth: Heritage (Roadrunner CD)†(‡)
* Ray La Montagne: Trouble (RCA/Legacy LP)
* Ray LaMontagne: Till The Sun Turns Black (RCA/Legacy LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Turns out Volume 4 Number 5 is the last of the Grateful Dead Road Trips series. I can't say I am broken-hearted since it was only a half-way good idea that would never quite satisfied anybody’s expectations. Originally, they were to be two-CD sets consisting of highlights compiled from a particular tour or run of shows, but with a third, limited edition “bonus disc” which often contained better music than on the official release. I found this approach annoying and elitist and the “bonus disc” idea was, thankfully, abandoned by Volume 3 Number 4, which was sensibly expanded to three CDs. However, by this time the chorus of “picky Deadheads” were insisting on complete shows and they effectively derailed the original conceit. Road Trips became just another Dick’s Picks type of release, (mostly) complete shows derived from the original two-track soundboard tapes. Nevertheless, some classic stuff has surfaced over the course of years, including the Carousel Ballroom show from Valentine’s Day 1968 (Vol.2 No.2); Big Rock Pow-Wow ’69 (Vol.4 No.1); Fillmore East 5/15/70 (Vol.3 No.3); Austin 11/15/71 (Vol.3 No.2); Denver 11/20/73 (Vol.4 No.3) and Oakland 12/28/79 (Vol. 3 No.1). There were also some welcome releases from underrepresented years like 1980 (Vol.3 No.4); 1982 (Vol.4 No.4); 1988 (Vol.4 No.2) and 1993 (Vol.2 No.4). Unfortunately, some of the transfers suffer from neglectful mastering (particularly the cassette sources) but by and large, the sound quality is usually an improvement over circulating “bootlegs.”

The final volume closes out the series with another semi-underrated year and it's certainly a good one. Recorded at the Boston Music Hall on June 9, 1976, this was one of the first shows of their “comeback tour” after their semi-retirement in October 1974 and it has a flavor all its own. I have a certain fondness for ‘76: after a long absence, Micky Hart is back on the second drumstool and his presence has forced the band to completely re-think their approach. And while these performances may lack the majestic power of 1977, the jams have a light, jazzy flavor that is invigorating—you can tell they’re really paying attention. This was reflected in setlists which were almost totally unpredictable during the spring of 1976, as evidenced by the “St. Stephen>Eyes of the World>Let It Grow” which opens the second set here—not to mention the encore placement of a stand-alone “Franklin’s Tower.” Filler from June 12 includes more tasty treats, like a rare “Mission In The Rain”; a super-spacey “Wheel”; and a heartfelt “Comes A Time.” There are a few musical gaffes here and there and the stereo image is inexplicably reversed on 6/9 but, being a “Betty Board”, the sound quality is excellent. I just wish they’d give EVERYTHING the Plangent Processes.

A new series of CDs has been announced, unimaginatively titled, Dave’s Picks. “Dave” is, of course, David Lemiuex, the posthumous Dead’s Vaultmeister. The first volume will be released in February and will contain the complete concert from The Mosque in Richmond, Virginia on May 25, 1977. This is a fine show from a classic tour, but it strikes me as lazy a choice as the series’ moniker. Unlike Spring 1976, Spring 1977 is well-represented in the catalog—and rightly so—but how about something else from that year, something that doesn’t circulate, like the Palladium shows from earlier in the year? Or how about more ‘80s and ‘90s stuff to fill out the band’s macro-history? Well, whatever. Like the last volume of Road Trips, Dave’s Picks is available as a fairly-priced subscription, which includes free shipping and a “bonus disc.” However, unlike Road Trips, each edition of Dave’s Picks will be pressed in a limited edition of 12,000. Of course, I signed up. I am a sucker for this band—besides, maybe Dave will surprise me.

Then again, who am I to complain? Heck, GDP truly outdid themselves with the Europe ’72 boxset (despite some rather serious logistical problems getting here). I just finished listening to all twenty-two shows in chronological order and I am thoroughly blown away. They start out strong and just get better and better over the course of a short six weeks; in fact, the last four nights at The Lyceum in London may be the best of this grandest of tours. It should also be noted that the Dead’s catalog has been getting the audiophile vinyl treatment lately, not only on their home-base Rhino, but on high-end boutique labels like MoFi and Audio Fidelity. So, while I might quibble about this and that, now is definitely a good time to be a Deadhead. I’m looking forward to what comes next in 2012.

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-12-11T19:12:00.004-06:00

The next couple of records in the discography are some of faves, so it's taking a while to get the words together. In the meantime, check out Sun Ra's appearance on David Sanborn's "Night Music" from 1990. You know, I always thought Dave Sanborn was a cheeseball, but this show was some of the best music television ever. For that, Sanborn deserves enormous props. Sun Ra takes full advantage of the opportunity. Good stuff! See you next week.

Playlist Week of 12-10-11

2011-12-10T18:35:00.015-06:00

* Dowland: Complete Lute Works Vol.3 (O’Dette) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* Dowland: Complete Lute Works Vol.4 (O’Dette) Harmonia Mundi CD)
* Geminiani: Concerti Grossi (After Corelli, Op.5) (AAM/Manze) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* J.S. Bach: Trio Sonatas (London Baroque/Medlam) (Harmonia Mundi CD)†/‡
* Cage: The Seasons (American Composers Orchestra/Davies/Tan) (ECM CD)
* Thelonious Monk: Live At The It Club – Complete (Columbia/Legacy 2CD)
* Sun Ra: Live At Montreux (Inner City 2CD)
* Anthony Braxton: GTM (Knitting Factory) 1997 (New Braxton House FLAC>2CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Tentet (Wesleyan) 2000 (d.1) (New Braxton House FLAC>2CDR)
* Bill Laswell: Permutation (ION CD)†
* DJ Spooky: The Secret Song (Thirsty Ear CD)†(‡)
* George Harrison: Cloud 9 (Dark Horse/Capitol CD)
* Grateful Dead: Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5/25/72 (GDP/Rhino 4CD)
* Pink Floyd: Obscured By Clouds (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Yes: Fragile (Atlantic/Acoustic Sounds LP)
* Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True (Columbia/Mobile Fidelity LP)
* Chrome: Alien Soundtracks/Half Machine Lip Moves (Siren/ Touch & Go CD)
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador CD)†
* Hüsker Dü: Metal Circus (SST LP)
* Bad Brains: I Against I (SST LP)
* Spacemen 3: Sound Of Confusion (Glass/Fire CD)†/‡
* Spacemen 3: The Perfect Prescription (Glass/Fire CD)†/‡
* AFX: Analogue Bubblebath (TVT CD)†
* Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (R&S CD)†
* Aphex Twin: I Care Because You Do (Warp/Sire CD)†
* Seefeel: Polyfusia (Too Pure/Astralwerks CD)
* Future Sound Of London: ISDN (Virgin CD)
* Sigur Rós: Ágætis Bryjun (Smekkleysa/Fat Cat CD)†/‡
* Buckethead: Day Of The Robot (SubMeta CD)†/‡
* Buckethead: Monsters & Robots (CyberOctave CD)†
* Tool: Salival (Tool Dissectional/Volcano CD/DVD)†
* Mastodon: Leviathan (Relapse CD)†
* Mastodon: Blood Mountain (Reprise CD/2-45RPM LP)(†)
* Mastodon: Crack The Skye (Reprise CD/2-45RPM LP)(†/‡)
* Mastodon: The Hunter (Reprise CD/2-45RPM LP)(†)
* Fleet Foxes: Sun Giant (Sub Pop EP)
* Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Perhaps it’s just a case of arrested adolescence, but I have to admit to having a taste for heavy metal. The truth is, when I was an actual adolescent, I was a total jazz snob. While I thought Led Zeppelin was sort of OK, I hated the pop metal bands like KISS, Van Halen, Mötley Crüe and the rest of their ilk. It was the sort of lunkhead stuff the jocks and cheerleaders liked and was therefore dismissed out of hand. Mostly, I disliked it because it was popular. It was only later, when I went way to music school and fell in love with punk rock that I (re)discovered the power of metal. In the mid-1980s, bands like Black Flag, The Bad Brains and Hüsker Dü were reinventing the form enough to make heavy metal-ish music “cool” again, paving the way for the spectacular rise of Metallica and Nirvana to the top of the charts in the 1990s. Believe it or not, I saw AC/DC at the Boston Garden and Metallica at the Centrum, in Worcester, the latter of which rendered me partially deaf for most of a week (I’m serious! WORST sound quality ever!). Then there were local Boston bands like Gang Green and The F.U.’s ripping it up at The Rat or Green Street Station. Heavy metal is dance music for white guys who don’t know how (or refuse) to dance. The mosh-pit can be fun and exciting as long as you’re hale and fit and it doesn’t get completely out of control (of course, it often does). Ah, those were the days when I was young and foolish; I physically couldn’t do it today. After the peak of the “grunge” era, heavy metal retreated back into its various underground scenes and I haven’t bothered to keep up with it.

Nevertheless, I still have a fondness for the genre and the way it makes me feel when I am in a certain mood. It is, if nothing else, visceral music. I can’t listen to it all the time and I do not have very much of it in my record collection, but sometimes it is just the right thing. Through my Bill Laswell fixation, I discovered Buckethead, who (besides (sometimes) playing guitar with trash metal superstars, Guns & Roses) makes crazy instrumental albums with a heavy metal bent. Then, around the turn of the century, I discovered Tool via King Crimson, who were making metal-ish records of their own and toured with them in 2001. The shared billing made a certain amount of sense since Tool are what you might call prog-metal, lots of tricky meters, wide dynamic swings and elaborate compositional structures. Great band (as is the more pop-ish spin-off, A Perfect Circle) but they haven’t released a new record in years and I found myself hungry for more. After reading some rave reviews which made favorable comparisons, I recently decided to check out the heavy metal giants, Mastodon. I was not disappointed. While not as self-consciously arty as Tool, Mastodon unabashedly celebrates in heavy metal’s every excess and make records which consistently demonstrate what is so great about this much-maligned genre.

The first thing that hits you is drummer, Brann Dailor. At least that’s how it is on Blood Mountain, their 2006 major label debut. The opening track, “The Wolf Is Loose” starts out with a drum solo—a dubious beginning, for sure—but right away, you can tell this guy can really play. He’s like the Elvin Jones of heavy metal, playing a million notes-per-second yet right in the pocket. When the band comes in, it’s just exactly what you expect—what you need—from heavy metal: crunching power chords, ominous tri-tone riffing, growling vocals—every cliché in the book—but, hotdamn, it swings! Everything about these guys is over-the-top, from the hyper-detailed artwork and vaguely sinister iconography to the ridiculously overwrought concept albums, the best of these being Crack The Skye, their 2009 album about astral travel, wormholes and Rasputin—or something like that. My inner thirteen-year-old derives endless pleasure from poring over the liner notes and scrutinizing the images. But however silly it all seems, the music is deadly serious: densely layered compositions full of shifting time signatures and shredding guitars, all held together by Dailor’s superb drumming. Vocalist, Troy Sanders, has steadily moved away from the guttural shouting of earlier records, like 2004’s Leviathan (their loose take on Moby Dick) and now he sings more than he screams—which is fine with me (and probably better for his aging vocal chords). Their new record, The Hunter, moves even further in a more accessible direction, abandoning the concept album conceit altogether and varying the tempos a bit more. Fans of their heavier sound may be disappointed, but the slightly softer approach should win them a wider audience. Make no mistake, songs like “Black Tongue” and “Spectrelight” are plenty heavy but leavened with soaring hooks and textured production that make them much more interesting and listenable than the usual metal assault. And while songs like “Stargasm” and “The Sparrow” sound like they could have easily been turned into mawkish power-ballads, they remain fittingly dark and creepy—these ain’t no sappy love songs. And, all along, Dailor carries the day: whether he’s pummeling and trashing or slowing things down to a crawl, his deeply grooving drumming lifts every song.

Interestingly, Mastodon not only releases their music on CD and standard vinyl, but also on limited edition 45-RPM double-LP sets, a pricey format usually reserved for ultra-high-end audiophile jazz and pop reissues (although Metallica’s catalog received this treatment when it was reissued in 2008). Are there enough well-heeled metalheads out there to justify this extravagance? Well, the 45-RPM edition of Crack The Skye is long out-of-print and commands big bucks on the secondary market, indicating someone (beside me) is buying them. But more importantly, does the music sound good enough to bother? In my opinion, the difference between the CD and the 45-RPM vinyl is like night and day. The CDs are over-loud, compressed and brittle and while that might suit this sort of aggressive music well enough, the fast-spinning vinyl is dynamic, warm and involving, with vivid, high-resolution sound—even on my humble turntable. If you want the headbanging without the headache, these 2-LP editions are definitely the way to go.

It may seem a little pathetic for a 48-year-old married guy to be listening to a band like Mastodon, but I am not ashamed. It’s good stuff! Heck, even Liz likes it (much to my surprise and delight)! But while Chuck Klosterman’s brilliant book, Fargo Rock City, makes a compelling and highly entertaining case for 80s hair-metal, I still can’t get into Van Halen or Mötley Crüe or any of the rest of that stuff. I guess I’m still a jazz snob at heart. Bands like Tool and Mastodon display a high level of creativity and instrumental virtuosity which transcends the trashiness of the heavy metal genre and make music even adults can appreciate. Well, me anyway. Plus, it’s fun to rock out like a teenager once in a while.

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-12-04T18:01:00.002-06:00

ONCE UPON A TIME

time upon time
upon time
upon time
upon time is time
time once upon
once upon is time once
once once once
once upon a time
a time once
upon time a once
once once
upon a time
once once once time
in time in time in the past once
the past
once the past
once time once
the past past the past past
time in time time in time in it time in it
time in it
the in time out out time out time out
comes beyond time beyond time
before a time
before a time is time out
time out time out
there is no time when
time is out time is out
time is out

--Sun Ra

Playlist Week of 12-03-11

2011-12-03T19:52:00.008-06:00

* Dowland: Complete Lute Works, Vol.1 (O’Dette) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* Dowland: Complete Lute Works, Vol.2 (O’Dette) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* Veracini: Sonatas (Holloway/Mortensen/ter Linden) (ECM CD)
* Leclair: Sonatas (Holloway/Mortensen/ter Linden) (ECM CD)
* Cage: Sonatas & Interludes For Prepared Piano (Vandré) (Mode CD)
* Feldman: The Viola In My Life (Konstantynowicz/Cikada Ensemble/NRO/Eggen) (ECM CD)
* Feldman: Morton Feldman (Tudor, et al.) (Editions RZ CD)
* Cecil Taylor Quartet: Looking Ahead! (Contemporary/Fantasy CD)
* Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Live At Montreux (Inner City 2CD)
* Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Chateauvallon, France 8-24-76 (AUD 2CDR)
* Ronnie Boykins: The Will Come, Is Now (ESP-Disk’ CD)
* Scanner & The Postmodern Jazz Quartet: Blink Of An Eye (Thirsty Ear CD)
* Myra Melford’s Be Bread: The Image Of Your Body (Cryptogramophone CD)
* Myra Melford’s Be Bread: The Whole Tree Gone (Firehouse 12 CD)
* Kris Davis/Ingrid Laubrock/Tyshawn Sorey: Paradoxical Frog (Clean Feed CD)
* Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman/Erik Friedlander: Abaton (ECM 2CD)
* Sylvie Courvoisier: Lonelyville (Intakt CD)
* Mephista: Black Narcissus (Tzadik CD)
* Mephista: Entomological Reflections (Tzadik CD)
* DJ Spooky: Optometry (Thirsty Ear CD)
* Grateful Dead: Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5/23/72 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5/24/72 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Frank Zappa: Civilization Phaze III (d.1) (Barking Pumpkin 2CD)
* Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon (Experience Edition) (d.1) (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Yes: The Yes Album (Atlantic/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* The Cure: Seventeen Seconds (Fiction/Rhino CD)†/‡
* The Cure: Faith (Fiction/Rhino CD)†/‡
* Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (Matador CD)
* Yo La Tengo: Today Is The Day! (Matador CDEP)
* Guided By Voices: “We Won’t Apologize […]”/”The Unsinkable Fats Domino” (Matador 7”)
* Guided By Voices: “Doughnut For A Snowman” (Fire 7”EP)
* Circus Devils: Mother Skinny (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Circus Devils: Capsized! (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Buckethead: Giant Robot (CyberOctave CD)†/‡
* Bill Laswell: Broken Vessels (soundtrack) (Velvel/Koch CD)†
* Cobra Strike: The 13th Scroll (Ion CD)†/‡
* Mastodon: Leviathan (Relapse CD)†(‡)
* Mastodon: Blood Mountain (Reprise CD)†(‡)
* Mastodon: Crack The Skye (Reprise CD)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

The ninth(!) Circus Devils LP, Capsized!, came out just in time for Halloween and, as usual, it’s taken a while to grow on me. It starts out like most any Circus Devils record, with a dreamy instrumental (“To England the Tigers”) followed by the title track, a noisy, industrial thumper with processed vocals. Here we go! But then we get two of the creamiest of pop songs ever, right in a row: the bouncy “Cyclopean Runways,” and “Legendary Breakfast Codes,” a blissed-out ballad. Huh? Well, don’t worry. Capsized!, like every other Circus Devils record, explores the weirder, more experimental side of Robert Pollard’s musical psyche and as the album progresses, those themes of agitated noise and soft rock comfort are developed into a loosely coherent song cycle about (among other things) getting falling down drunk (i.e. “Capsized!”). Amidst the proggy metal, pure pop pleasure and trippy atmospherics there are several moments that are deeply disturbing. “Vampire Playing A Red Piano,” a spoken word piece, is downright creepy while the vertiginous “Double Vission” features a shockingly realistic sound of someone (Pollard?) vomiting violently. Good grief! Later, on “Plate of Scales,” when he boozily sings about wanting to throw up, you believe him! If all this sounds slightly sick, well it is—and it might be the best Circus Devils album yet! But at the same time, it is a little bit worrying. Pollard is a notorious drinker and it is hard not to draw certain conclusions from all this. Then again, you cannot say that drinking interferes with his productivity! Heck, this is Pollard’s sixth album of 2011! Moreover, Capsized! might be the Circus Devils’ most creative and profoundly affecting album yet—but it’s not going to appeal to teetotalers or prudes. You can download a FREE MP3 of "Cyclopean Runways" here.

+++

Speaking of Pollard’s productivity, two seven-inch vinyl-only singles from the forthcoming Guided By Voices reunion album have recently been released: Matador has the double-A sided “We Won’t Apologize For The Human Race”/”The Unsinkable Fats Domino” while the British label, Fire gets “Doughnut For A Snowman” with four B-sides. The so-called “classic” lineup of GBV tries to revive the glory days with a return to a primitive, lo-fi recording technique and group collaboration and it seems to work OK but, in any event, it’s nice to see these guys get a victory lap. Let’s Go Eat The Factory comes out on January 1 followed by another seven-inch (“Chocolate Boy”/”As The Girls Sing Downing”) on January 17. Not surprisingly, the first records of 2012 will be by Robert Pollard, a record collector’s dream. Check out a FREE download of "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" here.

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-11-27T17:56:00.006-06:00

Ronnie Boykins: The Will Come, Is Now (ESP-Disk’ CD)

Ronnie Boykins was one of the first members of Sun Ra’s fledgling Arkestra, joining the band in early 1958 and his innovative yet rock-solid bass playing was a key element in the music’s rapid development up through the mid-1960s (it was also Boykins’s car that carried the band from Chicago to Montreal in 1961 and, thence, to New York City). Boykins had been classmates with John Gilmore and Pat Patrick at Du Sable High School (where he played sousaphone in the band) but he had already established himself as an in-demand bassist prior to joining the Arkestra, having played with such diverse figures as Muddy Waters, Johnny Griffin and Jimmy Witherspoon. In 1966, Boykins left the Arkestra to pursue other opportunities, (notably including work with Rahsaan Roland Kirk) and, as we’ve seen, Sonny had a hard time finding his replacement, opting on many occasions for doing without the bass altogether. Boykins intermittently performed with Arkestra thereafter with his last known appearance being at Hunter College on June 16, 1974 (portions of which were released as Out Beyond The Kingdom Of ). While Prof. Campbell suggests he might been a part of the two-week stand at The “New” Five Spot in June, 1975, he is not present on the bootleg tape which circulates (Campbell & Trent p.220). According to Szwed, growing animosity between Boykins and Ra over money and lack of composer credit for some of the Arkestra’s recordings caused him to quit the band for good sometime during this period (Szwed p.119).

But ESP-Disk’s Bernard Stollman recognized Boykins’s genius early on:

I first met Sun Ra during the October Revolution festival in the Cellar Café (in 1964), and he invited me to hear the Arkestra perform in a loft in Newark, New Jersey. It was there that I singled out Ronnie Boykins, and invited him to record for ESP. He told me he would let me know when he felt he was ready. During the decade that followed, I heard his work in the Arkestra, and late night sessions with Sam Rivers in Studio Rivbea on Bond Street, and in Ornette Coleman’s Prince Street loft. Ronnie called me in 1975, to announce he was ready to record his first album as a leader (liner notes).

As it turned out, Boykins waited too long and The Will Come, Is Now is the only record Boykins ever made under his own name—he died suddenly of heart attack in 1980 at the age of 45. And ESP-Disk’ was in serious decline by 1975, this being one of the last few recordings the label released before finally going under. Accordingly, it was cheaply made, pressed in miniscule quantities and poorly distributed, resulting in one of the rarest ESP discs of all. Fortunately, the resurrection of the label at the turn of the century has brought nearly the entire catalog back in print on CD, including Boykins’s one and only solo album, nicely remastered from the original tapes. Although neither Sonny nor any of the Arkestra appear on it, Boykins’s importance to the Sun Ra saga is undisputed and, therefore, The Will Come, Is Now merits a mention here.

Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I found this album to be something of a disappointment. It certainly looks promising: Boykins composed six ambitious pieces for the album, featuring a septet of himself on bass and sousaphone; Joe Ferguson, Monty Waters and James Cass on saxophones and flutes; Daoud Haroom on trombone; Art Lewis on drums; and George Avaloz on congas. And, to be sure, each of the pieces showcases Boykins’s unique compositional voice and his flair for rich orchestration but the album suffers from a basic lack of rehearsal and slip-shod recording technique. The title track is typical: a loping ostinato in 7/4 with a twisty, complex head arrangement followed by a series of modal solos—but the sound is boxy and indistinct and the off-center groove never quite solidifies, almost dissolving completely during Boykins’s bowed bass solo. “Starlight At The Wonder Inn” appears to be an evocation of the early days in Chicago: a slightly old-fashioned ballad form with sweet ‘n’ sour horns and Boykins carrying the melody on arco bass—but, this time, intonation problems undermine the piece’s nostalgic beauty.

On the other hand, the three-minute “Demon’s Dance” works a bit better, a riffing post-bop number with everyone soloing at once, Dixieland-style. Even more intriguing is “Dawn Is Evening, Afternoon,” which sets yearning, unresolved harmonies and dissonant counter-melodies against a swinging solo section. The humorously titled, “Tipping On Heels,” is an appropriately tipsy, stop-start, big-band type number where, after stating the theme, soloists pair up for duo improvisations. At least here the ensemble sounds like they’re in their element but the abrupt ending appears to be a clumsy splice rather than a planned conclusion. The last track, “The Third I” could have been a real masterpiece: it begins with a ritualized percussion segment with everyone clanking on cowbells, shaking rattles and jangling tambourines before Boykins starts rumbling away on the giant sousaphone. Unfortunately, the blast of low frequencies caused the recordist to panic (Marzette Watts as it happens), resulting in disconcerting volume fluctuations throughout the rest of the track. Oh well. This eventually gives way to a genially meandering jam for flutes and horns which finally coalesces into a 15/8 ostinato laid down by Boykins on the bass. Finally, at around the ten-minute mark, the full band comes in with stabbing horn tattoos and a weirdly harmonized melody—exciting!—but then the track fades out just as they get going. Argh! Obviously, this piece continued for quite a while longer but was cut down to save space for other works on the album. That is really frustrating since "The Third I" might be the most compelling thing on the album. And so it goes…

Ultimately, The Will Come, Is Now is all unrealized potential and it is tempting to fantasize about what the Arkestra could have brought to this material, even with limited rehearsal time and amateurish sound quality (which was, after all, the norm for them). It is also reasonable to speculate on what sort of music Sonny would have made with Boykins continuously at his side. Well, for whatever reason, it was not meant to be and, sadly, Boykins has never achieved the acclaim he deserves. Even though he played with several luminaries of the loft-jazz scene in the 1970s, very little of it was recorded, leaving this as his only solo statement. As such, The Will Come, Is Now is an important document of Boykins’s wide-ranging musical conception and inimitable instrumental prowess. But it is less than completely satisfying on a musical level, if only because it could have been so much better. Then again, my expectations might be too high.

Playlist Week of 11-26-11

2011-11-26T19:36:00.005-06:00

* Purcell: Fantasias For The Viols 1680 (Savall, et al.) (Alia Vox SACD)
* J.S. Bach: The Works for Lute (Kirchhof) (Sony Classical 2CD)
* J.S. Bach: Harpsichord Concertos, etc. (AAM/Egarr) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)†
* Carter: Piano Concerto, etc. (Nashville Symphony/Schermerhorn/Wait) (Naxos CD)
* Sun Ra: Live At Montreux (Inner City/Universe 2CD)
* Ronnie Boykins: The Will Come, Is Now (ESP-Disk’ CD)
* Cecil Taylor: Jazz Advance (Transition/Blue Note CD)
* David S. Ware String Ensemble: Threads (Thirsty Ear CD)
* John Abercrombie: Cat ’n’ Mouse (ECM CD)
* John Abercrombie: Class Trip (ECM CD)
* John Abercrombie Quartet: Wait Till You See Her (ECM CD)
* Gary Burton/Chick Corea/Pat Metheny/Roy Haynes/ Dave Holland: Like Minds (Concord CD)
* Aretha Franklin: I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You (Atlantic/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* Aretha Franklin: Lady Soul/Aretha Now (Atlantic/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* William S. Burroughs: Dead City Radio (selections) (Island CD)
* The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main St. (Deluxe Edition) (Promotone/Universal 2CD)
* The Rolling Stones: Some Girls (Deluxe Edition) (Promotone/Universal 2CD)
* The Rolling Stones: Some Girls Live In Texas ’78 (Promotone/Eagle Rock DVD+CD)
* The Rolling Stones: Some Girls Sessions (fan/boot 2CDR)
* Bob Dylan: Bringing It All Back Home (mono) (Columbia/Sundazed LP)
* Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited (mono) (Columbia/Sundazed LP)
* Van Morrison: Astral Weeks (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Jeff Beck: Truth (mono) (Epic/Sundazed LP)
* Jeff Beck: Beck-Ola (Epic/Sundazed LP)
* Jeff Beck: Blow By Blow (Epic LP)
* Grateful Dead: Fairgrounds, Lille, France 5/13/72 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: La Grande Salle du Grand Theatre, Luxembourg 5/16/72 (GDP/Rhino 2CD)
* Grateful Dead: Kongressaal, Munich, W. Germany 5/18/72 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: Park West Ski Area, Park City, UT 9-04-83 (selections) (SBD 3CDR)
* Jerry Garcia Band: After Midnight: Kean College 2/28/80 (JGE, LLC/Rhino 3CD)
* David Crosby: If I Could Only Remember My Name… (Atlantic DVD-A)
* Jean-Luc Ponty: King Kong: Plays The Music of Frank Zappa (Blue Note/Friday Music LP)
* Frank Zappa & The Mothers: Fillmore East June 1971 (Bizarre/Reprise LP)
* Frank Zappa: Wazoo (Vaulter Native/Zappa.com 2CD)
* Frank Zappa: Imaginary Diseases (Zappa Records CD)
* Yes: Yesshows – Expanded (Atlantic/Friday Music 2CD)
* Alan Parsons Project: I Robot (Arista LP)
* ELO: Greatest Hits (Columbia LP)
* The Doobie Brothers: Greatest Hits (Warner Bros. LP)
* Los Lobos: Kiko (Slash/Warner Bros. CD)†/‡
* U2: Achtung, Baby (Deluxe Edition) (d.1) (Island/Universal 2CD)†
* Anton Fier: Dreamspeed/Blindlight (Tzadik 2CD)†
* Guided By Voices: “We Won’t Apologize […]”/”The Unsinkable Fats Domino” (Matador 7”)
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)
* Jim O’Rourke: The Visitor (Thrill Jockey LP)
* Mastodon: Crack The Skye (Reprise CD)(†)
* Mastodon: The Hunter (Reprise CD)(†)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

I’m not the hugest Rolling Stones fan, but I do have a fondness for their 1978 album, Some Girls, which has recently received the “deluxe edition” treatment. Of course, I picked up a copy—even though I knew I was in for a let-down.

Some consider this the last great Stones album and it’s easy to agree. The rise of disco and punk was threatening to overturn the complacent hegemony of rockstars like the Rolling Stones and, snapping out of their usual torpor, they responded with their best record in years, one which managed to fuse the rhythms of dance music with the energy and guitar noise of punk while still sounding like the Stones of old. Personal turmoil added an unexpected edge to the songwriting: Keith Richards’s trial over the Canadian heroin bust was impending, resulting in the coy but recondite “Before They Make Me Run” and Bianca Jagger’s bitter divorce proceedings are reflected in positively venomous songs like “Lies” and “Respectable.” They sound like they really mean it and the album has aged well, unlike a lot of the “crossover” attempts that would follow. While the danceable numbers like “Miss You” and “Beast of Burden” were appropriately huge hits, the whole album is strong from start to finish, a rare thing indeed in the Stones discography.

Unfortunately, this re-re-mastering is abysmal: loud, brickwalled and ear-bleedingly bright. Ouch! That kind of approach might have brought some much-needed clarity to the murky Exile on Main St. (reissued in a “deluxe edition” last year) but it totally wrecks this otherwise decent-sounding album. Interestingly, the “bonus disc” of unreleased songs sounds much—much!—better. I have to ask: in this day and age, why couldn’t they have given the album proper that kind of treatment? Oh well; a wasted opportunity—and possibly the last one we’ll get. And, also like the Exile “bonus disc”, Sir Mick has overdubbed new vocals onto old backing tracks and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Fortunately, the unaltered “Petrol Blues” is here, sounding like it was actually taken from my bootleg copy. Taken for it is, the “bonus disc” is a pretty decent Stones record in its own right, with songs like “Claudine” and “No Spare Parts” being worthy of the canon, new vocals and all—but that hardly makes up for the atrocious mastering of Some Girls. Reportedly, the expensive 180-gram vinyl sounds no better—what a shame.

Well, whatever. More pleasing is the DVD/Blue-Ray/CD release of Some Girls Live in Texas ’78. With the new album hitting the charts, the Stones hit the road for a short tour of the U.S., playing a variety of venues from small theaters to enormous stadiums, with several of the shows being recorded for broadcast on "The King Biscuit Flour Hour" (bootlegs of which have circulated widely). In addition, the complete concert from July 18, 1978 at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas was professionally filmed but the footage has languished in the Stones vault until now. Too bad, as it shows them diligently making a sincere effort to reclaim their title as the World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band. Gone are the horns and back-up singers, elaborate lighting rigs and the giant, inflatable phallus. Instead, it’s just five guys (supplemented by nearly invisible keyboardists) getting back to basics, playing the hits but also delivering the new material with startling vigor. Jagger acts the clown, of course, but he has not quite become the total self-parody of later years, even stopping to sing with soulful conviction now and then and periodically adding his clangorous guitar to the din. It’s the rest of the band that carries the day: newcomer Ronnie Wood is the perfect foil for Keith Richards, their riffing guitars meshing perfectly into a tightly knit wall of rock; meanwhile Charlie Watts mans the backbeat along with Bill Wyman’s stoically inventive bass playing. It’s not punk, it’s not disco—it’s the kind of sublime synthesis the Stones were capable of—but they’re digging in like it still matters. My problem with the Stones has always been their apparent laziness but, here, they’re working hard to remain relevant—and succeeding (at least) one last time. Sound and video quality is excellent and, as an added bonus, the band’s appearance on “Saturday Night Live” is included along with a contemporaneous news story hosted by none other than Geraldo Rivera and a brand new interview with Mick Jagger. Highly recommended!

Also of interest to Stones fans is the official (albeit download only) release of The Brussels Affair, one of the most highly-regarded bootlegs of all time. This 1973 concert has been remixed from the original master tapes and the 320k MP3 files are available here for a (comparatively) reasonable $4.99. I have yet to commit (I still have a hard time paying money for lossy computer files), but it sure looks tempting since there are presently no plans to release this on CD. It’s surely one of the great concerts from the Mick Taylor years and I’d love to hear it cleaned up, even if it’s an MP3. So, while the treatment of the “official” catalog continues to be shoddily presented, these archival releases are a surprising treat. But like I said, I’m not the hugest Rolling Stones fan, so I don’t care that much. I’d still like to find a clean, original pressing of Some Girls someday—I stupidly sold mine in a fit of fashion-conscious pique—but they’re hard to find these days. Well, as they say: “You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you just might find you get what you need.”

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-11-20T18:18:00.004-06:00

MY WORLD IS A SPACE AWAY

my world is a space away
and that's the way to another dimension
of living
the arial concept of being alive
out on the vibrating planes of outer space

my world is a space away
the broad road that never ends
an endless channel
that connects worlds upon worlds
of cosmic space
there is the doorway of my world
pause at the threshold, think a while
before you enter
but once having entered
there is no turning back

--Sun Ra

Playlist Week of 11-19-11

2011-11-19T20:13:00.003-06:00

* Buxtehude: Seven Sonatas, Op.2 (Holloway/Mortensen/ter Linden) (Naxos CD)
* Biber: Unam Ceylum (Holloway/Mortensen/Assenbaum) (ECM CD)
* Biber/Muffat: Der Türken Anmarsch (Holloway/Mortensen/Assenbaum) (ECM CD)
* Ravel: Piano Works (Queffélec) (Virgin Classics 2CD)
* Debussy: Chamber Music (Athena Ensemble) (Chandos CD)
* Feldman: Rothko Chapel/Why Patterns? (California EAR Unit, et al.) (New Albion CD)
* Lachenmann: String Quartets (Stadler Quartet) (NEOS SACD)
* Dusapin: String Quartets (Arditti Quartet) (æon 2CD)
* Sonny Clark Trio: The 45 Sessions (Blue Note—Japan CD)
* Sun Ra: Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA, Dec, ’75 (AUD CDR)
* Sun Ra: Live At Montreux (Inner City/Universe 2CD)
* Ronnie Boykins: The Will Come, Is Now (ESP-Disk’ CD)
* Bill Dixon Orchestra: Intents And Purposes (RCA-Victor/International Phonograph CD)
* Bill Dixon: Bill Dixon In Italy Vol.I (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Bill Dixon: Bill Dixon In Italy Vol.II (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: Anti-House (Intakt CD)†
* Ingrid Laubrock Sleepthief: The Madness Of Crowds (Intakt CD)
* Muddy Waters: Folk Singer (Chess/MCA/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* Sly & The Family Stone: There’s A Riot Goin’ On (Epic/Sundazed LP)
* Grateful Dead: Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Holland 5/10/72 (GDP/Rhino 4CD)
* Grateful Dead: Grote Zaal De Doelen, Rotterdam, Holland 5/11/72 (GDP/Rhino 4CD)
* Grateful Dead: Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA 2-24-74 (SBD 4CDR)‡
* Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Live At The Fillmore East 1970 (Reprise DVD-A)
* Pink Floyd: Obscured By Clouds (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: Animals (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: The Wall (Pinkfloyd/EMI 2CD)†
* Golden Palominos: This Is How It Feels (Restless CD)†
* Golden Palominos: Pure (Restless CD)†
* Guided By Voices: “We Won’t Apologize…”/”The Unsinkable Fats Domino” (Matador 7”)
* Robert Pollard: Space City Kicks (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Circus Devils: Capsized! (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Radiohead: Kid A (Capitol CD)
* A Perfect Circle: Mer De Noms (Virgin CD)†
* A Perfect Circle: Thirteenth Step (Virgin CD)†
* A Perfect Circle: eMOTIVe (Virgin CD)†
* Mastodon: Crack The Skye (Reprise CD)†(‡)
* Mastodon: The Hunter (Reprise CD)†
* Ray Lamontagne: Trouble (Stone Dwarf/RCA LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Of all the weird and wonderful CDs I picked up while in New York, there’s one in particular I keep coming back to: Ingrid Laubrock’s latest Sleepthief record, The Madness of Crowds (Intakt). The trans-national trio of the German-born Laubrock on saxophones, British pianist, Liam Noble, and American drummer, Tom Rainey was formed back when Laubrock was living in London and their eponymous CD, released in 2008, was, in a way, her breakthrough album, garnering near-unanimous critical praise. Shortly thereafter, she moved to New York, to be quickly assimilated into the burgeoning downtown jazz scene and where her unique sound and wide-ranging versatility found a welcoming home. And she keeps getting better and better: last year’s Anti-House (also on Intakt) is one of my very favorite records of all time. But whereas the Anti-House band showcases Laubrock’s knotty, genre-splicing compositional voice, Sleepthief is pure improvisation, non-idiomatic and free. As their first album amply demonstrated, these musicians are masterful improvisers, but The Madness of Crowds takes it to a whole other level, beyond technique and style where the music seems just inevitable and true. This music invites—no, demands—repeated listenings, rewarding the ear with its spirited and boundless creativity.

It helps that the sound quality is astonishingly good. Most modern jazz albums are adequately if indifferently recorded, naturalistic in affect but usually sounding somewhat flat and dry. But The Madness of Crowds sounds shockingly vivid, almost hyperreal. Rainey’s bass drum is HUGE, Noble’s piano occupies a solid, three-dimensional space and when Laubrock comes in, it sounds like she’s standing right there in the room with you. Wow! Recorded by Andrew Taub and Ben Liscio at Brooklyn Recording and mixed and mastered by Andrew Tulloch at The Blue Studio in London, The Madness of Crowds has been given the kind of high-class treatment this music truly deserves. Ultimately, free improvisation is all about sound for its own sake, from the quietest of subtleties (as when Laubrock blows bubbles in a goblet of water on “You Never Know What’s in the Next Room”) to the most aggressive cacophony imaginable and it is accordingly difficult (if not impossible) to capture the magic of live performance on disc. The Madness of Crowds is that rare thing: not only a masterpiece of improvisational music but an audiophile spectacular. Seriously, it needs to be heard to be believed. Record of the year!

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-11-13T19:01:00.010-06:00

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Jordan Hall, Boston, MA December 1975 (AUD CDR)

Ah, The New England Conservatory of Music, NEC, my alma mater (of sorts), otherwise known by my cohorts at the time as “The Disturbatory” or “Not Exactly College” (among other amusing epithets). It’s frankly hard to imagine Sun Ra and his spaced-out, ragtag Arkestra gracing the stage at Jordan Hall in December 1975. But although NEC was (and always will be) a bastion of stuffed-shirted classical music snobbery, its president at the time was Gunther Schuller, who was hip enough to allow Ran Blake to start the “Third Stream” department (where weirdoes like me were admitted) and encouraged the development of a “jazz” curriculum to compete with the Berklee College of Music down the street. So I guess it’s not so surprising that Sonny was invited to perform in one of the most acoustically perfect concert halls in the country—not that you would know it from the sound of this primitive audience recording. Gosh, it sounds awful! Hissy, warbly, distorted, unbalanced and, to make matters worse, most tracks cut off with a loud pop. Ugh! Upon close listening, it seems the original master might have sounded decent, but generational loss has obliterated what fidelity there was. Still, you can still hear Ra on his best behavior in this prestigious venue, introducing some well-rehearsed new material and keeping the polemical excesses in check.

The seventy-one minute tape (unlisted in Campbell & Trent) contains almost a complete set, cutting in on the opening improvisation which features Marshall Allen’s keening oboe over ominous percussion. Suddenly, Ra queues “Love In Outer Space” with some blasting organ chords—but the taper apparently didn’t care for this tune (or experienced technical difficulties) as the recording cuts off just as it gets going. Oh well. Eddie Thomas announces “Images” and, after a moody organ introduction, the tune takes off at brisk tempo. Kwami Hadi was out of the band at this point so the high-trumpet part has been assumed by Ahmed Abdullah and he takes a long, winding solo over several choruses. The hotshot bass player we heard at The "New" Five Spot is still present, holding down the swinging rhythm section and closely following Abdullah as he takes it increasingly “out” and deftly leading the band through the reprise of the head. A stellar tour de force from Abdullah and Mr. Anonymous! Not to be outdone, John Gilmore takes over—a cappella at that—doing his best post-Coltrane tenor thing. Without missing a beat, the rhythm section slips in behind him and, supported by Ra’s piano, he really starts to fly! Yep—another incredible Gilmore solo! Get used to it! Ra follows with some impressionistic piano, showing off his underappreciated keyboard skills before the Arkestra returns with the finale. A superb rendition of this classic tune—too bad it sounds so crappy!

Sonny then moves to the Rocksichord, to which he’s attached a whooshing phase-shifter—a sound that would dominate the Cosmos album the following summer (one of my favorite Ra albums of all time). This unknown title would have fit right in on that record, opening with a long introduction from Ra that moves from pretty, modal chords to roiling, industrial dissonances and back again before the band comes in with a stately melody. With its lumbering rhythms and sweet’n’sour harmonies, the piece brings to mind the Discipline series of compositions but with the relaxed, languid feel of Ra’s hypnotically grooving space ballads. A short bass clarinet solo almost sounds like Gilmore but Abdullah soon takes the reins with some more high-wire trumpet. Mostly, though, it’s Sun Ra’s creamy Rocksichording that keeps things interesting. Again, it’s a terrble shame the sound quality on the tape is so poor since the gently floating, interlocking bass and percussion parts are just about impossible to make out. Well, it’s a rare and beautiful composition, badly recorded.

“Space Is The Place” follows but is presented as a hyperactive rhumba, with Eddie Thomas and June Tyson deleriously singing the lead. Predictably, it descends into cheerful chaos soon enough, but the audience gets a big kick out of the spectacle, whooping, hollering and clapping along. “Journey To Saturn” is more of the same, climaxing with a honking alto solo from Danny Davis and ending with weird portamento organ effects from Ra. “Discipline 27-II” slows things down for a series of space chants, Eddie Thomas doing the substitute preaching—interestingly, Sonny keeps his mouth shut throughout and the pontificating is kept mercifully brief. The following “mini-set” of old jazz chestnuts is just two tunes, but they’re perfectly executed: “How Am I to Know” is a maudlin torch song made famous by Billie Holiday (and, later, Frank Sinatra) and here it showcases some of the most goopily romantic playing of Ra’s career, incongruously performed on his swelling, roller-rink organ. Meanwhile, Gilmore plays smoky tenor. It shouldn’t work, but it does—just lovely! Up next is the jump swing standard, “Rose Room, with more full-throated Gilmore and pealing trumpet from Abdullah, all punctuated by Ra’s relentlessly stabbing organ chords. Finally, the concert concludes with a vanishingly quick “Calling Planet Earth” and a fast-paced romp through “We Travel the Spaceways,” as the band marches off the stage to wild cheering and hearty applause. From the sound of it, the swells at NEC were surprisingly welcoming to Ra and his space men! Sun Ra's star was finally starting to rise.

It’s a strong show, but the tempos are generally too fast and there’s no real opportunity for wild improvisation, as if time constraints required Ra to truncate his usual set. Yet, despite the atrocious sound quality, there’s enough interesting music here to make it worthwhile to fanatical collectors. “Images,” “How Am I To Know?” and especially the unidentified Cosmos-like piece are obvious highlights. Ordinary people, however, will be suitably repulsed by the noise and distortion; you are hereby dutifully warned.

Playlist Week of 11-12-11

2011-11-12T18:33:00.004-06:00

* Marais: Pieces De Viole des Cinq Livres (Savall, et al.) (d.4-5) (Alia Vox 5SACD)
* J.S. Bach: Solo & Double Violin Concertos (AAM/Manze/Podger) (Harmonia Mundi SACD)
* Miles Davis: The Complete Live At The Plugged Nickel 1965 (d.3-4) (Columbia/Legacy 8CD)
* Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (Legacy Edition) (d.1-2) (Columbia/Legacy 2CD+DVD)
* Bobby Hutcherson: Components (Blue Note CD)
* Sun Ra: The “New” Five Spot, New York, NY 6-11-75 (AUD CDR)
* Sun Ra: Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA Dec.’75 (AUD CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Trio (Wesleyan) 2005 (New Braxton House MP3)†
* Anthony Braxton: Septet (Pittsburgh) 2008 (New Braxton House MP3)†
* Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Mannheim) 2010 (New Braxton House MP3)†
* Myra Melford Trio M: Bimhuis, Amsterdam, Holland 5-08-11 (FM 2CDR)
* Ingrid Laubrock Sleep Thief: Sleep Thief (Intakt CD)
* Ingrid Laubrock Sleep Thief: The Madness Of Crowds (Intakt CD)
* Spring Heel Jack: Live (Thirsty Ear CD)†
* Emmylou Harris: Wrecking Ball (Elektra/Asylum CD)
* The Beatles: Abbey Road (2009 remaster) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beach Boys: Smile Sessions (d.1) (Capitol 2CD)
* Grateful Dead: Bickershaw Festival, Wigan, England 5/7/72 (GDP/Rhino 4CD)
* Grateful Dead: Road Trips Vol.4 No.5: Boston Music Hall 6-9-76 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Pink Floyd: Meddle (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (Experience Edition) (Pinkfloyd/EMI 2CD)
* Steely Dan: Aja (ABC/Geffen/Cisco LP)
* The Smiths: The Sound Of The Smiths (Warner Bros./Rhino 2CD)
* U2: The Joshua Tree (Deluxe Edition) (Island/Universal 2CD)
* Thurston Moore/Talk Normal: Three Songs/Gold Dime (Fast Weapons 7”EP)
* Prick Decay w/Thurston Moore: Electricity vs. Insects (Chocolate Monk Audio Artifacts 7”EP)
* Guided By Voices: Live In Daytron 6°? (GBV, Inc. MP3)†/‡
* Robert Pollard: “Silk Rotor” (Happy Jack Rock Records 7”EP)
* Psycho & The Birds: Check Your Zoo (Fading Captain Series 7”EP)
* Circus Devils: Capsized! (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Beck: Modern Guilt (Geffen CD)†/‡
* Radiohead: Kid A (Capitol CD)†
* Radiohead: Amnesiac (Capitol CD)†
* Radiohead: Hail To The Thief (Capitol CD)†
* Radiohead: In Rainbows (TBD CD)†
* Radiohead: The King Of Limbs (TBD/XL CD)†
* Radiohead: TKOL RMX 1234567 (Ticker Tape/XL 2CD)†(‡)
* Wilco: The Whole Love (dBpm/Epitaph 2LP)
* Deerhoof w/Jeff Tweedy/The Raccoonists: “Behold…”/”Own It” (Polyvinyl 7”)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

I’m mesmerized by the big, blue VU meters in my living room—and too enraptured by the sound to write anything except, “music is the best!”

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-11-06T17:06:00.014-06:00

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: The “New” Five Spot, New York, NY 6-11-75 (AUD CDR)

Over the past couple of years, Sun Ra had introduced a few Swing-Era jazz standards into the Arkestra’s live sets but, for the most part, they were loosely arranged and casually executed. By 1975, this repertoire would suddenly become an integral part of every live performance, with “mini-sets” of historical big-band numbers, expertly re-orchestrated and performed with astounding authenticity. Szwed suggests that this was a shrewd business maneuver as much as anything:

It was a move both oppositional and prescient: he had seen the limits of the avant-garde, and sensing a shift beginning in American sensibilities, he was unwilling to give up the large audiences he had drawn (p.338).

Indeed, the free jazz scene had virtually disintegrated, at least in the United States. While it might have seemed like a good idea for Impulse! to sign Sun Ra to a multi-album deal back in 1972, by 1975 it was a bust and the records were deleted and sold off as “cut-outs,” thereby depriving Ra of any royalities otherwise due him. Accordingly, Ra’s revival of the standard jazz repertoire might seem to anticipate the rise of 1980s conservatism and the shallow, “well-dressed jazz” of Wynton Marsalis and his ilk. But Sun Ra was deeply affected by the recent deaths of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington (Id. p.337) and it must be remembered he was also of that era. Ra was by now in his sixties, much older than most of the members of the Arkestra and his growing audience of college students and urban hipsters. Moreover, I’m not sure this old-timey music had much commercial appeal at the time—it certainly took me a while to come around to liking it, much preferring the wild spacey stuff. Instead, I believe Sun Ra’s intention was mostly pedagogical, to teach his musicians and audience about this beautiful, highly disciplined music that was in danger of disappearing into the past (or coopted and smoothed over for contemporary, postmodern tastes).

This monophonic audience recording from The “New” Five Spot in New York City on June 11, 1975 opens with a fully-developed “mini-set” of Big-Band era classics and, unlike the loosey-goosey renditions previously heard, the Arkestra sounds super-tight and thoroughly well-rehearsed. When they tear through this old repertoire, they sound rough-and-ready and totally into it! This is probably how this stuff actually sounded on roadside bandstands during its glory years of the 1920s and ‘30s—it is more than just “authentic,” it’s real. The recording's primitive sound quality simultaneously enhances and detracts from the listening experience. On the one hand, the hissy mono recording sounds like it’s from a distant time-zone, an intergalactic transmission faintly audible on our humble earthbound receiver units. Nevertheless, it sure would be nice to hear this in high fidelity! Well, we take what can get and this one is a keeper, despite its sonic flaws. Sonny rhapsodizes on “Yesterdays” at the piano for a few minutes before Gilmore solemnly announces: “And now, Duke Ellington’s 'Lightnin’'!”—and they’re totally smoking, with Ra turning in a rollicking piano solo. Ellington’s “Slippery Horn” from 1932 is presented in an unusual arrangement with Robert Northern taking the lead on French horn (!) and Gilmore making a rare appearance on clarinet. Just lovely! Finally, the “mini-set” ends with a romantic piano interlude and a rip-snorting “King Porter Stomp.” Gilmore helpfully informs the crowd it was “composed by Jelly Roll Morton and arranged by Fletcher Henderson.” Taken at a slightly more relaxed tempo than later versions, the performance is confident and assured with newcomer Ahmed Abdullah coming through with a weirdly swinging trumpet solo. In all, a scintillating ten-minute history lesson from the Sun Ra and his Arkestra.

The rest is more typical of the era, but played at an extremely high level. Notable is the presence of a very fine bassist, whose identity is, sadly, unknown. Although Prof. Campbell suggests Ronnie Boykins or John Ore could be present (p. 218), I’m not so sure it’s either one of them. Whoever it is, he confidently holds down the groove on a lengthy jam on “Moonship Journey,” which moves through a series of space chants/songs including “Third Heaven,” “Journey to Saturn” and “Outer Space Employment Agency” without ever losing a beat. A dramatic synthesizer solo leads into “The Shadow World,” always a welcome occurrence. After blazing through the hyper-complicated head, everyone gets a chance to solo—including Northern’s French horn—but Gilmore steals the show with a ferocious outburst of saxophone pyrotechnics. Yes, it’s another amazing Gilmore solo! After a quick reprise, the set concludes with “Space Is The Place,” but cuts off just as it starts to get going. Oh well. Interestingly, my copy tacks on “Space Is The Place/We Roam The Cosmos” from the side-B of What’s New. Aside from a slight change in sound quality and volume level, the ambience and energy of the performance fits right in with the rest of the “New” Five Spot show—the unknown bass player certainly sounds the same. Could this be from the same gig? Is this “bootleg” actually an on-stage recording copied from Sonny’s stash, another “Lost Reel”? Who knows? In any event, this track works better in the context of an entire set than as a stand-alone (and far too brief) album side, making it a satisfying bit of filler.

Despite the less-than-perfect sound quality, this “bootleg” recording is worth hearing, if only for the expertly performed “mini-set” of obscure jazz classics and spectacular version of “The Shadow World.” That it may also contain the missing material from What’s New just makes it all the more tantalizing.

Playlist Week of 11-05-11

2011-11-05T18:48:00.010-05:00

* Marais: Pieces De Viole des Cinq Livres (Savall, et al.) (d.3) (Alia Vox 5SACD)
* J.S. Bach: Motetten (Collegium Vocale Gent/Herreweghe) (PHI/Outhere CD)
* J.S. Bach: Violin Sonatas (Manze/Egarr/ter Linden) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* J.S. Bach: Suites for Violoncello (ter Linden) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)†
* J.S. Bach: Sonatas for Viola da Gamba (Pandolfo/Alessandrini) (Harmonia Mundi CD)†
* Miles Davis: Complete Live At The Plugged Nickel (d.1-2) (Columbia/Legacy 8CD)
* John Coltrane: Live Trane: The European Tours (d.2) (Pablo 7CD)
* Grant Green: Idle Moments (Blue Note LP)
* Sun Ra: The “New” Five Spot, New York, NY 6-11-75 (AUD CDR)
* Bill Dixon & Tony Oxley: Papyrus Volume I (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Bill Dixon & Tony Oxley: Papyrus Volume II (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Ingrid Laubrock Sleepthief: Sleepthief (Intakt CD)
* Sylvie Courvoisier: Lonelyville (Intakt CD)
* Mephista: Black Narcissus (Tzadik CD)
* Mark Nauseef/Ikue Mori/Evan Parker/Bill Laswell: Near Nadir (Tzadik CD)
* David Torn: Prezens (ECM CD)
* Tortoise: It’s All Around You (Thrill Jockey CD)†
* Tortoise: Beacons Of Ancestorship (Thrill Jockey CD)†
* Grateful Dead: Olympia Theatre, Paris, France 5/4/72 (GDP/Rhino 4CD)
* Led Zeppelin: I (Atlantic CD)†
* Led Zeppelin: II (Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: III (Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: IV (Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: Houses Of The Holy (Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (Swan Song/Atlantic 2CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: Presence (Swan Song/Atlantic CD)†/‡
* King Crimson: Heavy ContruKction (d.1-2) (DGM 3CD)†
* Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (Warner Bros. 2-45RPM LP)
* Emmylou Harris: Wrecking Ball (Asylum CD)
* Tom Waits: As Bad As Me (Anti-/Epitaph LP/1+1CD)
* U2: Achtung Baby (Deluxe Edition) (Island/Universal 2CD)
* Phil Collins: Face Value (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity CD)
* U2: Zooropa (Island CD)
* Tool: Opiate (Zoo/BMG/Volcano CDEP)†
* Tool: Aenima (Zoo/BMG/Volcano CD)†
* Tool: Lateralus (Volcano/Tool Dissectional CD)†
* Tool: 10,000 Days (Volcano/Tool Dissectional CD)†
* The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin 5.1 (stereo) (Warner Bros. CD/DVD-A)
* Robert Pollard: Robert Pollard Is Off To Business (GBV, Inc. CD)†
* Robert Pollard: Moses On A Snail (GBV, Inc. CD)†
* Circus Devils: Capsized! (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Beck: Sea Change (Geffen/MoFi 2LP)
* Wilco: The Whole Love (dBpm/Epitaph 2LP)
* Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop 2LP)
* Broken Bells: Broken Bells (Columbia LP)
* Broken Bells: Meyrin Fields EP (Columbia EP)

†=iPod
‡-car

Commentary:

The release of Tom Waits’s first proper album in seven years is reason enough for celebration for his fans, yet Bad As Me is such a good record that newcomers may well become converts. Waits’ gravelly voice has been described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding “like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in a smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over by a car” but, as with Bob Dylan’s distinctive croak, it seems to get more expressive with age. Waits sounds better than ever, even stretching to a sweet falsetto on “Talking At The Same Time” or a crooning tenor on “Pay Me.” In contrast to the clattering, politically-charged Real Gone from 2004, Bad As Me is mostly a collection of semi-conventional love songs like “Back In The Crowd” or “Kiss Me”; lost-love weepers like “Face To The Highway”; and earnest homages to domestic bliss like “Raised Right Men” or “Satisfied.” Shockingly, Waits sounds almost downright happy! However, the penultimate track, “Hell Broke Luce,” is as bracingly avant-garde as anything he’s ever done: Told from the point of view from a war-damaged soldier, Waits barks out the embittered words in a frantic military cadence while the sound of helicopters, bombs and machinegun fire threatens to engulf the roaring electric guitars and pile-driving percussion. Whew! A truly harrowing listening experience! Stylistically, the album surveys the wide range of Waits’s obsessions from pre-War Americana to Tin Pan Alley torch songs; Brechitian theatrics to dissonant industrial noise—all of which he has managed to subsume into his own inimitable musical persona: the bard of Skid Row. And, as usual, he’s accompanied by a stellar line-up of musicians, including Marc Ribot, Keith Richards, David Hidalgo, Charlie Musselwhite, and Gino Robair. “Hell Broke Luce” aside, this is possibly Waits’s most accessible album in years.

The vinyl is beautifully pressed and packaged and seeing as it contains a copy of the CD, it’s definitely the way to go. But true fanatics and record collectors should seek out the limited edition 2-compact disc version which contains three additional songs and a handsome, hardbound book; the touchingly childlike “Tell Me” is well worth the cost of admission. Either way, fans will be pleased and the merely curious will be amply rewarded with the best of what Tom Waits has to offer. Highly recommended! Check out this video for the title track and see for yourself:

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-10-30T17:28:00.003-05:00

I picked up this cool little book at Downtown Music Gallery while we were in New York: This Planet Is Doomed: The Science Fiction Poetry of Sun Ra, which contains a number of previously unseen poems as well as a forward by Amiri Baraka and an overview of Ra’s literary pursuits by Bhob Stewart. Published by Kicks Books in association with Norton Records and Michael D. Anderson of the Sun Ra Archive, it’s definitely a worthy addition to the Sun Ra bookshelf. Here’s a great example (from page 73):

infinity is the language

all created art is music
art
choreography
sculpture
poetry
artworks
photographs
painting
architectural designs found in nature
trees
flowers
grass
every thing’s vibration is a different
degree of music
there is music everywhere
infinite infinity is the language of
enduring impression

I apologize for the sporadic posting lately (I’ve been busy!) but I’ll be back with more reviews next week—I promise!

Playlist Week Of 10-29-11

2011-10-29T19:23:00.008-05:00

* Tristan Perich: 1-Bit Symphony (Cantaloupe Music)
* John Coltrane: Live Trane: The European Tours (d.1) (Pablo 7CD)
* Andrew Hill: Judgment! (Blue Note CD)†/‡
* New Air: Live At Montreal International Jazz Festival (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* New Air: Air Show No.1 (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Henry Threadgill’s Very Very Circus: Spirit Of Nuff…Nuff (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Henry Threadgill: Song Out Of My Trees (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Henry Threadgill’s Flute Force 4: Flutistry (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Henry Threadgill’s Very Very Circus: Too Much Sugar For A Dime (Axiom/Island CD)†
* Bill Dixon: November 1981 (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Bill Dixon: Thoughts (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Bill Dixon: Son Of Sisyphus (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Bill Dixon: Vade Mecum (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Bill Dixon: Vade Mecum II (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Roscoe Mitchell Trans-Atlantic Art Ensemble: Composition/Improvisation No.1-3 (ECM CD)†
* Evan Parker Trans-Atlantic Art Ensemble: Boustrophedon (ECM CD)†
* Steve Noble/John Edwards/Ingrid Laubrock: BBC Jazz on 3, London, England 2-21-08(FM CDR)
* Paradoxical Frog (Davis/Laubrock/Maneri/Sorey) Vision Festival, NYC 6-11-11 (FM CDR)
* Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: Anti-House (Intakt CD)†
* Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: The Vortex, London, England 1-18-10 (FM CDR)
* Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: Agosto Jazz Festival, Lisbon, Portugal 8-06-11 (AUD 2CDR)
* Ingrid Laubrock Quintet: Red Hook Jazz Festival, Brooklyn, NY 6-18-11 (AUD CDR)
* Mephista: Black Narcissus (Tzadik CD)
* Mephista: Entomological Reflections (Tzadik CD)
* Spring Heel Jack: Masses (Thirsty Ear CD)†
* Spring Heel Jack: Amassed (Thirsty Ear CD)†
* David Torn: Best Laid Plans (ECM CD)†
* David Torn: Cloud About Mercury (ECM CD)†
* Tortoise: TNT (Thrill Jockey CD)†
* Tortoise: Standards (Thrill Jockey CD)†
* The Disco Box (d.1-2) (Rhino 4CD)
* Emmylou Harris: Spyboy (Eminent/ CD)
* Grateful Dead: Musikhalle, Hamburg, W. Germany 4/29/72 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: Olympia Theare, Paris, France 5/3/72 (GDP/Rhino 4CD)
* Santana: Caravanserai (Columbia/MoFi SACD)
* Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon (Experience Edition) (d.1) (Pinkfloyd/EMI 2CD)†
* Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)†
* Pink Floyd: Animals (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)†
* King Crimson: Discipline (DGM CD)†
* King Crimson: Beat (DGM CD)†
* King Crimson: Three Of A Perfect Pair (DGM CD)†
* King Crimson: Thrak (DGM CD)†
* Tom Waits: Bad As Me (Anti LP)
* Chris Bell: I Am The Cosmos (Deluxe Edition) (Ardent/Rhino Handmade 2CD)†/‡
* Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse (Geffen CD)†(‡)
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador 2LP)
* Robert Pollard: Let It Beard Boombox Demos (GBV, Inc. CD)
* Boston Spaceships: Let it Beard (GBV, Inc. CD)†
* Circus Devils: Capsized! (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Those Bastard Souls: Debt And Departure (V2 CD)† (‡)
* Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam (Domino CD)†
* Animal Collective: “Peacebone” (Domino CDEP)†
* Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino CD)†
* Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity (Kill Rock Stars CD)†

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

What a week! I’m still catching up from our trip to New York, processing photographs and slowly going through the batch of rare and wonderful CDs I picked up at Downtown Music Gallery—stuff that is pretty much unavailable anywhere else. Of course, I expected to like the box set of Henry Threadgill’s Black Saint/Soul Note records (and I do!) but I was completely blown away by the Bill Dixon box on the same label, which I bought purely upon the enthusiastic recommendation of a friend. I was mostly unfamiliar with his music until now but, wow, this stuff is beautiful! I have to admit I’m not the biggest fan of the trumpet as a solo instrument but Dixon’s playing is superb: moody, dark, spacious, deeply melodious with a rich, burnished tone—and his compositions for improvising ensembles are uniquely compelling, unlike anything else I’ve ever heard. I’m still not through all nine discs, but each one is a masterpiece of understated genius. There’s more great stuff in the pile of discs I brought home but I can barely begin to comment on any of it. Frankly, it’s been a crazy week, what with going back to work after a long vacation (and the intendant backlog), capped off with seeing Adrian Belew Power Trio with Tony Levin’s Stickmen at the Belcourt Theater last night. It was a long evening of prog-rock mayhem and, man, I’m beat! Sometimes, I think I’m too old to rock’n’roll…Anyway, I hope to get back into the swing of writing on the blog next week, so please stay tuned.

Playlist Week of 10-22-11

2011-10-22T18:49:00.016-05:00

* Miles Davis: Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige/DCC CD)†
* Miles Davis: Cookin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige/DCC CD)†
* Miles Davis: The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions (d.1,3) (Columbia/Legacy 3CD)†
* Miles Davis: Agharta (CBS/Sony 2CD)
* Miles Davis: Pangaea (CBS/Sony 2CD)
* John Coltrane: The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (Atlantic/Rhino 7CD)†
* John Coltrane: Impressions (Impulse! CD)†
* John Coltrane: Coltrane (Impulse! CD)†
* John Coltrane: Crescent (Impulse! CD)†
* John Coltrane: Ballads (Impulse! CD)†
* Bill Evans: The Complete Live At The Village Vanguard 1961 (Riverside/Concord 3CD)†
* Stan Getz & Jao Gilberto: Getz/Gilberto (Verve CD)†
* Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd: Jazz Samba (Verve CD)†
* Antonio Carlos Jobim: The Composer of Definado, Plays (Verve CD)†
* Air (Henry Threadgill/Fred Hopkins/Steve McColl): Live Air (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Air (Henry Threadgill/Fred Hopkins/Steve McColl): Air Mail (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Bill Dixon: Bill Dixon In Italy, Volume One (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Bill Dixon: Bill Dixon In Italy, Volume Two (Black Saint/Soul Note CD)
* Joëlle Léandre/Phillip Greenlief: That Overt Desire Of Object (Relative Pitch CD)
* Ingrid Laubrock Sleepthief: Sleepthief (Intakt CD)
* Ingrid Laubrock Sleepthief: The Madness Of Crowds (Intakt CD)
* Paradoxical Frog (Kris Davis/Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey): Paradoxical Frog (Clean Feed CD)
* Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up: Actionspeak (482 Music CD)
* LTJ Bukem: Journey Inwards (Kinetic 2CD)†
* Grateful Dead: Jahrhundert Halle, Frankfurt, W. Germany 4/26/72 (GDP/Rhino 4CD)
* Wilco: The Whole Love (dBpm/Epitaph 2LP)

†=iPod

Commentary:

Just got back from a weeklong vacation in New York City—the Big Apple, The City That Never Sleeps—and we had an amazing trip. We timed it so we could see our favorite guitarist, Mary Halvorson, on Friday and Saturday at The Stone and she did not disappoint. The first night was devoted to Halvorson’s new quintet/septet with saxophonists Ingrid Laubrock and Tim Berne, Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Jacob Garchik on trombone, John Hebert on bass and Ches Smith on drums and she introduced all new compositions for the expanded ensemble. Unfortunately, she didn’t really let loose on the guitar until the very end, preferring to leave the solo spaces open to others, with Laubrock putting on a particularly breathtaking display of tenor madness during the first septet piece. But instead of freewheeling improvisation, the focus was on the richly textured compositions, which happily evoke the post-bop big-band idiom while bending and stretching it into something altogether new, fresh and exciting. Saturday night featured Halvorson with violist Jessica Pavone in what was supposed to be a record-release party for their new CD on Thirsty Ear, but manufacturing delays caused it to be unavailable. Nevertheless, they played the entire album from start to finish and demonstrated the continued development of their unique brand of electric chamber music. Sounding more like Henry Cow than Eric Dolphy (complete with charmingly weird and dissonant art-songs), they still encored with a wonderfully twisted cover from Out To Lunch. Halvorson is the most interesting guitarist around in my opinion and I was privileged to get to meet her after the show—and she is as nice and down-to-earth as could be. I can’t wait to hear what she does next.

On Sunday evening, we trekked down to Downtown Music Gallery, the world’s greatest record store for out-jazz and avant-garde music of all kinds, where I did a little shopping and saw a brief set by bassist Dominic Lash and clarinetist Alex Ward. Holy smokes! Words cannot even describe how intensely beautiful it was! The level of musicianship was just extraordinary and their telepathic musical communication was astonishing to behold. I need to hear more of these two immediately! Finally, on Monday night I went with my friend Scott to Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center (a converted schoolhouse in a seriously funky neighborhood in the Lower East Side) to see Ingrid Laubrock again, this time with bassist Joshua Abrams’s group with drummer Gerald Cleaver. This band can groove and it was interesting to hear Laubrock doing her thing in a different context. The night ended with a duo performance by cellist Tomas Ulrich and bassist Michael Bisio that was simply mindblowing. These guys attacked their acoustic instruments like Pete Townsend (or Jimi Hendrix)—I halfway expected them to smash them to bits and set them on fire at the end! Yet their playing was extraordinarily sensitive as well, with a touching rendition of John Coltrane’s “Alabama” thrown in amidst the extended improvisations. I was completely blown away.

After four nights in a row, that was it for music; we spent the rest of the week looking at art and sightseeing. It seems we could have stayed a month and not seen all we wanted to. But we did see the big De Kooning retrospective at MOMA; David Smith sculptures at The Whitney; the 100-year exhibition at the New York Public Library; “Steiglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O’Keefe” at The Met; “Ingres at The Morgan” at the Morgan Library; “Picasso’s Drawings, 1890-1921: Reinventing Tradition” at the Frick Collection; as well as a gallery tour of Chelsea, where we saw Richard Serra’s massive torqued spirals at Gagosian, paintings by Agnes Martin at Pace, and Nick Cave’s “sound suits” at Mary Boone. Even so, it felt like we barely scratched the surface of the NYC art world. But we also took the “Harbor Lights” cruise on the Circle Line; took the elevator to “The Top of The Rock”; and strolled through Central Park and along the new High Line Park downtown. Best of all, our hotel room—a “junior suite”—at the Sofitel was dee-luxe! It was so nice to stay in such a nice place while we were there; it made the trip much more relaxing—we could even listen to my iPod on the in-room stereo! The weather was (mostly) delightful and we got to see old friends as well as a rare visit with Lizzy’s brother, David, who had just flown in from Tokyo to give a paper at Princeton (!). Oh, and the restaurants! The Modern! Mercato! Cafe Un Deux Trois! Candle 79! Kellari! Yummee! It was a really special trip, vastly exceeding my wildest expectations, and I will forever have such fond memories. Sure, it’s nice to be home—but I can’t wait to go back again some day.

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-10-16T18:42:00.000-05:00

POINTS OF THE SPACE AGE

THE SPACE AGE CANNOT BE AVOIDED.

The greater future is the age of the space prophet
The scientific airy minded second man.
The prince of the power of the air.
The air is music.
The music is power.
The power of the past was its music.
The greater power of the future greater
Is its greater music.

Greater music is art.
Art is the foundation of any living culture.
Living culture is skilled culture
Skilled beautifulness, aim and care
And love of beauty is the only way to produce art.

Skilled culture is the new weapon of nations,
The new measure of determination as to whether a nation
Is ready to be a greater nation is art.
A nation without art is a nation without a lifeline.
Art is the lifeline because art is the airy concept
Of greater living. It is the airy foundation of the airy
Kingdom of the future.

TOMORROW BEYOND TOMORROW IS THE GREATER KINGDOM.

--Sun Ra (1984)

Playlist Week of 10-15-11

2011-10-15T23:08:00.003-05:00

* Hildegard von Bingen: 11,000 Virgins (Anonymous 4) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* Istanbul: Dimitrie Cantemir 1673-1723 (Hespèrion XXI/Savall) (Alia Vox SACD)
* Miles Davis: Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1963-64 (d.1-5) (Columbia 6CD)
* Sun Ra: The “New” Five Spot, New York, NY 6-11-75 (AUD CDR)
* Bobby Hutcherson: “Mellow Vibes” (Blue Note mix CDR)†
* Bill Evans Trio: The Complete Live At The Village Vanguard (Riverside 3CD)†
* Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: Memory / Vision (ECM CD)†
* Henry Threadgill’s Zooid: This Brings Us To Vol.I (Pi CD)†
* Henry Threadgill’s Zooid: This Brings Us To Vol.II (Pi CD)†
* Anthony Braxton: Trio (Wesleyan) 2005 (New Braxton House MP3)†
* Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Mannheim) 2010 (New Braxton House MP3)†
* Andrew Raffo Dewar: Six Lines of Transformation (Porter CD)
* Mary Halvorson Trio: WFMU, New York, NY 12-17-08 (FM CDR)
* Mary Halvorson Trio: The Vortex, London, England 12-14-09 (FM CDR)
* Mary Halvorson Trio: Willisau, Switzerland 8-25-10 (FM CDR)
* Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone: WFMU, New York, NY 9-10-06 (FM CDR)
* Mary Halvorson Trio: Dragon’s Head (Firehouse 12 CD)†
* Mary Halvorson Quintet: Saturn Sings (Firehouse 12 CD)†
* Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: Anti-House (Intakt CD)†
* Tom Rainey Trio: Pool School (Clean Feed CD)†
* David Torn’s Prezens: The Vortex, London, England 1-14-08 (FM CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Beat-Club, Bremen, Germany 4/21/72 (GDP/Rhino CD)
* Grateful Dead: Rheinhalle, Dusseldorf, W. Germany 4/24/72 (GDP/Rhino 4CD)
* Sonic Youth: A Thousand Leaves (Geffen CD)†
* Sonic Youth: Murray Street (Geffen CD)†
* Sonic Youth: The Destroyed Room (Geffen CD)†
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador CD)†
* Spiritualized: Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997 Live (Arista 2CD)†
* UNKLE: Psyence Fiction (MoWax CD)†/‡
* DJ Shadow: Preemptive Strike (MoWax CD)†/‡
* DJ. Shadow: The Private Press (MCA CD)†/‡
* Radiohead: TKOL RMX 1234567 (tbd/Ticker Tape 2CD)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

No time to write!

NuVoid Interview With Indeterminacies Co-Curators, Lesley Beeman & Lain York

2011-10-09T11:36:00.025-05:00

Lesley Beeman and Lain York with Kurt Wagner’s “Beautiful Millionaire 2000,” Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN October 4, 2011

In this year’s “Best Of Nashville” issue, the Nashville Scene just recently awarded Indeterminacies “Best Contemporary Classical Series” and I wholeheartedly agree with their assessment! Indeterminacies is the brainchild of architect Lesley Beeman and visual artists Lain York, based at the Zeitgeist Gallery, which shares its space with Manuel Zeitlin Architects in picturesque Hillsboro Village. The storefront gallery shows contemporary work from local and international artists while the firm is responsible for some of the most beautifully modern buildings in Nashville. A synergetic dialogue between fine art, architecture and design has been the defining principle of Zeitgeist/MZA since its opening in 1994 and has increasingly utilized the gallery as a venue for cutting edge music, dance and experimental performance art. The series derives its name from John Cage’s idea of “indeterminacy,” art as “processes whose outcome is not predetermined” and, to that end, audience participation is actively encouraged. In an interview with Theatre Intangible, Lain York stated their artistic “goal is to push someone else into carrying the conversation further” while Lesley Beeman spoke of the desire to build a “library of criticism for new music” through “a critical dialogue” between composers, performers and listeners. As you can see, Indeterminacies is much more than a mere concert series.

On Tuesday October 11, Indeterminacies continues with a program of music by Andrew Raffo Dewar performed by Pulse New Music Ensemble and guitarist, Brady Sharp, who will play “Box With Strings” (2003) a composition of prepared electric guitar (!). Your humble blogger will be moderating the discussion and I’m very pleased (and surprised!) to have been asked to participate. The music is certainly right up my alley: Mr. Dewar studied with Anthony Braxton, one of my biggest heroes, and plays (woodwinds) on some of my all-time favorite records, including Braxton’s mammoth 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 box set (Firehouse 12) and 12+1tet (Victoriaville) 2007 (Victo) as well as Bill Dixon’s final magnum opus, 17 Musicians In Search Of A Sound: Darfur (AUM Fidelity). But he’s also a respected composer in his own right as well as an ethnomusicologist and Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts at The New College & School of Music at the University of Alabama. There is wonderful CD of his music entitled, Six Lines of Transformation, available on Porter Records, and is highly recommended. The works presented on October 11 are exquisite examples of “ergodic notation,” graphic scores which transcend the confines of traditional notation and require the musician’s own imagination and creativity to interpret. It is not exactly improvisation—the instructions are quite explicit—but the result is, well, indeterminate. It is sure to be scintillating evening of music and, hopefully, enlightening discussion.

I recently had an opportunity to chat with Lesley Beeman and Lain York about the Indeterminacies series and they graciously allowed their words (and image) to be published on the blog:

+++

RC: This season’s Indeterminacies line-up is suitably eclectic: On September 13, the Portara Ensemble performed David Lang’s Pulitzer prize-winning vocal piece, “The Little Match Girl Passion”; on October 11, Andrew Raffo Dewar presents some of his “ergodic” scores performed by the Pulse Ensemble and Brady Sharp; and on November 8, the season concludes with a program featuring theorist/composer John Latartara. Can you tell me a little about how you came up with this year’s schedule of events?

Lesley: This is the fourth year we've been doing events like this in the gallery, although they've had different titles. It seems that each year's concept grows from something in the year before. This year's series grew out of a program we did about critical thinking with Jonathan Neufeld and Matt Walker [director of ALIAS Chamber Ensemble]. Long story short-er, short-ish, this year we set out to try to build a library of criticism of new music. So, we combine new music by local composers with critics to engage us in a rigorous discussion of the music. The first person we contacted was John Latartara whose striking electronic music introduced me to an exciting new genre of music.

Lain: Conversations outside institutional confines overwhelmingly indicate that folks want to talk and be more engaged; they want more focused conversation and are not short on opinions. It seems, however, that when a platform for these conversations is presented it takes some doing to get people (a) to the venue and (b) get them sharing. In 2006, “dialogues” related to visual art group shows sought to “confront” a studio community that was frustrated on a number of levels. Results were mixed but at least we were all set on a trajectory. Not sure if it is that we are in the South but shoes are still a bit too tight. Hopefully this year’s Indeterminacies will continue to see the conversations that folks say they want to see tabled. Would love to see more area outfits playing with formats that will induce “sharing” in both physical and virtual space.

RC: You have taken a step in that direction, with last month’s program being streamed from Indeterminacies Facebook page and I assume that will continue in the future. In the interview with Theatre Intangible, Lain described the Indeterminacies program as a “dialogue” and an attempt to “push the conversation further.” To that end, the presence of a moderator and an audience participation segment is an integral part of each event and I’m honored to have been asked to host the Andrew Raffo Dewar program. I understand it is something more than just a Q&A with the composer, yet audiences (and composers and musicians) can be difficult to draw out. How do you envision the ultimate Indeterminacies program? Where does the “conversation” go from here?

Lesley: Art, architecture, music, design fundamentally search for something new or a new way of looking at something familiar. Conversation is a critical part of this enterprise. The ultimate Indeterminacies program would engage the presenters and the audience in that search.

RC: Well, I’m happy to do my part! For me, one of the things that is so refreshing about the Indeterminacies events is hearing serious, cutting edge music is presented in a contemporary art gallery space. One of my bailiwicks is that most people—including many musicians—do not consider music to be “art.” The proof is in their general contempt of modernism when it comes to music. Nobody who wants to be taken seriously in the fine art world would be caught dead making jokes about, say, Cy Twombly, yet John Cage is still grossly misunderstood and forever controversial in the “classical music” world. Painting, sculpture, theatre, film, architecture have all canonized and cannibalized their modernist heroes and moved on; meanwhile so-called “classical music” is confined to the narrow confines of a misconstrued 19th Century. Is music in an art gallery different from music in a concert hall? Is music art?

Lain: First of all, I have always felt that John Cage is a painfully underrated visual artist. Love hearing him mentioned in the same breath as Twombly (Twombly being Kingboss as far as I’m concerned). If “art” is a vehicle for expression, association, and conversation I certainly think of music (writing, film making, choreography/dance, skateboarding, etc.) as art. The gallery has always been interested in curatorial projects by artists. The idea of exhibitions in a physical, institutional gallery space for viewing visual art critiquing and deconstructing institutional gallery spaces for viewing visual art is, I believe, very timely. Through curated exhibitions and performances, the space plays with the idea of “programming” making the shows and the space itself a nexus for showcasing particular studio practices, networking the shows themselves, and for visual artists working in particular media. It’s there to deconstruct and define in new ways the nature of these physical spaces and the influences they have on what was shown on the walls (and vice versa)and should directly affect how these works are translated into more formal/traditional venues. In the age of virtual space, people gathering in physical spaces has new meanings and in a relatively small cultural market traditionally lacking in institutional support such as Nashville, this can be a lot of fun.

We have all been seeing artists/musicians/writers/film makers, etc. interacting in interesting ways for years and the argument for/against compartmentalizing and specializing is taking on new meanings. The tools available now on the internet for individual expression and sharing are making these very exciting times. Museums, concert halls, cinemas, etc. (and the canons they reflect) are all having to absorb new vocabularies introduced on the periphery. Kicking and screaming in some instances.

RC: I, for one, very much appreciate the work you’re doing to push things forward! When Theatre Intangible asked who some of your influences are in your own art, Lesley replied: “John Cage’s book ‘Silence’ is the best book on architecture ever written.” Well, that statement sort of blew my mind! Discovering that book while at the Conservatory changed my life forever! I’ve re-read it many times and it is certainly one of the best books about music ever written. Can you elaborate on how it influenced your practice as an architect? Can you give an example where music directly impacted a building you designed?

Lesley: For me "Silence" is a book primarily about creating spaces that enhance a connection to the present, in Cage's sense a musical space but can also be an architectural space. It's about a stillness or an anchoring to a place in space or a place in time. Cage asks us to be still and listen to what is happening around us. Great architecture asks us to be still and be aware of our surroundings. The two are exactly the same. I'm not sure I can point to a building I've worked on that explicitly demonstrates this quality, but it is how I try to think about making architecture. It's a struggle and I'm certainly not always successful, but I hope to think more about space, experience and stillness than about making a "building."

RC: That makes a lot of sense and helps to explain why architecture can, like music, be the catalyst for a profoundly moving experience. Cage was truly a renaissance man: musician, philosopher and also a fine visual artist. Lain, can you describe his influence on your work?

Lain: I believe he cuts right across genres, disciplines, whatever you have. I see him as a strategist and philosopher, much like Duchamp, using drawing, printmaking, sound, etc. as a vehicle for his line of inquiry. I see creative process as using a particular or broad based skill set to flesh out associations related to particular ideas. His skill set definitely proved more broad and articulate than most. With that in mind, his approach to drawing has been most intriguing: the most immediate response to the most complex ideas.

RC: Works by artists Wayne White and Kurt Wagner (leader of the legendary alt-country band, Lambchop) are currently showing at Zeitgeist Gallery. Did the schedule of art openings influence your programming for Indeterminacies?

Lain: Janice [Zeitlin] and I do not consciously curate with the performances in mind; there’s something already in the water. Kurt is an internationally recognized musician and friend who we’ve wanted to show for ages. I spoke at length with Kurt about the Indeterminacies programming and he was super supportive. He’s familiar with Lang and loves the idea of the gallery as an interdisciplinary platform. Kurt was hoping to find some young bluegrass musicians, some that were just starting out to play at the reception with Wayne. Wayne also plays banjo and the thought of these relative novice players with pure intent was definitely appealing. Could not get that together, though.

RC: That would have been fun! Can you tell you me about future exhibitions?

Lain: The November gallery show will feature Ward Schumaker who is San Francisco-based. His background is in illustration and design but I find him to be a phenomenal painter and is currently getting picked up by galleries in LA, New York, and Shanghai. Upon initially meeting him, we somehow launched into a discussion on La Monte Young. Ward’s San Francisco gallery recently began hosting performances.

RC: That’s definitely a trend I like to see. What’s on the horizon for Indeterminacies in 2012?

Lesley: I have absolutely no idea, but it will doubtless involve something unexpected. Any suggestions?

RC: Well, I’d love to see more of Braxton’s progeny such as Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum and Jessica Pavone be given the opportunity to play in Nashville since they so gleefully transcend the boundaries of composition and improvisation, “classical” and “jazz,” while developing a highly personalized voice on their respective instruments—but I don’t know how feasible it would be! Thank you both so much for taking the time to offer such thoughtful responses to my questions and for inviting me to participate on Tuesday!

+++

With beautiful fall weather we’re having, Tuesday’s event will take place outdoors, in the courtyard behind Retropolitan and Cotten Music Center, located just a few doors down from Zeitgeist at 1813 21st Avenue South. The program starts at 6:00pm and is free and open to the public, so I hope to see you there! In the meantime, go to Theatre Intangible and download these high-quality podcasts of previous events by composers Stan Link, Mark Snyder and Mark Volker. Good stuff!

Playlist Week Of 10-08-11

2011-10-08T20:08:00.001-05:00

* Rebel: Violin Sonatas (Manze/Egarr/ter Linden) (Harmonia Mundi CD)†
* Vivaldi: Concertos, RV 331, etc. (VBO/Marcon/Carmignola) (Archiv Produktion CD)
* Vivaldi: Concertos For Two Violins (VBO/Marcon/Carmignola/Mullova) (Archiv Produktion CD)
* Miles Davis: The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions (Columbia/Legacy 3CD)
* Herbie Hancock: Sextant (Columbia/Legacy CD)†
* Anthony Braxton: Trio (Wesleyan) 2005 (New Braxton House FLAC>CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Septet (Pittsburgh) 2008 (New Braxton House MP3)†
* Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Mannheim) 2010 (New Braxton House FLAC>CDR)
* John Fahey: Of Rivers And Religion (Reprise LP)
* Grateful Dead: Wembley Empire Pool, London, England 4/7/72 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: Wembley Empire Pool, London, England 4/8/72 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: City Hall, Newcastle, England 4/11/72 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark 4/14/72 (GDP/Rhino 4CD)
* Grateful Dead: Stakladen, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark 4/16/72 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark 4/17/72 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Allman Brothers Band: At Fillmore East (Deluxe Edition) (Mercury/Universal 2CD)†/‡
* Allman Brothers Band: Eat A Peach (Deluxe Edition) (selections) (Mercury/Universal 2CD)†/‡
* Stephen Stills: Manassas (Atlantic 2LP)
* Carole King: Tapestry (Columbia Mastersound LP)
* King Crimson: Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal 1984 (DGM 2CD)†
* King Crimson: Vroom Vroom: Live in Mexico City and On Broadway 1995-96 (DGM 2CD)†
* Adrian Belew: Lone Rhino (Island LP)
* Adrian Belew: Twang Bar King (Island LP)
* Tony Levin/David Torn/Alan White: Levin Torn White (Lazy Bones CD)†
* Brand X: Product (Passport LP)
* Cocteau Twins: Echoes In A Shallow Bay (4AD/Capitol CDEP)†
* Cocteau Twins: Tiny Dynamine (4AD/Capitol CDEP)†
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador CD)†
* Spiritualized: Lazer Guided Melodies (Arista CD)†
* Spiritualized: Pure Phase (Arista CD)†
* Spiritualized: Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space (Arista CD)†/‡
* Spiritualized: Let It Come Down (Arista CD)†
* Spiritualized: Amazing Grace (Spaceman/Sanctuary CD)†
* Spiritualized: Songs In A & E (Spaceman/Sanctuary CD)†
* My Bloody Valentine: Loveless (Sire/Warner Bros. CD)†
* Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch CD)†/‡
* Wilco: A Ghost Is Born (Nonesuch CD)†(‡)
* Wilco: The Whole Love (dBpm/Epitaph 2LP/1+1CD)(†)(‡)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

OK, all is forgiven. Europe ’72: The Complete Recordings is by far the most audacious box set ever: twenty-two full concerts spread across seventy-three CDs with a 100-page hardback book of essays and photos plus a reproduction of “The Book of The Dead” handed out at the Lyceum Ballroom, all packaged in an oversized, leather-bound “steamer trunk” festooned with vintage travel stickers from London, Newcastle, Paris, Munich, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Copenhagen and Rotterdam. The presentation alone is worth the price of admission: it’s a gorgeous object d’art and a fitting monument to what was arguably the Grateful Dead’s finest hour.

This was Pigpen’s last tour and, despite his failing health, he gives it his all, as if he knew he was soon to die. Photographs show him looking thin and pale, bundled up against the cold and dreary European spring. But he’d written a number of new songs for the occasion (including uptempo swingers like “Mr. Charlie” and “Chinatown Suffle” and the heartrending ballad, “Two Souls In Communion”) and he belts out classic numbers like “Good Lovin’”, “(Turn On Your) Lovelight” and “Caution (Do Not Stop On The Tracks)” just like the old days, complete with freewheeling raps and bloodcurdling screams. He even adds some soulful organ to many songs, giving lie to the idea that he was somehow inadequate as an instrumentalist. This was also Donna Godchaux’s first tour singing with the band who along with her husband, Keith, on keyboards, brought a refreshing creative boost to the group. While her banshee wails on “Playing In The Band” are a bit over the top, Donna Jean’s harmony vocals elsewhere add a sweetness and feminine energy that balanced perfectly with Jerry Garcia’s reedy tenor and Bob Weir’s idiosyncratic yelp. Keith had been with the band about six months by this time and he fits in perfectly: whether it’s a rollicking boogie-woogie, a tender country-western ballad, the furthest reaches of spaced-out improvisation or full-tilt rock ’n’ roll, he’s right there with supportive comping and a sparkling flourish. The band was inspired enough to write a bunch of new songs, many of which were debuted on this tour and would go on to become staples of their repertoire: songs like “Cumberland Blues,” “Ramble On Rose,” “Tennessee Jed,” “Brown-Eyed Women,” and “He’s Gone” tap the rich vein of American folk music, sounding like they could have been written sometime in the late-19th Century, yet still sound timeless and hip, like a psychedelicized, electric string band from the planet Neptune. While the band would soldier on and write many more great songs, things would never be quite the same with Pigpen’s passing. Europe ’72: the Complete Recordings offers a panoramic view of the glorious final days of the so-called “primal” era of Grateful Dead music.

I’m of two minds regarding the sound quality of these discs. On the one hand, they lack the Technicolor vividness of 2002’s Steppin’ Out With The Grateful Dead: England ’72 (Arista), one of the best-sounding releases in their catalog. On the other hand, Jeffrey Norman’s simple and directed approach to mixing the original sixteen-track tapes (necessitated by the time constraints imposed by the sheer enormity of the project) offers a more honest representation of the band’s sound, warts and all. Sometimes the balance is muddled and there’s a midrange graininess that is a little distracting; nevertheless, these discs are very pleasing to listen to—certainly much better than the old “bootleg” soundboard tapes which circulate. But what really makes these CDs worthwhile is the high-tech time alignment performed by Plangent Processes: the pitch is rock solid and any azimuth smear or wow-and-flutter issues are completely eliminated. I wish all their releases would get this kind of treatment, particularly the lowly cassette sources, which were notorious for extreme time-based problems (e.g. some of the Road Trips releases). So while the mix on these discs is a little bit slapdash, they still sound delightful to these ears—especially at, um, “realistic” volume levels. It would have been nice if a DVD of their television appearances in Copenhagen and Bremen had also been included to make it truly “complete” but maybe they will be released separately sometime in the future; in the meantime, my fuzzy boot of the broadcasts will have to suffice.

I’m slowly making my through the box in chronological order (it’s all I can do not to jump ahead to the Rotterdam “Dark Star”) and, quibbles aside, I’m in Deadhead heaven. Dead.net’s customer service left something (a lot!) to be desired, but the thing did finally arrive—and it’s truly extraordinary. No doubt I’ll have more to say about this set as I listen further. Stay tuned.

It's Finally Here!

2011-10-05T18:38:00.002-05:00

It was worth the wait. Maybe.

Wilco @ The Ryman 2011-10-02

2011-10-03T17:53:00.014-05:00

SETLIST: 1.Less Than You Think 2.Art of Almost 3.I Might 4.Black Moon 5.Ashes of American Flags 6.I Am Trying to Break Your Heart 7.Pot Kettle Black 8.Born Alone 9.Side with the Seeds 10.One Sunday Morning 11.I'll Fight 12.Impossible Germany 13.Open Mind 14.Handshake Drugs 15.Dawned on Me 16.Shot in the Arm 17.Hummingbird Encore: 18.Whole Love 19.36 Inches (with Nick Lowe) 20.I Love My Label (with Nick Lowe) 21.California Stars 22.Late Greats 23.Heavy Metal Drummer 24.Red Eyed and Blue 25.I Got You (At the End of he Century)

Wilco put on an incredible show last night at the Ryman Auditorium, even better than I expected--and that's saying a lot! Right from the get-go, the band was on their game, opening with an unexpected "Less Than You Think," which segued into a lengthy bout of pure electronic noise before launching into the terrific new song, "Art of Almost." Whew! And that was just the beginning! The concert was just about exactly perfect, end-to-end. The light show was also amazing, expertly choreographed to the music and augmented with what appeared to be sculptural wads of tissues strung from the rafters, reflecting the spotlights and projections and which, themselves, contained even more lights. It was quite beautiful to look at without distracting too much from what was happening on the stage. Legendary New-Waver, Nick Lowe, was an inspired choice as an opener and his solo acoustic set was charming, funny, suave and debonair—and he joined the band for a couple of encores, which was a lot of fun (photo). Tweedy suggested he should join the band full time: “We could call ourselves WicLo,” he said. Ha-ha. Interestingly, Nels Cline played Duane Allman’s famous gold-top Les Paul on a few songs, borrowed from The Allman Brothers Band Museum in Macon, Georgia—and, I swear, he sounded even more inspired than usual during his extended solo on “Impossible Germany.” Tweedy remarked that they’d taken up a collection to buy it for him, since it made him so happy—but they came up “about nine-hundred-and-ninety-thousand dollars short.” I sort of wish we’d gone the night before (about half their set was completely different) but it was, according to Tweedy, a typical Saturday night in Music City: completely out of control, with pungent “whiffs of vomit” wafting through the air, a lady passed out “with her chin on the stage” and yahoos “dangling from balcony.” Uh, actually I’m probably just as glad to have missed it. Still, Wilco was so damn good it makes me want to quit my job and follow them around, Grateful-Dead-style. Well, that isn’t going to happen—but I’m looking forward to the next opportunity to see them. Wilco just gets better and better. Bravo!

Playlist Week of 10-01-11

2011-10-01T18:53:00.019-05:00

* Vivaldi: Late Concertos, RV 386, etc. (VBO/Marcon/Carmignola) (Sony Classical CD)
* Vivaldi: Late Concertos, RV 177, etc. (VBO/Marcon/Carmignola) (Sony Classical CD)
* Miles Davis: Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968 (Columbia/Legacy 6CD)
* Sun Ra: The “New” Five Spot, New York, NY 6-11-75 (AUD CDR)
* Sun Ra: Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA Dec. 1975 (AUD CDR)
* Ronnie Boykins: The Time Will Come, Is Now (ESP-Disk’ CD)
* Anthony Braxton: Three Compositions Of New Jazz (Delmark LP)
* Anthony Braxton Ensemble: Carnegie Hall, New York, NY 6-27-76 (FM CDR)
* Henry Threadgill’s Zooid: Jazz Gallery, New York, NY 6-23-11 (AUD 2CDR)
* David Torn: Best Laid Plans (ECM CD)
* Tony Levin/David Torn/Alan White: Levin Torn White (Lazy Bones CD)†
* ProjeKct One: Live At The Jazz Café (DGM CD)†
* ProjeKct Two: Live Groove (DGM CD)†
* ProjeKct X: Heaven And Earth (DGM CD)†
* Tortoise: Tortoise (Thrill Jockey CD)†
* Tortoise: Millions Now Living Will Never Die (Thrill Jockey CD)†
* Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 (d.4) (Rhino 4CD)†/‡
* Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire & Beyond (d.1-2) (Rhino 4CD)†/‡
* Jimi Hendrix: The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Experience Hendrix/MCA 4CD)
* Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left (Island/Brytermusic CD)†
* Nick Drake: Bryter Later (Island/Brytermusic CD)†
* Nick Drake: Pink Moon (Island/Brytermusic CD)†
* Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon (Experience Edition) (Pinkfloyd/EMI 2CD)
* Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: Animals (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: The Wall (Pinkfloyd/EMI 2CD)
* The Fall: This Nation’s Saving Grace (Omnibus Edition) (d.2) (Beggar’s Banquet 3CD)
* Beck: Mutations (Geffen CD)†
* Beck: Sea Change (Geffen/MoFi CD)†
* Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks: Real Emotional Trash (Matador CD)
* Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks: Mirror Traffic (Matador CD)
* Wilco: Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch CD)†/‡
* Wilco: Wilco (the album) (Nonesuch CD)†/‡
* Wilco: The Whole Love (dBpm/Epitaph 2LP/1+1CD)
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

The new Wilco album dropped this week and it’s their best record in years—perhaps ever! As the inaugural release on their own dBpm label, Wilco has gone all out with this one: The Whole Love is available as a regular compact disc; a limited-edition slipcase package with expanded artwork, a 52-page booklet, and a bonus EP containing four more songs (including Nick Lowe’s “I Love My Label,” the B-Side of the “I Might” seven-inch); and, finally, a luxurious 2-LP set with yet an additional song (a cover of Brian Patten’s “Sometimes It Happens”) plus a copy of the CD. Whew! I picked up the “deluxe” CD on Tuesday and was so blown away by what I heard I went back and bought the vinyl, which sounds spectacularly good (as well it should, having been mastered by Bob Ludwig, cut by Chris Bellman and superbly pressed at Pallas). I’ve been listening to it all week and enjoying it more with every spin.

The opening track, “Art of Almost,” is perhaps the most musically interesting thing they’ve ever committed to wax: a sprawling, multi-part prog-rock extravaganza brimming with twitchy electronica and shifting motoric rhythms, all capped with an orgasmic guitar solo from Nels Cline—yet when Jeff Tweedy sings a sweet melody, the music’s rootsy, punk-Americana vibe still shines through. It still sounds unmistakeably like Wilco. This song is the consummation of a long flirtation with hypnotic “krautrock” stylings dating back to the first tentative experiments on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and it succeeds in creating something entirely unique in pop music. If they made a whole record like this, I would be ecstatic! Although there’s nothing else on the album quite as adventurous as “Art of Almost,” the songs are uniformly strong and the band sounds equally inspired on country-ish ballads like “Black Moon,” “Open Mind” and "Rising Red Lung"; power-pop raveups like "I Might," “Dawned On Me” and "Standing"; or the old-timey music-hall flash of “Capitol City.” The album closer (“One Sunday Morning”) is another extraordinary, twelve-minute epic: starting out with gentle acoustic guitars and hushed vocals, the song builds momentum through repetition of a chiming guitar figure and Tweedy’s increasingly urgent enunciation, periodically spelled by blissed-out atmospherics and breezy improvisations. On the CD, the song simply fades out but on the LP, it is longer and doesn’t so much end as stop—after which you can hear the band members set down their instruments and step out of the studio, an evocative touch of audio verité. I'm not sure why the discrepancy, but there you go. Vinyl, as usual, is the preferred format.

As much as I enjoy their records, live is where it’s at and Wilco is in town this weekend, playing two nights at the historic Ryman Auditorium, home of the original “Grand Ole Opry.” When we saw them there back in 2008, it was really a special occasion, with Tweedy decked out in a custom “Red Rose” Nudie Suit—he even stepped out in front of the stage to sing an unamplified rendition of “Someone Else’s Song,” a fitting tribute to the extraordinary acoustics in country music’s “Mother Church.” We managed to obtain (“obstructed view”) tickets to tonight’s show but since winning better seats for tomorrow (thanks, Grimey’s!), we opted to give them to friends who were unable to get into to these sold-out concerts. While Nels Cline is a fabulous guitar player, he’s no Jerry Garcia (wink)— and I don’t see any real point in going both nights as the setlists will be virtually identical. We’re also looking forward to what will probably be a mellower, Sunday night crowd in downtown Nashville (what can I say? I’m getting old). Anyway, we are really excited to see our favorite band at such a magnificent venue. In the meantime, I’m going to have another listen to The Whole Love—good stuff!

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Also out this week are the new Pink Floyd remasters—and they sound surprisingly good. Frankly, I’m not the world’s hugest Floyd fan. In my personal pantheon of British art-rock bands from the 1970s, they rank far behind King Crimson, Genesis and Yes—in that order (with a special place reserved for the more obscure bands like Soft Machine and Henry Cow, who were the most musically advanced of them all). By comparison, Pink Floyd’s big-selling records are more simplistic and obvious, easy to understand—they were the “progressive” band even the “jocks” and “straights” could love. Oh sure, I have fond memories of listening to these albums in my misspent youth; but after a while, they lost their charm, and with it their ability to surprise, so I got rid of them. Many years later, I found a mint-condition white-label-promo of The Wall and would pull it out once in a while when in a particularly bad mood—the album is one enormous temper tantrum—but, apart from “Comfortably Numb,” which contains one of Dave Gilmour’s finest guitar solos, it’s an overblown, embarrassing mess. I also have The Dark Side Of The Moon on SACD and it’s fun to listen to occasionally, even though the remix is not quite what I remembered. But my favorite Pink Floyd album was always Wish You Were Here and I’ve been (half-heartedly) looking for a clean copy on vinyl for forever, just to hear it again. So, when this new edition of the catalog came out, that was the one I had to check out first. Wow! In this era of dynamically squashed, ear-bleedingly bright remasterings, this sounds very nice, almost analog-like: warm, relaxed and non-fatiguing. Turn it up loud and the music really blooms—heck, I felt like I was sixteen again! The others I picked up all sound similarly fine and, like the recent Beatles remasters, they prove that Redbook CD can sound truly great, despite the format’s obvious limitations. In fact, what I’ve heard sounds so good I might just get the rest their catalog—even if Pink Floyd is not my most favoritest band.

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Another week has passed and still no Europe ’72 box. I’m so annoyed I can’t even listen to the Dead—and, as faithful readers know, that’s highly unusual. In fact, I’m so pissed-off I’m telling myself I’ll never order anything from dead.net ever again. Of course, I’m just a hapless fan—and a sucker to boot—so I will probably renege on that promise. Let’s hope it eventually shows up. We shall see…

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-09-25T17:51:00.003-05:00

SAGA OF RESISTANCE

Resist me -------
Make me strong.
Resist me -------
Make me strong.
For since I cannot be what you will
I shall always be that much more so
What I will.
Resist me -------
Repulse my dreams
Thus is a spark brought from nothing . . . .
Stone rubbed against stone
Upon the thirsty grass,
Dried and baked by a burning sun . . . . . . .
Then suddenly: flame.
Flame feeding flame.
. . . Now, nothing is the same:
The stones are blackened -------
The grass is ashes
The burning is still no less itself
But all else is changed
Nor ever shall be as it was before.

--Sun Ra (1966)

Playlist Week of 9-24-11

2011-09-24T18:46:00.015-05:00

* Francisco Javier 1506-1553: La Ruta de Oriente (Hesperion XXI/Savall) (Alia Vox 2SACD)
* Mahler: Symphony No.4 (Chicago Symphony/Reiner) (RCA-Victor SACD)
* Miles Davis: Cookin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige/DCC CD)
* Miles Davis: Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige/DCC CD)
* Miles Davis Quintet: Tivoli Konsertsal, Copenhagen 3-24-60 (FM CDR)
* Miles Davis Quintet: unknown venue 1960 (FM CDR)
* Miles Davis Quintet: Kongresshalle, Frankfurt 3-30-60 (FM CDR)
* Miles Davis Quintet: Kongresshaus, Zurich 4-08-60 (FM CDR)
* Miles Davis Quintet: Kurhaus, Scheveningen 4-09-60 (FM CDR)
* Miles Davis Quintet: Newport Jazz Festival 1966-1967 (FM CDR)
* Miles Davis Quintet: Harmon Gymnasium, UC Berkeley 4-07-67 (FM CDR)
* Miles Davis: The Bootleg Series Vol.1: Live In Europe 1967 (Columbia/Legacy 3CD+DVD)
* Miles Davis Quintet: De Doelen, Rotterdam 10-30-67 (FM CDR)
* John Coltrane: The Ultimate Blue Train (Blue Note CD)
* Sun Ra: What’s New? (side 2) (LP>CDR)
* Sun Ra: “I’m Gonna Unmask The Batman” (unreleased single) (MP3>CDR)
* Sun Ra: The “New” Five Spot, New York, NY 6-11-75 (AUD(?) CDR)
* Sun Ra: Rehearsal, September 1976 (CDR)
* Anthony Braxton & Gerry Hemingway: Old Dogs (2007) (d.4) (Mode/Avant 4CD)
* Anthony Braxton/Milford Graves/William Parker: Beyond Quantum (Tzadik CD)
* Bill Dixon: 17 Musicians In Search Of A Sound: Darfur (AUM Fidelity CD)
* Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: Drawn Inward (ECM CD)†
* Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: The Eleventh Hour (ECM CD)†
* Steve Tibbetts: Big Map Idea (ECM CD)†
* Steve Tibbetts: The Fall Of Us All (ECM CD)†
* Pat Metheny Group: Imaginary Day (Geffen CD)†
* Pat Metheny Group: The Way Up (Nonesuch CD)†
* ProjeKct Three: Masque (DGM CD)†
* ProjeKcT Four: West Coast Live (DGM CD)†
* BPM&M: XtraKcts & ArtifaKcts (Papa Bear CD)
* David Torn/Mick Karn/Terry Bozzio: Polytown (CMP CD)†
* David Torn: Cloud About Mercury (ECM CD)†
* David Torn: Prezens (ECM CD)†
* Tony Levin/David Torn/Alan White: Levin Torn White (Lazy Bones CD) (†)
* The Beatles: Beatles For Sale (2009 mono) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beatles: Help! (2009 mono) (Apple/EMI CD)
* John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band (Apple/EMI Capitol CD)
* John Lennon: Imagine (Apple/EMI Capitol CD)
* John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band: Some Time In New York City (d.1)(Apple/EMI/Capitol 2CD)
* John Lennon: Mind Games (Apple/EMI Capitol CD)
* John Lennon: Walls And Bridges (Apple/EMI Captol CD)
* Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 (d.1-3) (Rhino 4CD)†/‡
* Grateful Dead: Europe ’72 (Warner Bros./Rhino 2CD)
* Grateful Dead: Europe ’72 Vol.2 (GDP/Rhino 2CD)
* Santana: Lotus (CBS/Sony 3LP)
* Big Star: Keep An Eye On The Sky (d.3) (Ardent/Rhino 4CD)†/‡
* Cocteau Twins: Aikea-Guinea (Capitols CDEP)†
* Cocteau Twins: Sunburst And Snowblind (4AD/Capitol CDEP)
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador CD)†
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)
* A Perfect Circle: Mer De Noms (Virgin CD)†
* A Perfect Circle: Thirteenth Step (Virgin CD)†
* Radiohead: In Rainbows (TBD CD)†
* Radiohead: The King Of Limbs (TBD/XL CD)†

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

It took more than a decade for Sony to finally complete their series of CD box sets documenting Miles Davis’s 1955-1975 Columbia recordings and in the ensuing years there has been nothing but senseless re-packagings and deletions—in fact, those beautiful, metal-spined box sets are by now long out of print, once again leaving grievous gaps in the catalog (not to mention the overall neglect of his post-1980 “comeback” material). But things have recently started to look up for Miles fanatics: last year’s “Legacy Edition” of the landmark Bitches Brew album is truly deluxe, with decent re-mastering, a couple of unreleased tracks and a splendid live DVD from Copenhagen on November 4, 1969. Then in February, Bitches Brew Live was released and, despite its unimaginative title and hideous cover art, it is a most welcome addition to the discography: the previously unavailable recordings from the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival and the Isle of Wight in August, 1970 are revelatory.

This week brings The Bootleg Series Vol.1: Live In Europe 1967, a reasonably-priced three-CD plus DVD set collecting five radio and television broadcasts of the so-called “Second Great Quintet” at the height of their powers. Accompanied by the stellar lineup of Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums, Miles plays with a fiery, full-throated intensity—gone, for the most part, is muted balladry heard on The Complete Plugged Nickel 1965—and the band restlessly deconstructs the old repertoire with gleeful abandon while adding new, almost rock-ish compositions like “Agitation” and “Riot” into the mix. This group exploded the boundaries of small-group acoustic jazz, incorporating the innovations of avant-gardists like Ornette Coleman while never totally abandoning “the tradition” (that would come later, with the addition of electric instruments). And you can hear them taking the traditional format as far as possible, “heads” being secondary to extended flights of free improvisation, a continuous stream of music with obliquely rendered tunes dotting the landscape like a medley or suite. So, while the setlists appear repetitive, each performance is uniquely compelling. After nearly three years of working together, the quintet plays with an astonishing level of empathy and limitless creativity—seriously, “trad jazz” just doesn’t get any better than this.

In his (ineloquent but earthy) autobiography, Miles had this to say about the “Second Great Quintet”:

Every night Herbie, Tony, and Ron would sit around back in their hotel rooms, talking about what they had played until the morning came. Every night they would come back and play something different. And every night I would have to react. The music we did together changed every fucking night; if you heard it yesterday, it was different tonight. Man, it was something how the shit changed from night to night after awhile. Even we didn’t know where it was all going to. But we did know it was going somewhere else and that it was probably going to be hip, and that was enough to keep everyone excited while it lasted (quoted in Todd Coolman, The Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-’68 liner notes, p.46).

In fact, the “Second Quintet” would not last much longer: by the end of 1967, the band would be experimenting with proto-jazz/rock fusion in the recording studio while pushing acoustic jazz as far as it could go on the bandstand. Watching the DVD included in The Bootleg Series Vol.1, you can see quite clearly that no matter how “out there” his band went, Miles was always in complete control—and he was visibly moving in a new direction. The times were indeed a-changin’ during these tumultuous years and Miles would respond with groundbreaking records, In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew in 1968 and 1969. Things would never be the same—in neither the insular world of jazz nor the volatile culture at large—and Miles would remain at music’s cutting edge until his “retirement” in 1975. These live recordings from 1967 vividly document the end of an era—and the delicate transition to a new one.

Collectors have traded off-the-air recordings from this European tour for years but The Bootleg Series Vol.1 presents fresh transfers from the original station reels, resulting in spectacularly good (albeit monophonic) sound. Moreover, the Copenhagen set from November 2, 1967 has never before circulated and the November 6 Paris concert is presented here complete and unedited. And, of course, the DVD is a real treat, containing performances from Stockholm on October 31 and Karslruhe on November 7 in excellent quality. It’s fascinating to watch the band’s telepathic, non-verbal communications: pointed glances, nearly invisible gestures and tossed-off musical cues. Sure, The Bootleg Series Vol.1 could have easily been expanded to include known recordings from Helsinki, Rotterdam and Berlin, but who’s complaining? Sony has done a top-notch job with this release and I’m looking forward to further volumes in the series—as you can see above, there are plenty more “bootlegs” out there worthy of this kind of treatment. Most highly recommended!

+++

Sharp-eyed readers have probably noticed what has NOT yet appeared on my playlists this month. Yep, that’s right: I’m STILL waiting for my Complete Europe ’72 box from dead.net. This has been an absolute clusterf@ck ever since its announcement back in January, when the frenzy of pre-orders crashed their servers, resulting in a chaotic, confusing mess which left most customers (including me) wondering whether or not they had successfully purchased the limited-edition set. Well, they finally started shipping them out at the end of August and, after patiently waiting for a couple of weeks, I placed a call to 1-800-CAL-DEAD to enquire about the status of my order. Of course, the clueless customer service rep was unable to provide me with any concrete information but helpfully suggested I provide him with a street address since orders were being shipped via UPS. Reluctantly, I agreed. The next morning, I received an email telling me my order was being delayed since I had provided a Post Office Box address and to please reply with a street address as soon as possible or my order would be canceled. WTF? I duly replied and waited another week; still nothing. I called again and was told the warehouse was “awaiting product” and my order would be shipped soon. Fine. On September 20, I received an email informing me my box was being shipped—to my P.O. Box! Huh? Even though I was provided with a tracking number, the U.S. Postal Service still says they have “no record of this item” a full four days later. At this point, I’m wondering if I will ever receive it! In the meantime, I picked up Europe ’72 Vol.2, a two-disc compilation which was released to retail outlets last week. I figure something is better than nothing—and the hour-long “Dark Star>The Other One” is easily worth the cost of admission—but I’m still left with a bad taste in my mouth about this whole ordeal. And to add insult to injury, they just announced that all twenty-two shows will be released individually at the end of the year—so much for “limited edition.” I’m glad to see the posthumous Dead have an unexpected hit on their hands, but for $450 + shipping, I expected better service than what I’ve received so far. We’ll see what happens next.

+++

In a happier tale of good customer service, Monster Cable honored their unconditional lifetime warranty on my Turbine Pro Copper earbuds after the left channel suddenly stopped working. They happily exchanged them for a brand new pair with no questions asked! While it took about a month door-to-door, I was impressed how smoothly the process worked. Now, after a couple of weeks of heavy use at the office, the replacements are starting to break in nicely and sound great. I’m also trying to handle them with even greater care—I don’t want to have to do this again. Regardless, it’s nice to know Monster will stand behind their product and their warranty is not just a clever “legal fiction.” Kudos, Monster Cable!

"Little Match Girl Passion" @ Indeterminacies

2011-09-23T20:09:00.010-05:00

Last week’s Indeterminacies event at Zeitgeist was (as usual) quite extraordinary with a sublime performance of David Lang’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Little Match Girl Passion” by the Portara New Music Quartet combined with an enthralling discussion led by renowned classical music critic, John Pitcher. The piece (which I wrote about here) was given an emotional, almost operatic, reading and Mr. Pritcher got everyone talking about everything from minimalism, modernism and postmodernism to religion and politics. Inevitably, Hans Christian Andersen’s allegorical story of Christ was the focus of the conversation—yet the vocalists were encouraged to talk about the music itself and the challenges of performance, including the difficulty of playing percussion instruments while singing rhythmically complex music. In my opinion, they pulled it off with remarkable élan given their admittedly limited rehearsal time although the overdrawn dynamic swings were a little overwhelming at times. Nevertheless, it was a deeply moving experience, enhanced by the gallery’s subtly reverberant acoustic and the enormous picture windows looking out on a busy and carefree 21st Avenue.

Next month, Indeterminacies hosts composer/instrumentalist Andrew Raffo Dewar with performances of his chamber works performed by Pulse New Music Ensemble. Amazingly enough, your humble blogger has been asked to serve as moderator! Mr. Pitcher will be a hard act to follow but, then again, Andrew Raffo Dewar’s music is right up my alley, what with his having studied and performed with one of my big heroes, Anthony Braxton, and whose own compositions are exquisite examples of “ergodic notation.” I may not totally understand how this music works but I know this will be an opportunity to learn. These Indeterminacies events are always scintillating and I’m proud to have been asked to participate—I’ll give it my best shot! There will be more about all this on blogs to come. In the meantime, check out Theatre Intangible’s in depth interview with curators Lain York and Lesley Beaman here.

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-09-18T18:04:00.017-05:00

Sun Ra: The Singles (Saturn/Evidence 2CD)

Although the Arkestra was fairly active in 1975, with several known performances up and down the east coast and extended sojourns to the mid-west, it is one of the most sparsely documented years in the discography (see Campbell & Trent, pp.217-221). The Impulse! deal had pretty much run its course, with all the albums dumped into the cut-out bins and summarily deleted—so I suppose there was little incentive to make any more records during this period. Sadly, there are also very few “bootlegs” available to fill in the gaps.

Nevertheless, a live concert (possibly recorded on May 23) yielded a ten-minute track which was (briefly) issued as side-B of What’s New (Saturn 752), a hodgepodge record with a tortured discographical history. According to Prof. Campbell, matrix numbers and label texts vary and, in any event, most copies replace the original side-B with side-A of The Invisible Shield (Id. pp.218-219). Confusing? Yes. Well, don’t worry about it. The track fades up on the end of “Space Is The Place” and segues immediately into a hectoring Cosmo Drama (sometimes titled, “We Roam the Cosmos”). There are some amusing raps about Sun Ra bounding across the universe “using the planets as stepping stones” but the sound quality is extremely noisy and distorted, rendering it virtually unlistenable. Since there’s really not a whole lot going on musically, I see no real reason to go out of your way to locate this impossibly rare pressing (an amateur “needle-drop” can be found on CDR, if you’re really interested).

More intriguing are a bunch of unreleased Saturn singles, including “Things Ain’t Going To Be Like They Used To Be”, “Make Another Mistake” and a seven-minute version of “I’m Gonna Unmask The Batman” (Id. pp.217-218). None of these tracks were included on the Evidence CD set, but “Batman” circulates amongst collectors, albeit in the lossy MP3 format. Recorded live (possibly at the same concert as “We Roam The Cosmos”), it also suffers from grossly distorted sound as Ahk Tal Ebah (?) sings, shouts and screams into the microphone while the horns riff in the background. John Gilmore takes a loopy solo on tenor saxophone followed by—could it be? Walter Miller on trumpet! Maybe Prof. Campbell is wrong about Kwami Hadi’s presence on this, since the vocalist calls Miller out by name. It certainly sounds like him! Regardless, the super-funky drumming (by someone named “Freddie”) is the highlight of the track and he takes a killer drum break, ripe for the hip-hopper's sampler. Ra’s fascination with “The Caped Crusader” is somewhat inexplicable—maybe it was the campy costume—but this odd little ditty (written by Lacy Gibson and Alton Abraham) would be performed fairly regularly during the 1980s.

Finally, a typically quirky seven-inch single was released as Saturn 256 at the end of the year. The A-side features newly overdubbed vocals on the 1970 recording of “Love In Outer Space” (found on Night Of The Purple Moon). David Henderson croons the surprisingly sentimental lyrics about “love everlasting…love for everybody…love for everything”—and amazingly enough, it works! This is, of course, a classic track from one of the all-time great Ra albums and the vocals manage to add a touching sweetness that is truly unique. The flip-side, “Mayan Temple,” was probably recorded June 27, 1975 at Variety Recorders in New York and it’s an early version of what would later become known as “The Mayan Temples” (Id. p.221). Ra plays the loping, minor-mode bass line on MiniMoog, while scattering tinkly notes on the Rocksichord; meanwhile, Marshall Allen blows wildly keening oboe. What it lacks in melody and harmony is more than compensated for in spacey atmosphere, making for a subtly evocative record. Unfortunately, it fades out much too soon. Still, it's the perfect single and belongs in every hipster's jukebox.

In the coming weeks, we’ll listen to a couple of verité recordings (one of which is not listed in Campbell’s discography) with a detour through Ronnie Boykins’s solo LP on ESP-Disk’ before moving on to 1976, where things start to pick up considerably. Stay tuned.

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Special thanks once again to drummer extraordinaire (and Sun Ra expert) Sam Byrd for providing me with a bunch of rare stuff I was missing—I couldn’t do this without his help!

Playlist Week of 9-17-11

2011-09-17T19:27:00.014-05:00

* Marais: Pieces de Viole des Cinq Livres (Savall, et al.) (d.1) (Alia Vox 4SACD)
* J.S. Bach: Violin Sonatas (Manze/Egarr/ter Linden) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)†
* Orchestre de Chambre Lausanne (Goebel): Salle Métropole, Lausanne 5-10-10 (FM 2CDR)
* Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra/Ein Heidenleben (Chicago Symphony/Reiner) (RCA-Victor SACD)
* Lang: The Little Match Girl Passion (Theatre of Voices/Hillier) (Harmonia Mundi SACD)
* Paul Desmond: Desmond Blue: Paul Desmond With Strings (RCA-Victor/Classic LP)
* Milt Jackson & John Coltrane: Bags & Trane (Atlantic/Rhino LP)
* John Coltrane: Olé (Atlantic/Rhino LP)
* John Coltrane: Coltrane Plays The Blues (Atlantic/Rhino LP)
* John Coltrane: Coltrane’s Sound (Atlantic/Rhino LP)
* John Coltrane & Don Cherry: The Avant Garde (Atlantic/Rhino LP)
* John Coltrane: The Coltrane Legacy (Atlantic/Rhino LP)
* John Coltrane: Alternate Takes (Atlantic/Rhino LP)
* John Coltrane: Outtakes (Atlantic/Rhino 2LP)
* Miles Davis/Bill Laswell: Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969-1974 (Columbia CD)
* Sun Ra: Smiling Dog Saloon, Cleveland, OH 1-30-75 (FM CDR)
* Sun Ra: The “New” Five Spot, New York, NY 6-11-75 (AUD CDR)
* Sun Ra: The Singles (d.2) (Saturn/Evidence 2CD)
* Anthony Braxton & Gerry Hemingway: Old Dogs (2007) (d.1-3) (Mode/Avant 4CD)
* The Thirteenth Assembly: (un)sentimental (Important CD)
* Praxis: Transmutation Live (Douglas CD)†
* Praxis: Warszawa (Innerhythmic CD)†
* Jimi Hendrix: Winterland (Experience Hendrix/Sony 4CD)
* Jimi Hendrix: Hendrix In The West (Experience Hendrix/Sony CD)
* Grateful Dead: Music Hall, Cleveland, OH 11-20-78 (second set) (SBD/AUD matrix CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Cal Expo, Sacramento, CA 6-10-84 (d.1) (SBD 2CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Crimson, White & Indigo: Philadelphia July 7, 1989 (GD/Rhino DVD)
* Grateful Dead: Formerly The Warlocks: Hampton 10-89 (d.4-5) (GD/Rhino 6CD)†
* Jerry Garcia Band: Live At Shoreline 9/1/90 (JG/Rhino DVD)
* Paul McCartney & Wings: Wingspan: Hits & History (d.1) (Capitol 2CD)†/‡
* Yes: Tales From Topographic Oceans (Atlantic/Rhino 2CD)†
* Yes: Relayer (Atlantic/Rhino CD)†
* Yes: Going For The One (Atlantic/Rhino CD)†
* Yes: Tormato (Atlantic/Rhino CD)†
* Big Star: Keep An Eye On The Sky (d.1-2) (Ardent/Rhino 4CD)†/‡
* Radiohead: The King Of Limbs (XL/TBD CD)†

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

I did not intend to buy a new TV today. We turned off the television years ago and it was the best thing we ever did, improving our lives immeasurably. No more commercials! No more inane infotainment! That is not to say we do not watch things sometimes: movies, DVDs, stream old sitcoms on Netflix. And I'm sure we're missing some quality entertainment but we usually watch about twenty-minutes after dinner and go to bed. TV is just not a big priority for us. So, why did I buy a new, 46” flat-panel television?

Well, I have this long-term goal to upgrade my stereo system and, logistically, the old (I mean sixteen-year old!) 19” Sony Triniton had to go first. While having a tiny screen, it has an enormous footprint—and, to be honest, squinting across the room had become tiresome for my old eyes, even for only twenty minutes. Even so, the "big-screen TV" has been the symbol of bourgeois excess for us ever since the '80s and we have stubbornly resisted its allure. Yet by now, flat-panel televisions are downright affordable—and they can be easily mounted onto the wall, thereby making room for a new audio system. It was going to happen sooner or later.

So I headed out to Hi-Fi Buys in Nashville, just to look around and price stuff out. I'd previously chatted with a nice salesman, “T.J.”, about my long-term plans and he was there to help me out again today. Hi-Fi Buys has some really high-end stuff: McIntosh, B&W, Mark Levinson, Wilson-Benesch as well as more moderately priced gear and while T.J. was eager to make a sale, he was friendly and low-key—and willing to offer me a great deal on a new television. I looked some downright cheap LCD televisions, but could immediately tell the difference between those and their more expensive LED brethren, which were notably brighter, sharper, crisper, with less motion blur. T.J. offered me a bargain price on a Sony Bravia KDL46HX729—the only question was: would it fit in my little Honda Civic? Amazingly enough it would. Sold!

I brought it home and set to work dismantling the old set-up. It took a while to get it back together in a configuration that would support the new TV. At only thirty-nine pounds, it was easy to mount on the stand and plug it all in and, right out of the box, it worked great! I love it when that happens! I popped in a Grateful Dead DVD (Crimson, White & Indigo: Philadelphia July 7 1989) and was immediately entranced! I’ve barely scratched the surface of what the new television is capable of and I’m sure some minor tweaks here and there will further improve the picture quality but, right at this moment, I’m totally happy with my purchase.

Next is new furniture (which is on-order)—then a new amp and speakers (and, eventually, new front-end components, including a new turntable). I’m still not sure which way I’m going to go with this stuff—there are a lot of opinions out there. But, like I said, this is a long-term project and I’m just glad to have made the first steps towards my ultimate goal. As you know, listening to music is extremely important to me and I spend as much time as I can in front of my stereo; I want the best I can reasonably afford so I can enjoy it for the rest of my life. I’ll keep you posted regarding my progress. Until then, I'm gonna groove on some more DVDs!

Portara Ensemble @ Indeterminacies September 13

2011-09-12T06:00:00.002-05:00

The Indeterminacies series at Zeitgeist Gallery kicks off the fall season tomorrow night with David Lang’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Little Match Girl Passion” performed by Nashville’s own Portara Ensemble. Based on the famous Hans Christian Andersen story, Lang intersperses texts from H.P. Paull, Picander and the Gospel of Saint Matthew to compose an allegorical “Passion of Jesus.” In his liner notes to the Harmonia Mundi recording, Lang writes:

I wanted to tell a story. A particular story, in fact: the story of The Little Match Girl, by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The original is ostensibly for children, and it has that shocking combination of danger and morality that many famous children’s stories do. A poor young girl, whose father beats her, tries unsuccessfully to sell matches on the street, is ignored, and freezes to death. Through it all she somehow retains her Christian purity of spirit, but it is not a pretty story….What has always interested me, however, is that Andersen tells this story as a kind of parable, drawing a religious and moral equivalency between suffering of the poor girl and the suffering of Jesus. The girl suffers, is scorned by the crowd, dies and is transfigured. I started wondering what secrets could be unlocked from this story is one took its Christian nature to its conclusion and unfolded it, as Christian composers have done in musical settings of the Passion of Jesus…The Passion format—the telling of a story while simultaneously commenting upon it—has the effect of placing us in the middle of the action, and it gives the narrative and powerful inevitability.

Scored for mixed voices accompanying themselves on simple percussion, the thirty-five minute work is elegantly beautiful—and emotionally devastating. Tim Page, a juror on the 2008 Pulitzer Prize committee, said about the piece: “I don’t think I’ve ever been so moved by a new, and largely unheralded, composition as I was by David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion, which is unlike any music I know” (Id.). This is a rare opportunity to hear a modern masterpiece—and participate in a discussion led by John Pitcher from ArtNowNashville. Don’t miss it! Zeitgeist Gallery is located at 1819 21st Avenue South, in Hillsboro Village, Nashville and the program begins at 6:00pm.

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-09-11T17:20:00.015-05:00

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Smiling Dog Saloon, Cleveland, OH 1-30-75 (FM CDR)

A month later, the Arkestra found itself far removed from the mild and mellow California climate, shivering in the brutal cold of a mid-western winter. A gig at the Smiling Dog Saloon in Cleveland, OH on January 30, 1975 was broadcast by WMMS-FM and preserved on this sixty-minute recording but the band sounds a bit ragged, exhausted, perhaps, by the long-distance travel and inclement weather. Sadly, they never quite seem to get warmed up. But somewhere along the way, Sonny has picked up a hotshot bass-player, whose identity is unknown (see Campbell & Trent p.218). Whoever it is, he provides an unusually funky bottom-end to the proceedings. The Arkestra had to make do without a bassist at many shows during this period (particularly after the final departure of the inimitable Ronnie Boykins in mid-1974) making the rhythm section sound thin and incomplete, so the presence of the bass is always a welcome addition during this period (even if it isn’t the best show ever). Audio quality is pretty good (especially compared to other “bootlegs” we’ve been listening to recently) suffering more from careless microphone placement and poor balance than subsequent generational loss (my copy indicates the original broadcast was recorded to reel-to-reel, with only one cassette generation prior to being converted to digital). For better or worse, our anonymous bassist is certainly mixed front and center throughout!

After an introduction from the resident DJ, Ra fingers a dissonant organ chord before launching into “Astro Nation.” Loud electric bass anchors the groove and though he tends to overplay, he never loses the beat. The whole band joins in on the weirdly assymetrical chant , clapping and singing as they traipse around the nightclub with vocalist/dancer Eddie Thomas (a/k/a Thomas Thaddeus) adding some soulful yelps and moans. But it goes on for far too long without anything happening, ending with a desultory space chord. I’m sure it was a visual spectacle if nothing else. Sonny teases “Love In Outer Space” before changing his mind and queuing up “Enlightenment” in a new, rhythmically clipped vocal arrangement, ending a cappella. Sort of interesting, but nothing special. Then “Love In Outer Space” follows, propelled by Ra’s BBQ organ comping. Curiously, the theme is never played and after a few minutes, Ra drops out completely, leaving spacey African percussion and handclaps. Eventually, the organ vamp returns, accompanied by some bleating horns, but it ends inconclusively.

“Theme of the Stargazers” and “The Satellites Are Spinning” are presented as a brisk medley and is nicely sung by the band—but the audience doesn’t quite know what to make of it. When it ends, there’s total silence, not even a smattering of applause! Undeterred, Sonny brings up the pulsing drone of “Friendly Galaxy No.2” joined by the electric bass and, later, by pealing trumpets. The mellifluous flutes are woefully off-mic but a ringing vibraphone is crystal clear (presumably Damon Choice). But then Sonny steps up to pontificate, riffing on “I Am The Brother The Wind” and “I, Pharoah.” Here we go again! The unbalanced recording combined with an uncharacteristically subdued performance is disappointing: rather than hypnotic, it is merely boring. Oh well. Next up is a long keyboard solo which also seems to be less than totally inspired. It’s the usual spaceship synthesizer noises and dissonant organ clusters and the fact that the tape repeatedly fades up and down (and cuts in and out) doesn’t really help matters very much. However, after about seven minutes, Sonny speeds up the cheesy “rhythm machine” on his organ and plays along briefly, a hint of Disco 3000 to come!

Finally, we get a very strange rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady.” Opening with a skronky free-improv (led by Kwami Hadi’s trumpet), Ra quickly moves to (distant-sounding) acoustic piano for a rhapsodic intro, sprinkling thunderous pounding with pretty, impressionistic harmonies. Then he goes into the slightly-old fashioned rhythms of the tune, taken at a lugubrious tempo and accompanied by walking (well, plodding) bass. The Akrestra comes in, sounding slightly shaky on the arrangement led by John Gilmore’s tenor saxophone, whose breathy tone evokes Ben Webster in his prime. Akh Tal Ebah takes a nice, smeary solo on trumpet accompanied by riffing saxophones before giving way to Gilmore. Unfortunately, this is not one of Gilmore’s better efforts, with halting, incoherent phrasing and wobbly intonation. Well, it just goes to show the guy was not super- human. But then Sonny and Thomas start mumbling and crooning the rarely-heard lyrics about the seemingly “sophisticated lady” who cries alone at home. But their mocking attitude is somewhat shocking as they cruelly taunt: “boo-hoo, boo-hoo for you!” After fourteen tedious minutes, the arrangement collapses into a clumsy ritardando and, mercifully, sputters to an end. Huh. Revivals of big band classics were to become a regular feature of Arkestra concerts from here on out, but there was never another performance of “Sophisticated Lady” quite like this—and that’s a good thing.

Interestingly, the circulating CDR contains two additional tracks not listed in the discography, but they are most certainly from another (unknown) performance: the ambience is completely different, in front of a large audience, possibly outdoors. Also, there’s considerable hiss and distortion—and the presence of trombones on the bandstand. Probably recorded in the mid-‘70s sometime, I have no idea where this is from. Anyone know? “Calling Planet Earth” features some intense group improvisation, but the recording is so overloaded, it’s hard to hear what’s going on and “Space Is The Place” is the typical chanting, dancing and carrying on that rarely translates well to tape. Whatever the provenance, this ten-minute fragment is hardly worth mentioning, but there it is. These “mystery tracks” are not really much of a bonus.

So the Smiling Dog Saloon gig was an off night for the Arkestra; too bad, since it’s a decent-sounding recording for the period. Hardcore fanatics and completists will want this but everyone else would be better off looking elsewhere for that Sun Ra magic.

Playlist Week Of 9-10-11

2011-09-10T19:03:00.018-05:00

* Telemann: The Complete Tafelmusik (Freiburger Barockorchester) (d.3-4) (Harmonia Mundi 4CD)
* Vasks: Pater Noster (Latvian Radio Choir/Sinfonietta Riga/Kjava) (Ondine CD)
* Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings (Columbia/Legacy 6CD)
* John Coltrane: Giant Steps (Atlantic/Rhino LP)
* John Coltrane: Coltrane Jazz (Atlantic/Rhino LP)
* John Coltrane: My Favorite Things (Atlantic/Rhino LP)
* John Coltrane: The Complete Africa Brass Sessions (Impulse! 2CD)
* Sun Ra: Civic Center, Santa Cruz, CA 12-11-74 (AUD 2CDR)
* Sun Ra: Smiling Dog Saloon, Cleveland, OH 1-30-75 (FM CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Solo (Allentown) 1991 (New Braxton House FLAC>2CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Compositions 284 & 285 (Antwerp) (2000) (New Braxton House FLAC>2CDR)
* David S. Ware/Cooper-Moore/William Parker/Muhammad Ali: Planetary Unknown (AUM Fidelity CD)
* Pat Metheny Group: American Garage (ECM LP)
* Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays: As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (ECM LP)
* Pat Metheny Group: Offramp (ECM LP)
* Arcana (Derek Bailey/Bill Laswell/Tony Williams): The Last Wave (DIW CD)
* Arcana (Bailey/Laswell/DeJohnnette/DJ Disk): Frankfurt 6-07-97 (FM CDR)
* Praxis: Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) (Axiom/Island CD)†
* V/A: The Doo Wop Box (d.1) (Rhino 4CD)†/‡
* Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life (Tamla/Motown 2LP+7”)
* Rolling Stones: Tattoo You (Rolling Stones/Warner Bros. LP)
* Grateful Dead: Road Trips Vol.3 No.4: Penn State/Cornell ’80 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA 4-19-86 (SBD 2CDR)
* Mickey Hart: At The Edge (Rykodisc CD)
* Alexander (“Skip”) Spence: Oar (Columbia/Sundazed CD)
* Yes: The Yes: Album (Atlantic/Mobile Fidelity CD)†
* Yes: Fragile (Atlantic/Mobile Fidelity CD)†
* Yes: Close To The Edge (Atlantic/Rhino CD)†
* Genesis: Abacab (Atlantic LP)
* Genesis: Three Sides Live (Atlantic 2LP)
* Genesis: Invisible Touch (Atlantic LP)
* Phil Collins: Face Value (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity CD)
* The Golden Palominos: Drunk With Passion (Restless CD)†/‡
* Sonic Youth: Washing Machine (Geffen 2LP)
* Thurston Moore: Trees Outside The Academy (Ecstatic Peace CD)†
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador CD)†
* Yo La Tengo: “Autumn Sweater” (Matador CDEP)
* Boredoms: Vision Creation Newsun (Birdman CD)†
* Beck: Modern Guilt (Geffen CD)
* Stereolab: Sound-Dust (Elektra CD)
* Stereolab: “Captain Easychord" (Elektra CDEP)
* Tortoise: A Lazarus Taxon (Thrill Jockey 3CD+DVD) †/‡
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)
* Hands Off Cuba: Hands Off Cuba (Hands Off Cuba CDEP)
* Hands Off Cuba: Volumes Of Sobering Liquids (Sebastian Speaks EP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Yes, it’s another Robert Pollard record. But hold on a second, folks! Before you click your mouse, bear with me. I know I’m an unrepentant fan and so my opinion may seem unreliable. Yet I need to bear witness to what is Pollard’s best record in years—maybe ever! The long-awaited (and, as it turns out, final) Boston Spaceships record (cheekily titled, Let It Beard) is just stunningly good. The sprawling, 26-song, 75-minute double-LP is Pollard’s magnum opus, brimming with the sort of clever wordplay, elliptical song structures, soaring melodies and catchy hooks that define his singularly variegated style—and it rocks like a motherfucker! Pollard has described it as “a subconscious concept album about the sorry state of rock and roll” but Let It Beard restores my faith in rock’s transcendent power—and the value of maturity.

Much credit is due to ex-GBV bassist Chris Slusarenko, whose tasteful production touches, including the occasional horns and strings, help to make each song (however weirdly constructed) into a fully realized masterpiece. And he managed to lasso a bunch of prestigious guest musicians to flesh out the arrangements, including heroic guitar solos from Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis on “Tourist U.F.O.”, Wire’s Colin Newman on “You Just Can’t Tell” and The Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn on “I Took On The London Guys.” From the opening multi-part “Blind 20-20” to the concluding rave-up, “Inspiration Points,” the album builds a steady momentum, carrying you on a journey through "The Four P’s of Rock: Pop, Psych, Prog and Punk.” There’s not a dud track on the whole thing—a remarkable achievement given the album's length and breadth—and it’s over before you know it, leaving you wanting more.

But it is Pollard’s exuberant singing that is really impressive. In the post-GBV era, EP-sized LPs and sometimes lackadaisical vocals have been something of the norm, but here Pollard sings with youthful vigor, going for the high notes, enunciating each vowel sound with the cocky confidence worthy of a rock star and reminiscent of his (our) glory days. At 53, I wasn’t sure he still had it in him—and that was OK with me—hey, time takes its toll. But Let It Beard shows he’s still got it and gives me hope for my own senescence. Pollard’s longevity and potency is testimony to rock’s redemptive powers—it keeps you young.

It’s too bad, though, that Boston Spaceships has come to an end. Slusarenko and John Moen (of The Decemberists) make for a supple, slinky rhythm section and the four previous LPs and various EPs have been consistently fun. They even toured briefly back in 2008 (documented on the “official” bootleg, Licking Stamps And Drinking Shitty Coffee) but, really, they were always just another among Pollard’s many side-projects. Well, at least they are going out with a bang: Let It Beard is not just a good Boston Spaceships record, it’s a great album—period. Rumor has it the re-united “classic lineup” GBV is going to make a record and make it official: the “reunion tour” has become a reformation. That sounds good to me, but it would be a shame if this record gets lost in the deluge. Fans of Pollard already know, but if you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, Let It Beard is a great place to start.

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-09-04T17:08:00.017-05:00

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Civic Center, Santa Cruz, CA 12-11-74 (AUD 2CDR)

Of all the gigs the Arkestra played on the west coast at the end of 1974, only this set from the Civic Center in Santa Cruz, California from December 11 was documented (see Campbell & Trent pp.215-217). Surprisingly, the 100-minute audience tape was recorded in stereo—but the sound quality is pretty horrific: boomy, distorted and indistinct (not surprising given the cavernous venue). Nevertheless, it’s a fine performance and a little patience on the listener’s part is periodically rewarded with some great music.

The tape cuts in on the opening improvisation, free-jazz skronk featuring a snippet of Marshall Allen's oboe, Kwami Hadi's high-wire trumpet act and some pscyho-delic guitar from Dave Williams. The Arkestra is on fire! “Discipline 27,” “Enlightenment” and “Love In Outer Space” are the usual thing and well-played but the fifteen-minute “Shadow World” is something special, indeed. After a near-perfect run through of the ridiculously complicated head, John Gilmore delivers one of his typically amazing, high-energy solos, inspiring excellent contributions from Danny Ray Thompson on libflecto, Hadi on trumpet, Williams on wah-wah guitar and Allen on alto sax. It’s an epic tour de force guided by Ra’s scumbling keyboards; after a series of ever-greater climaxes, Ra signals the reprise to end, leaving the audience clearly stunned. Wow! Despite the poor sound, this version of "The Shadow World" is well worth hearing.

The set continues with “Theme Of The Stargazers” and “Calling Planet Earth,” with some outrageous synthesizer and organ work from Ra eventually giving way to “Space Is The Place,” in a full horn arrangement. “Images” makes another welcome appearance, but the tape cuts in and out and the levels go up and down, making it impossible to tell what’s really going on. Yet about half-way through, the band has settled into a sultry groove, the audience clapping along, when all of a sudden, Gilmore comes in with a rip-snorting, gut-bucket, blues-drenched solo. He’s blowing his lungs out, “walking the bar”—but also spinning off complex chromatic runs punctuated with keening, multi-phonic wails, chasing the rhythm section in spiraling circles—on and on, coming back again and again to a three-note flourish and ending with a bang. Whew! Yes, it’s another incredible Gilmore solo! And again, while the sound quality is dreadful, this performance needs to be heard to be believed.

As usual, “Discipline 27-II” devolves into a series of space chants, including “Life Is Splendid” and “Destination Unknown,” with June Tyson and Akh Tal Ebah taking the lead but, after a swelling space chord, “Astro Nation” follows in its first known performance. It’s come a long way from the rehearsal tape we previously heard yet while the rhythm section is more solid, only Sonny seems able to recite the off-meter syllables on top of the up-and-down disco beat. (It would take a while for the band to get this odd little tune together.) Soon, Hadi pierces the din and the saxophones begin to take it out and things really start to get interesting—but as Sonny tries to bring the vocals back around, it falls apart and just sort of dissolves. Then a super-intense improvisation rises up over Ra’s droning organ, with loud, distorted guitar, pealing trumpets and squalling saxophones but, sadly, the tape fades out after only a couple of minutes. Argh!

“We Travel The Spaceways” is given an relaxed reading, evolving into a lovely doo-wop-style medley, incorporating elements of “Journey To Saturn” and “Rocket Number 9,” sung in luscious harmonies and anchored by Ebah’s (?) rich baritone. Just lovely! After a quick statement of “Planet Earth,” Watusi” follows with the flutes weirdly dominant. Fortunately, Clifford Jarvis’s over-excited drumming is countered by some weird, metallic counter-rhythms, adding interest to the usual percussion-fest, but the sound quality is particularly grim at this point, overloaded and distorted. Things quiet down for “Friendly Galaxy No.2,” although the mix is still wonky. Flutes and bass clarinet play the serpentine melody while the bleating trumpet figure is passed around the rest of the band and, as the flutes begin to improvise, an eerie calm is established—then Ra steps up to recite “I, Pharoah,” with June Tyson and others emphasizing each declamation. Sonny’s on a roll: “I Could Have Enjoyed Myself On This Planet” he shouts, “if the people had been alive!” The band joins in on some swing/rap silliness, repeating the refrain accompanied by the Yoko-esque shrieking from one of Ethnic Space Vocalists—is this impromptu or pre-conceived? It’s hard to tell. The craziness subsides, replaced by the tranquility of “Pleiades,” pretty flutes and rubato percussion, with Damon Choice’s glistening vibraphone faintly audible in the background. Very nice—but Ra continues with the tirade: “The Universe spoke to me!” Etc. Finally, the set concludes with “Face The Music,” taken at a slow-ish tempo as the Arkestra sings, chants and saunters off the stage.

You’re probably wondering what the heck takes me so long with these blog posts. Well, I was ready to write this one off as yet another dismal sounding bootleg, but I kept listening—and my ears became more and more used to the sound. And each time through, I found interesting little nuggets, diamonds buried in a dung-pile of noise. So I kept listening. At this point, weeks have gone by…well, this is how it seems to go. Is it worth it? I suppose so; there is some extraordinary music here (Gilmore is in particularly good form), even if it’s a struggle to discern. It may not be the worst-sounding bootleg out there—like I said, my ears got used to it—but this one is strictly for hardcore fans only. Frankly, I’m looking forward to moving on to 1975…

Playlist Week of 9-03-11

2011-09-03T18:50:00.007-05:00

* Telemann, et al. (The Age Of Passions): Kirche, Oberried 11-2010 (FM 2CDR)
* John Coltrane: Live Trane: The European Tours (d.2-7) (Pablo 7CD)
* Anthony Braxton: Quartet (London) 1985 (Leo 2CD)
* Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Coventry) 1985 (Leo 2CD)
* Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Birmingham) 1985 (Leo 2D)
* Henry Threadgill & Very Very Circus: Carry The Day (Columbia CD)
* Henry Threadgill: Makin’ A Move (Columbia CD)
* Henry Threadgill & Make A Move: Where’s Your Cup? (Columbia CD)
* David S. Ware: Onecept (AUM Fidelity CD)
* Mark Nauseef/Ikue Mori/Evan Parker/Bill Laswell: Near Nadir (Tzadik CD)
* Herbie Hancock: Sunlight (Columbia/CBS—Japan CD)†/‡
* Stanley Clarke: School Days (Epic/Friday Music LP)
* Lenny White: Presents The Adventures Of Astral Pirates (Elektra LP)
* Pat Metheny Group: Pat Metheny Group (ECM LP)
* Stevie Wonder: Talking Book (Tamla/Motown LP)
* Stevie Wonder: Innervisions (Tamla/Motown LP)
* DJ Shadow: “Midnight In A Perfect World” (MoWax CDEP)
* DJ Shadow: “Stem” (MoWax CDEP)
* DJ Shadow: “High Noon” (MoWax CDEP)
* Grateful Dead: Dick’s Picks Vol.30: Academy of Music, NYC March 1972 (GDP 4+1CD)(‡)
* Grateful Dead: Formerly The Warlocks: Hampton ’89 (d.1-3) (GDP/Rhino 6 CD)†/‡
* Los Super Seven: Los Super Seven (RCA/BMG CD)
* Los Super Seven: Cantos (Columbia/Legacy CD)
* Sonic Youth: Experimental, Jet Set, Trash & No Star (Geffen LP)
* Sonic Youth: “Bull In The Heather” (Geffen CDEP)
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador 2LP)
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)
* Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks: Face The Truth (Matador CD)‡
* Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks: Mirror Traffic (Matador CD)
* Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino CD)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Where did the summer go?

Back when I was a kid, the first day of school didn’t come around until after Labor Day. Of course, nowadays, especially down here in Tennessee, school starts in early August, which just seems unfair. The weather is still ungodly hot and, well, it still feels too much like summer to be going to school, dammit! They’re talking about starting in July next year, poor kids. I understand why it’s happening, but it doesn’t seem right to me.

But as the days get shorter and the sun shines more obliquely, softening what light there is, I am always reminded me of how it felt to start a new school year: sad, exciting, scary. Certain music from that time period can reinforce those feelings—for better or worse. Stanley Clarke’s appropriately titled School Days album was a big favorite back in the 1970s, when “fusion” was not yet a dirty word and I listened to it a lot when I was in middle school. Sure, most of it is pretty cheesy, but the eight-minute title track is killer: opening with that signature bass riff and explosive electric guitar wailing from Ray Gomez—but then the dynamics suddenly drop down and Clarke takes a big long solo. Now, bass solos, no matter by whom, rarely work for me, usually sounding leaden and earthbound. But here, Clarke flies, displaying incredible technique and control over the unwieldy, low-impedance Alembic bass, building up to a thunderous climax before the reprise. It’s one of those solos that are ingrained in my brain; I can sing it from memory. It’s that good.

Of course, I long ago sold my original LP in one of my periodic purges of the collection. I could be ruthless. I thought I’d “outgrown” such kid stuff—yet secretly I still kind of missed having it around. I would see copies regularly in the used bins but never bothered to pick it up. Usually, they were in pretty beat-up condition; this was, after all, one of those records people played to death. So when I saw the recent Friday Music reissue on 180-gram vinyl, I went ahead and grabbed it—even though I’ve had a hit-or-miss experience with this label. But when I saw that legendary mastering engineer, Kevin Gray, had a hand in this edition, I figured it had to sound at least OK. Well, let me tell you, it sounds better than OK—it sounds freaking fantastic! Listening to it the first time, I was literally blown out of my chair, like that guy in the old Maxell ads. I felt like I was thirteen again! Compared to most “audiophile” reissues these days, it’s a relative bargain: the deluxe gatefold jacket is very nicely done and the vinyl pressing is heavy, flat and quiet. Truly, this Friday Music reissue of School Days is an impeccable release in every way and if you have fond memories of this fusion classic (and have a turntable), you owe yourself a listen.

Frankly, I’m glad I am no longer in school. Yet there’s still something depressing about autumn: the dying light, the turning leaves, the encroaching darkness with its intimation of winter. It can be a hard time of year. But at the same time, the cooler weather will be invigorating as the lazy, dog-days of summer give way to fall’s activities. We have big plans brewing and I feel that same sense of excitement (tinged with dread) which reminds me of my school days. Listening to records like this is nostalgic, comforting and reassuring—and that title track kicks serious ass. I hope you’re all having a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Playlist Week of 8-27-11

2011-08-27T19:37:00.010-05:00

* Monteverdi: Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610 (La Capella Reial/Savall) (Alia Vox 2SACD)
* Cage: Atlas Eclipticalis & Winter Music/103 (S.E.M. Ensemble/Kotik/Tudor) (d.1-2) (Asphodel 4CD)
* Vasks: Māte Saule (BIS CD)
* Lang: Little Match Girl Passion (Hillier Ensemble) (Harmonia Mundi SACD)
* John Coltrane: Interplay (d.4-5) (Prestige/Concord 5CD)
* John Coltrane: Side Steps (d.1-4) (Prestige 5CD)
* John Coltrane: Live Trane: The European Tours (d.1) (Pablo 7CD)
* Sun Ra: Municipal Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA 12-11-74 (AUD 2CDR)
* Sun Ra: Smiling Dog Saloon, Cleveland, OH 1-30-75 (FM CDR)
* Weather Report: 8:30 (Columbia/CBS—Japan 2LP)
* Stanley Clarke: School Days (Epic/Friday Music LP)
* Pat Metheny Group: The Falcon And The Snowman (Soundtrack) (EMI/Capitol CD)
* Pat Metheny Group: We Live Here (Geffen CD)†/‡
* Pat Metheny Group: “Quartet” (Geffen CD)
* Pat Metheny Group: Imaginary Day (Warner Bros. DVD-A)
* Pat Metheny Group: Speaking Of Now (Warner Bros. CD)‡
* Pat Metheny Group: The Way Up (Nonesuch CD)
* Marc Johnson: The Sound Of Summer Running (Verve CD)†/‡
* Lucinda Williams: Essence (Lost Highway CD)†/‡
* Lucinda Williams: World Without Tears (Lost Highway CD)†/‡
* Grateful Dead: The Grateful Dead (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Grateful Dead: Anthem Of The Sun (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Grateful Dead: Aoxomoxoa (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Grateful Dead: Workingman’s Dead (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Grateful Dead: American Beauty (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Grateful Dead: American Beauty (Warner Bros./Mobile Fidelity LP)
* Grateful Dead: Municipal Auditorium, Austin, TX 11-22-72 (d.2-3) (SBD 3CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Blues For Allah (GD/Audio Fidelity LP)
* The 13th Floor Elevators: Bull Of The Woods (International Artists/Charly CD)
* Santana: Moonflower (Columbia 2LP)
* Sonic Youth: Dirty (Deluxe Edition) (DGC/Goofin’ 4LP)
* Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs (Matador CD)†/‡
* Robert Pollard: Lord Of The Birdcage (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Last week, an anonymous commenter wrote:

i am always blown away by how much GD you listen to. i am a deadhead from way back, and i don’t listen to that much GD. :-)

Heh. What can I say?

When Jerry Garcia died on August 9, 1995, I took it really hard. I had just received second row tickets to see the Grateful Dead at Boston Garden in September. The Dead were a way of life: I had a job and wife (who was (and continues to be) very understanding) but I would go to shows as often as possible, a dozen or so every year: Spring Tour, Summer Tour, six shows at The Gahden. As the saying goes, “there is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert” and it’s true. If you never saw them, you have no idea what you missed. I liked listening to their records and bootleg tapes, but they were pale facsimile of the real thing: Live Dead. With Garcia gone, it all came crashing to an end. I couldn’t listen to them for a long, long time; it just made me too sad.

Well, time heals all wounds, as they say, and I eventually realized I still loved the music very much. And while the GD were no more, a flood of vault releases ensued: 36 volumes of Dick’s Picks, various compilations, box sets and DVDs. With the turn of the century, broadband internet access made possible the sharing of lossless FLAC files first via FTP and then via BitTorrent, making available almost every note the band ever played to anyone with a cable modem.I probably have well over a thousand CDRs of live GD music and the collection continues to grow—and I buy every new release. Believe it or not, each show really was different and while not every note is perfect (good lord, no), there are almost always a few precious gems and unique moments of pure inspiration. Instead of making me sad, listening to the Dead now makes me happy. It’s comforting and familiar yet endlessly interesting. It’s the perfect music for a Saturday morning.

But I hardly ever listen to their studio albums. So last fall, when Rhino announced The Warner Bros. Studio Albums box set, I was nonplussed. I had multiple copies of all these records on both vinyl and CD and didn’t see the point. Yet when I would see it at Grimey’s and pick it up—it’s heavy!—and gently fondle it, I had second thoughts. Man, the trippy, foil-stamped slipcase is just too cool! Despite my reservations about its contents, I wanted it, bad. After my root canal ordeal, I decided to treat myself and bring it home. It is truly a thing of beauty: inside the heavy-duty slipcase, each album is meticulously reproduced down to the finest detail, from the tipped-on jackets to the olive green labels. Mastered by Chris Bellman from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180-gram virgin vinyl at RTI, these things sound really, really good—even on my modest system.

It had been a while (years!) since I listened to these early records and it was something of a revelation. It’s actually quite amazing to hear this band of misfits transform themselves from greasy, psychedelic ravers into (almost) slick new-country avatars in a mere three years (1967-1970). Even if imperfect, these are certainly the best studio albums the GD ever made. The bucolic American Beauty (1970) particularly benefits from the deluxe treatment and this already wonderful-sounding album sounds better than ever, easily besting my old MoFi copy, which sounds thin and shrill by comparison.

What really makes this set worthwhile for the fanatical record collector is the presence of the original mixes of Anthem Of The Sun (1968) and Aoxomoxoa (1969). Anthem is a dark, lysergic masterpiece (“we mixed it for the hallucinations” quipped Garcia at the time) but the original version of Aoxomoxoa is much less successful. Frankly, I prefer the re-mix although it’s nice to have this as a reference. As you might expect, the weirder tracks, like “Rosemary” and “What’s Become Of The Baby” sound completely different from the 1972 remix which, remarkably enough, makes them sound even weirder. Nonetheless, this deluxe box set is just about perfect.

So, yeah, I listen to a lot of GD. But as you can see from the list above, that’s not all I listen to (I have other obsessions—and guilty pleasures). The Dead were a big part of my life and I’m grateful to have such unprecedented access to their vast recorded legacy. As it expands, it continues to reward in-depth study and, more importantly, listening to their music makes me happy. So, you know, I’m not going to feel bad about it. In fact, I’m contemplating doing a chronological survey of their discography a la Sun Ra Sunday. I know I’ve threatened this before but let’s see if I can get it together in 2012.

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-08-21T18:23:00.004-05:00

THE SUBSTITUTE WORDS

How carefully laid the scenes
How brilliantly superimposed
The substitute words to say and do.
How forced the seeming way of the pseudo-life.
If they would believe that vanity has them captive
If they would but believe the earth-gravity
Has them chained to its earth-plane vibration
Then they would come to know
Beyond the thing they call
The Beginning and End of knowledge-wisdom.
They would come to know
And they would know they know.

--Sun Ra

Playlist Week of 8-20-11

2011-08-20T18:36:00.023-05:00

* Telemann: The Complete Tafelmusik (d.1-2) (Freiburgurger Barockorchester) (Harmonia Mundi 4CD)
* Mussorgsky, et al.: Pictures At An Exhibition, etc. (Chicago Symphony/Reiner) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Cage: Sonatas & Interludes (Tilbury): Sala Verdi, Milan Conservatory 10-21-07 (FM CDR)
* John Coltrane: Interplay (d.1-3) (Prestige 5CD)
* Andrew Hill Sextet: Haus der Berliner Festspiel, Berlin 10-31-02 (FM CDR)
* Andrew Hill Sextet: Lausanne, Switzerland 11-01-02 (FM CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Moscow) 2008 (Leo CD)
* Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Mestre) 2008 (Caligola CD)
* Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtain Wall Quartet: Opera Théâtre de Besançon 6-27-08 (AUD CDR)
* Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtain Wall Trio: Chiostro di Villa d’Este, Tivoli 7-02-08 (AUD CDR)
* Derek Bailey: Pieces For Guitar (Tzadik CD)
* Chick Corea & Return To Forever: Light As A Feather (Polydor LP)
* Weather Report: Mysterious Traveler (Columbia LP)
* Weather Report: Black Market (Columbia LP)
* Weather Report: Heavy Weather (Columbia/Legacy SACD)
* Weather Report: Mr. Gone (Columbia LP)
* Weather Report: Night Passage (Columbia/ARC LP)
* Pat Metheny Group: Still Life (Talking) (Geffen CD)†/‡
* Pat Metheny Group: Letter From Home (Geffen CD)†/‡
* Steve Tibbetts: Safe Journey (ECM LP)
* Parliament/Funkadelic: Convention Center, Dallas, TX 11-05-76 (SBD CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Betty Nelson’s Organic Raspberry Farm, Sultan, WA 9-02-68 (SBD CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA 10-12-68 (SBD CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA 10-13-68 (SBD CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Municipal Auditorium, Austin, YX 11-22-72 (d.1) (SBD 3CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA 2-23-74 (SBD 4CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY 3-28-93 (SBD 2CDR)‡
* Joni Mitchell: Shadows And Light (Asylum 2CD)
* Genesis: Genesis (Atlantic LP)
* Fushitsusha: Withdrawe, this sable Disclosure ere devot’d (Victo CD)
* R.E.M.: Murmur (I.R.S. LP)
* Yo La Tengo: I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass (Matador CD)†/‡
* Beck: The Information (Geffen CD)
* Beck: Modern Guilt (Geffen CD)(‡)
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)
* Circus Devils: Mother Skinny (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Tortoise: Beacons Of Ancestorship (Thrill Jockey LP)
* Broken Bells: Broken Bells (Columbia LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Way back in December of 2008, I raved about Leo’s rush-release of Quartet (Moscow) 2008, a live recording of Anthony Braxton’s Diamond Curtain Wall Quartet featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson, brass player Taylor Ho Bynum, bassoonist Katherine Young and Braxton on reeds and laptop. It is an extraordinary document of one of Braxton’s most viscerally exciting ensembles and one of my favorite records of all time. Now, three years later, the tiny Italian label, Caligola, has released another recording from this tour, Quartet (Mestre) 2008, and it might be even better! The sound quality, anyway, is significantly improved. The Leo disc disc sounds OK, if a little distant, but this multi-track recording has been meticulously mixed-down for optimum fidelity. Each instrument is crystal clear, occupying a precisely defined space in the soundstage and the wide-spectrum dynamics are vividly lifelike—truly an audiophile-quality representation of this band. And what a band! The performance is, as usual, spectacular and it is interesting to compare it to the Moscow concert (and other verité recordings from this tour) to appreciate the sheer inventiveness of the musicians and their uncanny, telepathic interplay.

It’s an unconventional ensemble, for sure, with no percussion to hold things together (or weigh them down) and the bracing squall of the Supercollider computer software adds an electro-futuristic dimension unique to Braxton’s hyper-expansive oeuvre. Moreover, the Diamond Curtain Wall compositions are abstract in the extreme: a score consists of splashes of colored paint supplemented with lines, numbers and other hieroglyphic symbols developed out of Braxton’s complex, peculiarly idiosyncratic notational systems. An example (via The Tri-Centric Foundation) from Composition 366c looks like this:

In his liner notes to Quartet (Mestre) 2008 (which contains a performance of Composition 367c), Stefano Zenni refers to the music as “improvisations” and, to some degree, the term is appropriate. After all, the musicians are not constrained by prescribed pitches, schematic harmonies or rationalized rhythms but, instead, must “interpret” the seemingly obscure symbolism on the page, decode an image far removed from conventional notation. But I do believe Braxton’s markings contain practical meaning to the musicians (who are long-time Braxton’s initiates) and while it may appear to be pure improvisation, it is not, really; the score is obviously integral to the music’s process of becoming. It is a Braxton composition, even if it doesn’t sound like any other. Unlike Braxton’s other recent activity, the Diamond Curtain Wall Music does not rely upon the hypnotic, pulse-driven Ghost Trance material or the collagist layering of various existing compositions, which has been the usual modus operandi of his working ensembles since the 1980s (and now taken to an extreme with the Echo Echo Mirror House Music, where every musician also plays an iPod loaded with Braxton’s complete catalog of recorded works). The screeching electronics and (sometimes) rockish guitar only partially defines the uniqueness of the Diamond Curtain Wall Music: the cryptic yet visually delightful score, in these hands, produces something akin to magic. But how?

Recently, composer Pat Muchmore wrote a fascinating online column in The New York Times about what he calls “ergodic notation,” the various sorts of creatively unconventional methods of notating music dating back to the 15th Century. His term is derived from Espen J. Aarspeth, a game and literary theorist who coined the phrase, “ergodic literature,” to describe “writings that require some amount of effort to read beyond simply moving one’s eyes and flipping pages” (e.g. Mark Z. Danielewski’s 2000 novel, House of Leaves). But Muchmore goes on to distinguish between elements which are purely graphical and those that are musically functional while defending what has been too often dismissed as Augenmusik—“eye music”—scores which are perhaps interesting to look at but (supposedly) impossible to play and worthless to listen to. The article is generously illustrated with pages from such luminaries of the field as George Crumb, Peter Maxwell Davies and, of course (everybody’s favorite), John Cage. Muchmore makes several cogent arguments in favor of the technique and demonstrates his own use of a circular notational scheme in his own work. Whether the term “ergodic music” will catch on or his vigorous defense of “eye music” prevails remains doubtful (the comments section is typically contentious). Nevertheless, for the “musically fluent” know-it-alls, Muchmore offers an intriguing observation regarding the elegantly rendered manuscript of “Belle, bonne, sage” by the Renaissance-era composer, Baude Codier (c.1380-c.1440):

Take another close look at the heart-shaped ars subtilior example above. Unless you’re quite familiar with European Renaissance notation, it’s probably difficult to imagine precisely what sounds have been encoded here, and it would remain so even if the score weren’t graphically altered. It should be familiar — after all this is a direct evolutionary antecedent of modern Western notation — but the specifics remain tantalizingly out of reach without further study. The note shapes are just that: shapes. It’s a potent reminder that ALL notation is entirely graphical, even though it’s as hard to see standard modern notation purely visually as it is to look at a sign in your native language and appreciate solely the contours of the familiar characters without their usual meaning.

What we think of as “standard notation” was at one time a radical creative leap and it evolved and developed—and ossified—over time. The “classical music” establishment fetishizes the score—the notes on the page—while using it as a cudgel to stifle the supposed evils of Modernism and the anarchic indeterminacy of improvisation. “Ergodic notation” loosens the shackles of received wisdom and the entrained habits of “professional” musicians and makes possible something conventional notation cannot, having reduced mystical abstractions to an inviolable standardization.

It’s corny, but I guess that’s why I love both creating and reading these scores; it’s ever so slightly magical. Even for those who can’t particularly read music, I think it can add to the appreciation of a composition to see such scores while listening to the music and know that, somehow, when the former is put in front of the right eyes it becomes the latter. Even if the music alone does relatively little for you, surely it’s at least fun to know that it was generated by splashes of color, a spiral or a baroquely-detailed heart.

Braxton may come across to the uninitiated as forbiddingly austere but there is this sort of magic-making happening with the Diamond Curtain Wall music—and it is seriously fun to listen to! As Muchmore so aptly puts it, “the creative process of devising such a piece utterly fuses the visual and the musical” and the highly unconventional score causes something to happen that is more than just free improvisation. I may not be capable of deciphering Braxton’s marks on the page—much less correlating them to what I’m hearing—but the efficacy of “ergodic notation” is, nevertheless, obvious. Quartet (Mestre) 2008 is some of the most compelling—and enjoyable—music of his long career. Most highly recommended!

Playlist Week of 8-13-11

2011-08-13T19:05:00.004-05:00

* Rinaldo Alessandrini: Mozartsaal, Konzerthaus, Vienna 1-16-11 (FM CDR)
* Christophe Rousset: Chapelle Protestante, Brussels, Belgium 5-04-09 (FM 2CDR)
* Rimsky-Korsakov/Stravinsky: Scheherazade, etc. (Chicago Symphony/Reiner) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Debussy/Respighi: La Mer, etc. (Chicago Symphony/Reiner) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* John Coltrane: Fearless Leader (d.4-6) (Prestige 6CD)
* Grant Green: Idle Moments (Blue Note CD)†/‡
* Sun Ra: Civic Center, Santa Monica, CA 12-11-74 (AUD 2CDR)
* Sun Ra: Disco 3000 (Saturn/Art Yard CD)
* Anthony Braxton: Composition No.19 (For 100 Tubas) (New Braxton House FLAC>CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Sax Quintet (Middletown) 1998 (New Braxton House FLAC>CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Two Compositions (FONT) 2007 (New Braxton House FLAC>CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Mestre) 2008 (Caligola CD)
* DJ Spooky: Optometry (Thirsty Ear CD)†/‡
* Al Green: Greatest Hits (Hi LP)
* Al Green: The Definitive Greatest Hits (Hi/Capitol CD/DVD)
* Bootsy Collins: Bootsy? Player Of The Year (Warner Bros. CD)
* Bootsy Collins: What’s Bootsy Doin’? (Columbia CD)
* Bob Dylan: Scandinavium, Göteborg, Sweden 6-10-98 (AUD 2CDR)
* The 13th Floor Elevators: The Psychedelic Sounds Of: (International Artists/Charly CD)
* The 13th Floor Elevators: Easter Everywhere (International Artists/Charly CD)
* Grateful Dead: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY 3-10-81 (set 2) (SBD 2CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Coliseum, Greensboro, NC 4-30-81 (SBD 3CDR)
* Chicago: VIII (Columbia LP)
* Chicago: X (Columbia LP)
* Chicago: XI (Columbia LP)
* Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Get Happy!! (Columbia/MoFi 2-45RPM LP)
* Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (Deluxe Edition) (d.1) (Mercury 2CD)†/‡
* Tool: Opiate (Volcano CDEP)‡
* Tool: Undertow (Volcano CD)†/‡
* Robert Pollard: From A Compound Eye (Merge 2LP)
* Robert Pollard: Normal Happiness (Merge LP)
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)
* Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity (Kill Rock Stars CD)†/‡
* Broken Bells: Broken Bells (Columbia CD)
* Broken Bells: Meyrin Fields EP (Columbia CDEP)
* Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop 2LP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Yesterday, I had not one—but TWO—root canals. Ouch! It went okay, I guess; but today I am loopy on Lortab™ and feel like I’ve been punched in the jaw, hard. Oh, and I’m also trying to (have to) quit smoking. Ha! So much fun! Needless to say, I’m in pretty rough shape. See you all next week (I hope).

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-08-07T18:10:00.000-05:00

NEW HORIZONS

Music Pulsing like a living heartbeat,
Pleasant intuition of better things to come . . .
The sight of boundless space
Reaching ever outward as if in search of itself.
Music spontaneous rapture,
Feet rushing with the wind on a new world
Of sounds:
Invisible worlds . . . . vibrations . . . tone pictures . .
A new world for every self
Seeking a better self and a better world.

Music akin to thought . . . . . . . .
Imagination . . . !
With wings unhampered,
Unafraid . . . . . . . .
Soaring like a bird
Through the threads and fringes of today
Straight to the heart of tomorrow.
Music rushing forth like a fiery law
Loosening the chains that bind,
Ennobling the mind
With all the many greater dimensions
Of a living tomorrow.

--Sun Ra

Playlist Week of 8-06-11

2011-08-06T19:10:00.011-05:00

* Debussy: La Mer/Ibert: Escales (Boston Symphony/Munch) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Ravel: Daphnis And Chloé (Boston Symphony/Munch) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Dvořák: New World Symphony, etc. (Chicago Symphony/Reiner) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Chicago Symphony/Reiner: Spain (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Julian Bream: Popular Classics For Spanish Guitar (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Miles Davis: The Complete Birth Of The Cool (Capitol CD)
* Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961 (d.1) (Columbia 6CD)
* John Coltrane: Fearless Leader (d.1-3) (Prestige 6CD)
* Sun Ra: Dance Of The Living Image: Lost Reel Collection Vol.4 (Transparency 2CD)
* Sun Ra: Civic Arena, Santa Cruz, CA 12-11-74 (AUD 2CDR)
* Rashied Ali/Charles Gayle/Sirone: Stadtsaal, Burghausen, Germany 3-8-08 (FM 2CDR)
* Roscoe Mitchell’s Cards For Orchestra Project: Sant’Anna Arresi, Italy 8-30-09 (FM CDR)
* Weather Report: Shinjuku Kouseinen Hall, Tokyo, Japan 6-28-78 (FM 2CDR)
* John McLaughlin & The 4th Dimension: Schloss Johannisberg, Cuvéehof, Germany 7-4-08 (FM CDR)
* John McLaughlin & The 4th Dimension: Place du Chevalier D’Antras, Mauriac, France 7-30-11 (FM CDR)‡
* Parliament: Motor Booty Affair (Casablanca/Polygram CD)
* Bootsy Collins: Ahh…The Name Is Bootsy, Baby! (Warner Bros. CD)
* Bootsy Collins: Ultra Wave (Warner Bros. CD)
* Grateful Dead: Road Trips Vol.4 No.4: Spectrum 4-6-82 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: Civic Center, Hartford, CT 4-18-82 (selections) (SBD 3CDR)
* Emmylou Harris: All I Intended To Be (Nonesuch CD)†/‡
* Emmylou Harris: Hard Bargain (Nonesuch CD)†/‡
* Lucinda Williams: Blessed (Lost Highway CD)†/‡
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador MP3)†/‡
* Thurston Moore: KCRW-FM, Santa Monica, CA 7-28-11 (FM CDR)
* Wilco: Circus Krone, Munich, Germany, 9-24-10 (FM 2CDR)
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)
* Circus Devils: Gringo (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Fleet Foxes: BBC Radio Theatre, London, Englan 6-03-11 (FM CDR)

†=Pod
‡=car

Commentary:

1982 is an overlooked year in the Grateful Dead’s history. Of all the dozens of vault releases, only Dick’s Picks 32 is from ’82—and it’s one of the worst-sounding “official” releases ever (seriously, it’s almost unlistenable). Well, that’s one of the problems with trying to properly assess this era of the Dead’s career. Most of the band's recordings were made on a lowly cassette deck plugged directly into the soundboard, a less than ideal format to say the least. Most of the “official” releases from the early ‘80s suffer from awkward mixes, noticeable wow and flutter, and consistently off-speed playback. Ugh. Various soundboard tapes circulate in trading circles but a well-made audience tape will almost always sound better—unfortunately, they are few and far between. The new Road Trips, recorded at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on April 6, 1982, is a decent-sounding board tape from this era, and it appears some extra effort has been made regarding pitch-correction and Dolby implementation (it’s about time!). No, it’s not perfect but it sounds better than the circulating copy—and it’s a hot show to boot.

The unique thing about 1982 is Brent Mydland’s new keyboard, having traded the tinkly Fender Rhodes for a Yamaha CP-80 Electric Grand Piano, literally a miniaturized grand piano with built-in piezoelectric pickups. This, combined with his Hammond B3 organ, gave the band a warm, acoustic sound reminiscent of Keith Godchaux’s era with the band in 1970s. And Jerry Garcia’s slide into heroin addiction had not yet robbed the sweetness from his voice or the fluidity from his guitar-playing. Just take a listen to the super-funky “Shakedown Street” which opens the second set: Garcia’s solo is so sharp and purposeful, building up paragraphs out of a syntax of deliberative motives, riffs and melodic variations before moving on to another idea and exploring it in depth. Etc. He plays every note like he means it, telling a story with just his fingers and strings. Brent trades licks with Jerry at the outset and the rest of the band falls in behind, building up a series of climaxes before the big decrescendo and reprise. Really, folks, this is just about as good as it gets! Brent abandoned the CP-80 in 1983, adopting the nascent digital technology with its expanding palette of textures; but the pure, analog, semi-acoustic sound was gone forever. And, as is well known, Garcia’s health nosedived in the coming years, resulting in the near-fatal coma of 1986. Frankly, things would never quite be the same; still good—sometimes great—but something indefinable was lost.

So, this edition of the Road Trips series is a welcome reminder that 1982 was a real mid-career peak, even if nobody except Deadheads knew or cared at the time. It’s all consistently good with epic versions of “Terrapin Station” and “Morning Dew” rounding out the set and a lovely rendition of Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” for an encore. As an added bonus, selected cuts from the night before, including a rare electric “Deep Elem Blues” and a long, spacey “Playing In The Band” sequence, fills out discs two and three. You certainly get your money’s worth, even if the sound is a bit wonky. Perhaps not for everybody, but if, like me, you have fond memories of seeing the Dead back in the early 80s, then Road Trips Vol.4 No.4 is a most welcome release.

Of course, next month promises the arrival of the mammoth 73-disc Complete Europe ’72 box. Good lord! I’m overwhelmed just thinking about it.

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-07-31T17:50:00.006-05:00

Sun Ra: Dance Of The Living Image: Lost Reel Collection Vol.4 (Transparency 2CD)

In October 1974, the Arkestra traveled to California for an extended sojourn, playing gigs at the Keystone Korner and Off Plaza in San Francisco and the One World Family Center in Berkeley, where they moved into a rented house on Baker Street (Campbell & Trent p.215). They stayed on the West Coast until the end of the year, performing in venues large and small, including an impromptu small group appearance at the San Jose State University Student Union on December 9; at the cavernous Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on December 11; and a New Year’s Eve show at the Afro-American Historical Society in San Francisco (Id. pp.215, 217). Of these known performances, only the Santa Cruz concert is documented (in a typically grungy-sounding audience recording), although Peter Hinds asserts that a tape exists of the New Year’s gig (Id.). However, in 2009 the Transparency label unearthed a hundred-minute rehearsal tape purportedly recorded in San Francisco in December, 1974 and released it as Dance Of The Living Image, volume four of The Lost Reel Collection. I say “purportedly” because, as usual with Transparency, the documentation is spotty (if not outright wrong) but I guess we have to take some things at face value while trying to correct errors where we can. That’s what I’m here for. Being a rehearsal, it’s not a completely satisfying musical experience, but it gives some insight into Ra’s working methods and reveals a surprisingly bawdy sense of humor. It also corroborates the musicians’ accounts of rigorous rehearsals of material that was never actually played in concert.

The first disc opens with two takes of “Dance Of The Living Image,” the first a mere fragment and the second (also incomplete) misidentified as an “unknown title.” Originally recorded in early 1970 and released on the classic album, Night Of The Purple Moon, this tune was apparently never performed live. That’s too bad, as it’s a groovy modal number driven by Ra’s reedy Rocksichord. But the deceptively simple construction is actually a lot harder to play than it would seem. On the first track, Ra demonstrates the vamp and appropriate scales as the band sets up in the background. But then on the second take, the arrangement keeps breaking down and you can hear Sonny stopping to instruct the band on the tricky ostinato. Newcomer (and Bay Area resident), Damon Choice, is on vibes (probably—see Id., p.217) and he seems to have difficulty getting the hang of it. In fact, the band never really comes together and they eventually give it up. Too bad. The next track is an unknown title (misidentified on the disc as “Sometimes I’m Happy”), possibly a number in the “Discipline” series. The background riffing is similar to “Discipline 27,” but embellished with additional sax and trumpet lines and some jazzy electric guitar from Dave Williams. Another mystery.

Track four (mistitled “Astro Nation) is actually “Sometimes I’m Happy,” a hoary old standard originally recorded in 1962-or-3 and released on The Invisible Shield, which, incidentally, had just come out on the newly rejuvenated Saturn label. While it was performed at The Red Garter in 1970 (and perhaps elsewhere), the song didn’t become a fixture of the Arkestra’s live sets until the ‘80s. And this is a particularly weird take on this ridiculous piece of schmaltz: the horns heave and sigh while Williams hits a dissonant, wah-wah’d clank on the one…Then Ra gets right up to the microphone and mumbles/croons the song in an unexpectedly woozy, almost drunken manner while the band takes it further and further out behind him. Choice runs away on the vibes, Williams turns up the volume and reverb, the horns’ swaying structure on the verge of collapse. Whoah! “Astro Nation” (misidentified as an “unknown title”) is another vocal number, an odd-metered space chant precariously set against a bumping rhumba. Despite its seeming simplicity, it requires several minutes of unsteady repetition before the band starts to gel. Despite this inauspicious beginning, the song quickly became a live staple, at least through the end of the ‘70s.

Disc one concludes with two tracks, wherein two (or three?) previously unknown titles are heard for the first and only time. This twenty-minute sequence is really quite fascinating. Track six shows the band sight-reading a chart, Danny Ray Thompson honking out a slowly repeating bari-sax note, accompanied by off-centered guitar arpeggios. Meanwhile, the horns play a twisty, asymmetrical melody. The sparse, lurching drumming (Jarvis?) makes the band sound twitchy and unbalanced, though the trumpets (Hadi and Ebah) sound confident on the fanfare-like bridge. But just as it seems they’re building up a head of steam, Sonny calls a halt (though Williams and Jarvis continue to play around with their parts). There’s a discussion in the background about what tune they just played, and it sounds like Ra calls it “Opus No.” Hmm. “Let’s play the San Francisco tune,” he says. OK. Track seven (not even listed on the disc!) picks up with the band again reading through a complicated chart. Ra counts aloud in five and stops the band repeatedly to make corrections. The piece sounds something like the previous track, only sped up and with more saxophones, but it’s hard to tell what exactly is going on. After about five minutes, the tape cuts off and picks up on some noodling and talking—until Danny Ray Thompson starts in on a snaky bari-sax riff and the band falls in behind him with what sounds like an already well-rehearsed arrangement (although never performed live or on record)[UPDATE: this composition has been identified as "Sun Procession"--see comments for details]. It’s one of those regal, Pharaohonic themes, richly orchestrated for saxophones, flutes and trumpets, supplemented with Ra’s tinkling electronic keyboard—only Williams’s Superfly guitar antics seem out of place. Interestingly, nobody solos (except for maybe Ra, who never lets up) yet the composition continues to subtly evolve across its ten-minute length before coming to a precise end. Wonderful!

Most of disc two is taken up with “Hard Hearted Hannah,” a Tin Pan Alley hit from 1924, revived here by the Arkestra for (apparently) the first and only time. Actually, it’s more of a jam, led by Ra from the Rocksichord, calling out the chord changes and sometimes providing some (inaudible) instructions. Unfortunately, the twenty-two minute instrumental version never really goes anywhere and Jarvis’s jittery drumming fails to provide a satisfactory groove (he sounds bored, frankly). Another attempt is made, only this time with vocals, but it’s impossible to hear. Then the tape cuts and Ra has now enlisted the entire Arkestra into singing the full lyrics about “the vamp from Savannah, G.A.”—and he gets a big kick out of it (you can hear him cracking up in the background). Sonny comps away while Choice does a Lionel Hampton thing on the vibes. It’s not really happening, but you can tell they’re having fun. Tthe band can hardly believe it when Ra suggests they play it at the gig! (I don’t think they ever did.) The tape cuts in again on more shenanigans: riotous laughter and a song about…farting! “When you eat, don’t eat too fast or you’ll make music with your ass—passin’ gas!” Well, it’s good to know it wasn’t always super-serious Astrometaphysics 24/7 with Ra. Hilarious!

Continuing the old-timey, pre-War vibe, Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady” follows. During this period, Ra was trying to integrate historical material into the Arkestra’s repertoire, but it’s unclear whether this particular tune had entered into the set at this point. The band sounds like they’re familiar with the arrangement, but Sonny periodically stops to lecture them on the finer points of the rhythmic feel required. Hadi takes an exquisite solo, punctuated with daring, high-register squeals, followed by Gilmore, who is, unfortunately, way off-mic; nevertheless, it is typically brilliant. Finally, the rehearsal concludes with something that is definitely not “Watusi,” despite what the liner notes say. Another unknown composition, the Arkestra struggles with the intricately interlocking melodies. “Are you playing the two or the one?” Ra asks. After some indecipherable discussion, the band tentatively starts again. The effect is hypnotic but the band sounds completely unsure of itself. Then Gilmore and Davis trade licks while Allen plays a long-toned counter-melody on flute, offering further possibilities—but, sadly, the tape cuts off. Oh well—there goes another lost Sun Ra composition.

Like others in the series, Volume 4 of the Lost Reel Collection is for hardcore Sun Ra fanatics only. Being a rehearsal, nothing here really coheres musically (with the exception of the “hidden” track seven and the absurdly amusing “Passin’ Gas”). However, all the previously unknown titles are interesting in their own right, even if incomplete or badly played. Well, for me, the whole thing is essential listening—if only to peek behind the veil, to hear the master at work. Good stuff.

Playlist Week of 7-30-11

2011-07-30T19:14:00.008-05:00

* Bernard Foccroulle: Cathédrale Saint-Michael et Gudule, Brussels 2-11-11 (d.1) (FM 2CDR)
* Buxtehude: Six Sonatas (Holloway/ter Linden/Mortensen, et al.) (Naxos CD)
* Telemann: The Complete Tafelmusik (Freiburger Barockorchester) (Harmonia Mundi 4CD)
* Geminiani: Cello Sonatas, Op.5 (ter Linden/Mortensen) (Brilliant Classics CD)
* J.S. Bach: Motetten BWV 225-230 (Collegium Vocale Gent/Herreweghe) (PHI CD)
* Saint-Saens: Symphony No.3, Op.78 (“Organ”) (Boston Symphony/Munch) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Mahler: Das Lied Von Der Erde (Chicago Symphony/Reiner/Forrester/Lewis) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Leontyne Price: Arias (Rome Opera Orchestra) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Copland: Billy The Kid/Rodeo (Morton Gould & His Orchestra) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite (Morton Gould & His Orchestra) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Roland Kirk: Pre-Rahsaan (Prestige 2LP)
* Roy Haynes Quartet: Out Of The Afternoon (Impulse! CD)
* Oliver Nelson: The Blues And The Abstract Truth (Impulse! CD)
* Elvin Jones/Jimmy Garrison Sextet: Illumination! (Impulse ! CD)
* Pharoah Sanders: Black Unity (Impulse! CD)
* Sun Ra: Dance Of The Living Image: Lost Reel Collection Vol.4 (Transparency 2CD)
* Herbie Hancock: Flood (CBS/Sony—Japan CD)
* Jeff Beck With The Jan Hammer Group: Live (Epic LP)
* Parliament: Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome (Casablanca/PolyGram CD)
* Parliament: The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein (Casablanca/Polygram CD)
* Grateful Dead: Kaiser Convention Center, Oakland, CA 11-21-85 (SBD 3CDR)
* Jerry Garcia Band: Shining Star (Arista 2CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (Swan Song/Atlantic 2CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: Presence (Swan Song/Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: In Through The Out Door (Swan Song/Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: Coda (Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Genesis: Duke (Atlantic LP)
* The Art Of Noise: (Who’s Afraid Of?) The Art Of Noise! (ZTT/Island LP)
* Bill Laswell & Pete Namlook: Psychonavigation 2 (FAX CD)†
* Bill Laswell & Pete Namlook: Psychonavigation 3 (FAX CD)†
* Bill Laswell & Pete Namlook: Psychonavigation 4 (FAX CD) †
* Original Silence: The First Original Silence (Smalltown Superjazz CD)
* Original Silence: The Second Original Silence (Smalltown Superjazz CD)
* Flaming Lips: Embryonic (Deluxe Edition) (Warner Bros. DVD-A)
* Robert Pollard: Lord Of The Birdcage (GBV, Inc. LP/MP3)(†/‡)
* Boston Spaceships: The Planets Are Blasted (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Boston Spaceships: Our Cubehouse Still Rocks (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (GBV, Inc. 2LP)
* Fleet Foxes: Sun Giant (Sub Pop EP)
* Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop LP)
* Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop 2LP)

†=iPod
‡car

Commentary:

At this point, it is a lazy cliché to say Robert Pollard is ridiculously prolific—perhaps too prolific—but the fact remains, he puts out an unbelievable number of records per year, year after year (and I am lazy). With last month’s release, Lord Of The Birdcage, this makes four full-length LPs so far in 2011 (not including the three-LP “official bootleg,” GBV: Live in Daytron 6?°)—and there’s more to come: the long-awaited Boston Spaceships double-LP, Let It Beard, comes out next week and a new Circus Devils album should be released just in time for Halloween. Seriously, it is a full-time job keeping up with the guy—and requires another one just to afford it.

As you all know, I am a huge fan. I buy it all sight unheard, preordering directly from Rockathon or picking it up on day of release at my favorite local record store. Is it always first rate, top-shelf stuff? Well, no—how could it be? The guy is only human, despite all appearances. What’s astonishing is that his records are at least consistently good, if not great, and I’m rarely too disappointed. Even a mediocre Pollard record is better—or more interesting—than nine-tenths of the music out there, in my opinion. Even the most tossed-off album will usually contain a perfect gem of a song that most bands would sell their souls to write. While I enjoy finding those diamonds in the rough, it makes me wonder if fewer records containing only the best songs would be more satisfying and less taxing for his fans (and give newcomers a chance to catch up). On the other hand, I appreciate that Pollard caters to the fanatical record collector (like me). He’s a vinyl guy and his collaged cover art is almost always exquisitely well done; the records are objects d’art, irrespective of the music contained within.

So…Lord Of The Birdcage is a mediocre Pollard album—that is to say, merely very good rather than truly great. So what? As the story goes, the songs were based on poems previously written rather than freshly written lyrics, the opposite of his usual approach. Perhaps that is part of the problem. Pollard is the master of the allusive non-sequitur, the nearly nonsensical turn of phrase that is miraculously elevated to enigmatic profundity when sung. It is the sound of the words that matters, not their literal meaning. In this case, the poems (which work well enough on their own) feel shoehorned into the songs’ structures—and it doesn’t help matters that Pollard’s voice sounds rather rushed and peculiarly strained, like even he has his doubts about the proceedings. Todd Tobias’s slick production and multi-instrumentalism makes the best of it, but despite a month of dedicated listening—at home, in the car, on the iPod—none of the songs have really made much of an impression. Then again, fuck me. Sometimes it takes a long time for Pollard’s records to sink in. Something which previously sounded irritating and obtuse will, months later, suddenly develop into an infectious ear-worm, a super-catchy piece of pop I can’t get out of my head. That happens a lot with Pollard, if you keep listening. Regardless, the deluxe gatefold album jacket is gorgeous and comes with a free download card to boot (including lossless FLAC format—nice).

Of course, Lord Of The Birdcage is already superseded by Let It Beard, which arrived in my mailbox this morning. My impression after one listen? It rocks! But the sprawling, twenty-six-song album will take some time to absorb. Maybe I’ll have something more to say about it in a few weeks. You can check out sample tracks from both of these albums (and more) here.

+++

As an update to last week’s playlist, Grimey’s called me on Wednesday to inform me I’d won the drawing for Wilco tickets. I was stunned. I never win anything! But it looks like we’ll be seeing them both nights at The Grand Ole Opry—Yee-Haw!!

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-07-24T19:07:00.004-05:00

Can you tell me about the music you make?

Sun Ra: Well, the music, it’s about feelings, it’s not about what I know. It’s about what I feel. If we lose feeling then we’re really dead. Most people on this planet have no feeling anymore because they don’t care about each other. They turn to religion and philosophy and they think that’ll do it. But it hasn’t done it yet.

Playlist Week of 7-23-11

2011-07-23T20:15:00.014-05:00

* Marais: Pieces de Viole des Cinq Livres (Savall, Koopman, et al.) (Alia Vox 5SACD)
* Buxtehude: Seven Trio Sonatas, Op.2 (Holloway/ter Linden/Mortensen) (Naxos CD)
* J.S. Bach: Trio Sonatas (London Baroque/Medlam) (Harmonia Mundi CD)†/‡
* Frank: Symphony in D Minor (Chicago Symphony/Monteaux) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Stravinsky: Petrouchka (Boston Symphony/Monteaux) (RCA-Victor/Sony SACD)
* Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane: The Complete Riverside Recordings (Riverside/Concord 2CD)
* Thelonious Monk: Monk Alone: The Complete Solo Studio Recordings (Columbia/Legacy 2CD)
* John Coltrane: The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording (Impulse! CD)
* Alice Coltrane: Transfiguration (Warner Bros./Sepia Tone 2CD)
* Ornette Coleman: The Complete Science Fiction Sessions (Columbia/Legacy 2CD)
* Andrew Hill: Mosaic Select (d.1-2) (Mosaic 3CD)
* Sun Ra: Life Is Splendid: Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival 1972 (Total Energy CD)
* Sun Ra: Outer Space Employment Agency: Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival 1973 (Total Energy CD)
* Sun Ra: It Is Forbidden: Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival in Exile 1974 (Total Energy CD)
* Sun Ra: Dance Of The Living Image: Lost Reel Collection Vol.4 (Transparency 2CD)
* Roscoe Mitchell & The Note Factory: Song For My Sister (Pi CD)
* Muhal Richard Abrams/Roscoe Mitchell/George Lewis: Streaming (Pi CD)
* William Parker/In Order To Survive: Posium Pendasem (FMP CD)
* George Benson: Weekend In L.A. (Warner Bros. 2LP)
* Parliament: Mothership Connection (Casablanca/Polygram CD)
* Parliament: Live: P-Funk Earth Tour (Casablanca/Polygram CD)
* Prince & The Revolution: Around The World In A Day (Paisley Park/Warner Bros. LP)
* Prince: Sign O’ The Times (Paisley Park/Warner Bros. 2LP)
* Prince: Lovesexy (Paisley Park/Warner Bros. LP)
* Bill Laswell, et al.: Altered Beats: Assassin Knowledges Of The Remaniputated (Axiom/Island CD)†/‡
* Hands Off Cuba: Hands Off Cuba (Hands Off CDEP)
* Grateful Dead: Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA 2-22-74 (SBD 5CDR)
* Led Zeppelin: I (Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: II (Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: III (Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Led Zeppelin: Houses Of The Holy (Atlantic CD)†/‡
* Big Star: #1 Record (Ardent/Classic LP)
* Big Star: Radio City (Ardent/Classic LP)
* Sonic Youth: Goo (Deluxe Edition) (d.3-4) (Goofin’ 4LP)
* Tool: Lateralus (Volcano CD)†
* Robert Pollard: Lord Of The Birdcage (GBV, Inc. MP3)†/‡
* Boston Spaceships: Brown Submarine (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Wilco: Ashes Of American Flags (Nonesuch DVD)
* Wilco: Wilco (the album) (Nonesuch CD)
* Wilco: “I Might”/“I Love My Label” (dBpm/Anti- 7”)
* Animal Collective: Water Curses (Domino CDEP)†
* Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino CD)†

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Wilco has wasted no time since breaking with Nonesuch Records, with a new album coming out September 27 called Whole Love on their very own label, dBpm (get it? decibels per minute!). In anticipation, a seven-inch single arrived this week and, if the A-side is any indication, Wilco is continuing to broaden its palate. “I Might” is a punchy slab of New Wave soul, complete with a big, distorted bass line, incongruously chiming glockenspiel and doo-wop background vocals framing a super-catchy hook. Nice! The B-side is an impromptu cover of Nick Lowe’s, “I Love My Label,” an ode to Rough Trade Records and a fitting tribute to their newfound autonomy. Even more appropriately (or incongruously), Lowe himself will be opening for Wilco on their upcoming fall tour. Now, that is an interesting combo!

Wilco gets dismissed as edgeless “Dad rock” by some cynical hipsters—The Eagles of the new century. OK fine: I’ll admit Wilco’s records are kinda bland (I rarely listen to them); but live is where it’s at—especially since avant-guitar maestro, Nels Cline, joined the band. Kicking Television, compiled from performances from 2005, gives a pretty good idea of how good they can be, but the 2008 DVD, Ashes Of American Flags, is truly extraordinary and shows how much the band had grown since Cline’s arrival. Unlike The Eagles, Wilco pushes the limits of “country rock,” incorporating such diverse elements as the hypnotic throb of Krautrock or the jittery spasms of New Wave, the sugary pleasure of pure pop or the grating dissonance of pure noise, all the while still sounding as organic as Hank Williams. And Cline makes the superlative guitar hero. Sure, their albums feel a little stiff, but in concert, it all comes together and the music blooms.

We were able to snag two tickets to Wilco’s upcoming show at the Ryman Auditorium on October 1st but, as you can see: these are “limited view” seats, way off to the side in the balcony. That’s fine; the Ryman barely holds 2000 people and is, after all, the “Mother Church” of the Grand Ole Opry, a peerless venue. Needless to say, both shows sold out within minutes and we consider ourselves lucky just to be in the door. We saw Wilco at the Ryman in 2008 and it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen (a few songs can be found on the Ashes DVD) so we’re really looking forward to seeing them there again. Whole Love may (or may not) turn out to be a ho-him record—but I’m certain Wilco will put on a great show. We can’t wait!

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-07-17T18:31:00.021-05:00

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Arkestra:
At the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival in Exile 1974: It Is Forbidden (Alive!/Total Energy CD)

The Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival had enjoyed increasing commercial success in its first three years and promoter John Sinclair made sure to prominently feature Sun Ra’s Arkestra ever since their triumphant appearances in 1972 and 1973. So, by all appearances, 1974 was looking to be more of the same—only better—with a lineup including such heavyweights as B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Cecil Taylor (!) along with the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown, headlining the event. Ra’s Impulse! albums had started hitting the stores earlier in the year, garnering favorable press. Moreover, there were plans for a sixteen-track recording and a film documentary of the festival; this was going to be a big opportunity for the band.

However, it was not to be. A mere six weeks before opening night, the Ann Arbor City Council denied Sinclair’s Rainbow Multimedia organization the requisite permit, citing their failure to clean up the festival site in 1973. Sinclair admits: “The clean-up problem was troubling” (liner notes). The crew had effectively gone on strike after the payroll money disappeared in a “multi-ton marijuana deal that, unhappily for all, failed to come off” (Id.). But there was more to it than that: political machinations were actively seeking to undermine his plans. Sinclair’s Rainbow People’s Party, itself an outgrowth of the notorious White Panthers, was splintering into competing factions and its influence (modest as it was) had precipitously declined in the municipal power struggle. “The Establishment” was fighting back against the hippies and, as a result, the 1974 Blues & Jazz Festival was simply not going to be allowed to happen—at least not in Ann Arbor.

“It Is Forbidden,” the City of Ann Arbor ruled in July, and pandemonium reigned for several days until the festival organizers were invited to bring the banned event across the Detroit River and into the lovely outdoor amphitheater at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario … Canada. Radio powerhouse CKLW-AM agreed to serve as sponsor of the event, pledging lots of free ad spots, and the Canadians waxed enthusiastic in their professions of support for the orphaned music festival (Id.).

Not surprisingly, it was a bust—literally. Ticket sales were thin while crowds of would-be festival goers were turned back at the “fiercely guarded border”(Id.)—including Sinclair himself, who was detained while escorting the Arkestra through Canadian customs. Ultimately, he was deported on the basis of his 1969 marijuana conviction (also the subject of John Lennon’s eponymous song, which really didn't help things). “This marked a major turning point in my life,” according to Sinclair:

I went back to my room in the Shelby Hotel Friday afternoon and watched myself talk to a television news reporter who had covered the impromptu deportation proceedings. As I witnessed the farthest-out group of characters I had ever seen in America being allowed entry into Canada while I was turned back as “too far out,” I was struck hard with the realization that I my public persona as dope fiend, ex-convict and virulent revolutionary agitator had now cut me off from the participating in the most important event in my career as a music promoter (Id.).

Needless to say, the festival lost untold amounts of money and the planned record and feature film never materialized when the master tapes were “quite reasonably withheld” by their recordists after payment was not forthcoming (Id.). Sadly, these tapes seem to have disappeared for good. Nevertheless, Sun Ra’s sixty-four minute set on Friday, September 6, was preserved on a cassette tape recorded from the soundboard and was released on Sinclair’s Alive!/Total Energy label as Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Arkestra at the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival in Exile 1974: It Is Forbidden (NER 3029-2) in 2001. Accustomed, perhaps, to their sub-underground status, Sonny and the band were not dissuaded by the small crowd or the tense backstage atmosphere and deliver a typically committed performance while they “visualized their paychecks floating off into the darkening gloom” (Id.).

The opening improvisation is particularly intense, with pummeling percussion, pealing trumpets, skronky blasts of saxophone and Nepunian libflecto—and some crazed, psycho-delic guitar from Dave Williams, whose nastily distorted, wah-wah-infused tone brings to mind the sort of dark, metallic funk Miles Davis was brewing up with Pete Cosey during this period. Wild! After about thirteen minutes, the strutting baritone sax riffs of “Discipline 27” emerge from the chaos. But while bassist, Reginald “Shoo-Be-Doo” Fields, tries his best to hold down the odd-metered groove, Clifford Jarvis is his usual hyperactive self, overplaying the drums and nearly derailing the tune. Oh well; with no one quite able to navigate an effective solo, they quickly give way to one of Sun Ra’s jaw-droppingly awesome “mad scientist” synthesizer and organ displays. A throbbing space chord yields more group improvisation (led by Hadi’s trumpet) before Sonny signals “Love In Outer Space” and it’s the usual, groovy thing, but marred by a wonky, drum-heavy mix. Still, it’s a pleasant romp. After a brief, spooky organ intro, the band launches into “The Shadow World” at maximum velocity, yet they perfectly execute the tricky, interlocking melodies—even as the rhythm section suddenly drops out. Wow! Then Gilmore takes over with a fearsome tenor sax solo, accompanied by chattering electronics and bashing drums, followed by Hadi’s high-wire acrobatics and a brief arco segment from Fields, all of which receives a round a polite applause from the intrepid crowd.

Ra abruptly changes gears, cueing up the chanting and carrying on of “Space Is The Place.” By now, Jarvis is tremendously overexcited, just chomping at the bit; but Sonny keeps him on a short leash. As June Tyson exclaims, “The Second Stop Is Jupiter!,” all hell breaks loose, with one of the Space Ethnic Vocalists (either Judith Holton or Cheryl Banks) doing her terrifying, Yoko-styled shrieking. Yikes! Even so, Jarvis is denied his usual overlong drum solo as the heaving chords of “Discipline 27-II” set the stage for Ra’s rhetorical question: “What Planet Is This?” Fortunately, the declamations last only a few minutes before he moves to acoustic piano for a lovely rendition of “Images,” Fields and Jarvis locking into the jaunty, slightly old-fashioned rhythms and the Arkestra delivering a full-throated rendition of the tune. Excellent! Ebah finally gets an extended turn at the mic, his mellow, slightly smeared sound a nice contrast to Hadi’s forthright virtuosity. Gilmore follows, picking up on Ebah’s staggered phrasing and gradually builds up to a thrilling climax of impossibly fast runs, multiphonic glossolalia, and heart-stopping altissimo squealing. Yes, folks, it’s another mind-blowingly incredible John Gilmore solo! Truly, what more (or less) can I say? Just stunning.

Then the Arkestra premieres a new composition, “It Is Forbidden,” possibly written in honor of the doomed festival (and likely never performed again, that is until its posthumous resurrection in 1996 (Campbell & Trent, p.763)). As Ra pounds out a repetitive diatonic chord sequence, the band gleefully sings their heads off: “It is forbidden, it’s strictly forbidden to touch on the tree of the knowledge of the good and evil!” It’s tempting to hear this as a gentle rebuke to Sinclair and his muddle-headed politics, but I could just be projecting. “Watusi” follows and Jarvis is finally given his opportunity to wail, though tempered by myriad other percussionists and the spectacle of dancers. And again, Sonny keeps things short, calling for the reprise of the head after only a few minutes. “Sun Ra And His Band From Outer Space” happily concludes the set with a quick chant and some outer spaceship synthesizer noise. What few people who were able to attend the ill-fated festival certainly sound appreciative; they erupt into loud cheering and clapping after it is all over. Or perhaps they were just excited about James Brown.

This was the last Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival for twenty years, until the City Council finally relented and the festival was reborn in 1992—and without Sinclair’s involvement. With his organization in tatters at the end of 1974, Sinclair abandoned political activism and artist management for “less grueling pursuits,” such as journalism, poetry and grant writing (Id.). Undoubtedly, Sonny lamented the loss of a rare high-profile performance opportunity here in North America, but, in the end, it was just another gig. Two nights later, the Arkestra appeared at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago on September 8, 1974, playing a very different sort of set (which I wrote about (prematurely) here).

It Is Forbidden is perhaps the most musically satisfying of the three CDs released on Sinclair’s Alive/Total Energy label and, seeing as they are all now out of print, it is the one most worth seeking out, in my opinion. The sound quality is decent and the performance, while somewhat truncated, is mostly first-rate. Heck, “Images” alone makes this one worth the cost of admission! But it should be noted that all three feature extensive (if self-congratulatory) liner notes from Sinclair and wonderful photographs of the concerts by his wife, Leni; so, all are well worth having as a historical document. But this is the one I’m more likely to pull off the shelf. My only quibble is their continued failure to index any of the titles on the disc, requiring an hour-long commitment from the listener. Well, maybe that’s the way it should be heard: with commitment, with Ra-like discipline, as it happened in real time. Highly recommended.

Playlist Week of 7-16-11

2011-07-16T19:08:00.018-05:00

* Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment : Royal Festival Hall, London 6-30-07 (FM 2CDR)
* Thelonious Monk: The Complete Prestige Recordings (Prestige/Fantasy 3CD)
* Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (Columbia/Legacy CD)
* Thelonious Monk: Live At The It Club Complete (Columbia/Legacy 2CD)
* Andrew Hill: Pax (Blue Note CD)
* Andrew Hill: Compulsion!!!!! (Blue Note CD)
* Andrew Hill: Change (Blue Note CD)
* Andrew Hill: Grass Roots (Blue Note CD)
* Miles Davis: Star People (Columbia LP)
* Sun Ra: It Is Forbidden: At The Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival In Exile 1974 (Alive/Total Energy CD)
* John McLaughlin & The 4th Dimension: North Sea Jazz Festival, 7-09-11 (FM CDR)
* Ingrid Laubrock: Anti-House (Intakt CD)
* Mary Halvorson/Reuben Radding/Nate Wooley: Crackleknob (hatOLOGY CD)
* Mary Halvorson Quintet: Saturn Sings (Firehouse 12 CD)
* Weasel Walter/Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans: Electric Fruit (Thirsty Ear CD)
* P-Funk All-Stars: Urban Dancefloor Guerillas (CBS CD)
* George Clinton: Computer Games (Capitol LP)
* George Clinton: You Shouldn’t-Nuf Bit Fish (Capitol LP)
* George Clinton: Some Of My Best Jokes Are Friends (Capitol LP)
* George Clinton: R&B Skeletons In The Closet (Capitol LP)
* George Clinton & The P-Funk All-Stars: T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. (Sony CD)
* Praxis: Profanation: Preparation For A Coming Darkness (M.O.D. Technologies CD)†/‡
* Grateful Dead: The Palladium, New York, NY 5-04-77 (set 2) (SBD CDR)†/‡
* Grateful Dead: Winterland June 1977: The Complete Recordings (d.7-9) (GDP/Rhino 9CD)
* Grateful Dead: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, LI, NY 3-31-93 (SBD 3CDR)
* Blind Faith: Blind Faith (Deluxe Edition) (d.1) (Polydor/Universal 2CD)†/‡
* Chicago: VI (Columbia LP)
* Chicago: VII (Columbia 2LP)
* King Crimson: Heavy ConstrukCtion (DGM 3CD)†
* King Crimson: EleKctric (DGM CD)
* Tool: 10,000 Days (Volcano/Sony CD) †
* Sonic Youth: Goo (Deluxe Edition) (d.1-2) (Goofin’ 4LP)
* Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador CD)†/‡
* Robert Pollard: Lord Of The Birdcage (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Deerhoof: Deerhoof vs. Evil (Polyvinyl CD)†/‡

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

I had just graduated from high school when George Clinton’s first “solo” album came out in 1982. Although Computer Games barely scratched the pop 100, “Atomic Dog” was a #1 R&B single and was the soundtrack to numerous parties for years to come. As good as it was, the follow-up album, You Shouldn’t-Nuf Bit Fish (1983) was even better. “Nubian Nut” hardly charted, but the record is all killer, no filler. Both records prominently feature the full P-Funk crew, including Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Gary Shider, Maceo Parker, et al. and Clinton’s arranging and production is truly inspired—completely off the hook. This is some funky baroque! “Last Dance” summed up my pathetic self at the time: a timid “psychedelic wallflower” too shy to get the girl. Little did I know I would find true love in a library of all places (but that was much later). Urban Dancefloor Guerillas, a one-off record for CBS was released almost simultaneously under the P-Funk All Stars moniker and it's also a stone-cold classic. For a little while, it appeared George Clinton had staged a full-blown comeback.

But as ‘80s wore on, Clinton’s legal difficulties mounted and his mainstream popularity started to wane. So Capitol suggested he work with Thomas Dolby, another one-hit wonder whose career had been flagging since “She Blinded Me With Science” peaked in 1983. Whatever the label's hopes, the resulting album, Some Of My Best Jokes Are Friends (1985), was still a P-Funk thang through and through, despite the prominence of booming drum machines and swooning keyboards—but neither single (“Double Oh-Oh”; “Bullet Proof”) went anywhere. R&B Skeletons In The Closet followed in 1986, but by then, Capitol had lost interest and let the record sink without a trace. Beneath the surface of florid arrangements and shiny beats, Clinton’s bitterness and fatigue was beginning to show, resulting in a quasi-concept album about black artists losing their black audience when trying to “cross-over” to white pop success. Notably, the opening track, “Hey Good Lookin’,” features former Miss America 1983, Vanessa Williams, in her recording debut. While largely overlooked at the time, it is a strong record and a fitting capper to a run of extraordinary albums for the label.

At the time, I never saw the need to own these records; it seemed all my friends already had them and played them A LOT. And as the years went on and I moved away, I moved on. I never really thought about them. Sure, I’d see them in record stores sometimes and they’d bring back fond memories, but, upon closer examination, they were usually completely trashed—the victim of one too many parties. But I was browsing at Grimey’s on Tuesday (as usual) and found all four original LPs in the new “pre-loved” bin. They were a little dirty (as expected), but the vinyl appeared to be unblemished, so I figured, “what the heck—I needs me more funk!” And, as I suspected, a little “deep cleaning” made them sound good as new—fantastic, even! Wow, I hadn’t heard these records in years, and, let me tell you, it was nothing but a party, y’all! Good stuff. What’s remarkable about hearing them now is how fresh they still sound; Clinton could make those primitive drum machines swing in a way those other ‘80s bands never could.

So, here we are, almost thirty years later. Despite an up-and-down career (1996’s T.A.P.O.A.F.O.A.M. (Sony) being a particular highlight), George Clinton is still kicking it. In fact, he’s right here in Nashville this very evening with The P-Funk All Stars, headlining The Soul Food Festival in Riverfront Park. I bet it’s going to be a blast and the soul food sure sounds tempting—but, no, I'm not going. (Yes, I am lame.) Instead, I’m thoroughly enjoying spinning these records in the comfort of my air-conditioned home (and scribbling about it on my blog). I’m totally there in spirit, though: “Make my funk the P-Funk, their funk is the best!”

Sun Ra Sunday

2011-07-10T17:48:00.008-05:00

You know what would be really cool? Sun Ra Arkestra Action Figures! I can just picture it: Sonny with a miniature Rocksichord, Allen, Davis and Gilmore with their saxophones and flutes. Collect the whole series! Hadi and Ebah! Pat Patrick, Boykins and Jarvis! Wind him up and he plays a thirty-minute drum solo! They could have an interchangeable wardrobe of space-hats , capes, and space-boots. Maybe they could even ride in a toy spaceship; press a button, June Tyson sings “Space Is The Place.” I think it would be awesome! Imagine an alternate universe where Space Is The Place is the smash hit movie of 1974, spawning a hugely popular Saturday morning cartoon show and generating all kinds of merchandise tie-ins, such as Sun Ra Arkestra Action Figures. Wouldn’t that have been cool alternate universe to live in?

Yeah, OK, I’m dancing in place here and I know it. It has been pointed out to me that I skipped an item in my chronological survey and, well, it’s gotten me slightly discombobulated. It just goes to show: I am no expert on this stuff! As it turns out, this particular album does not appear in Campbell & Trent’s discography (which badly needs a 3rd edition) and, despite my best efforts to organize my collection of Sun Ra recordings, I had completely forgotten about it. Obviously, my organization skills leave something to be desired. So it goes... Sun Ra’s recorded output is truly massive (and seemingly ever-expanding)—which is the very reason I started Sun Ra Sunday: to listen carefully and try to sort it all out in my mind. Not an easy task—and since nobody is paying me to do this, it’s going to take some time.

So please be patient dear readers. We’ll hopefully catch up next week and then keep moving forward, incrementally. In the meantime, here’s a little poem about alternate universes where Sun Ra Arkestra Action Figures are possible:

PARALLELS

If it is not here,
It must be there:
For somewhere and nowhere parallels
In secret versions of each other’s where
Or even before somethings came to be.

--Sun Ra (1980)