Playlist Week of 2-04-12

* Hesperion XXI (Savall): Istanbul: Dimitrie Cantemir 1673-1723 (Alia Vox SACD)
* Handel: Concerti Grosse, Op.3 (Academy of Ancient Music/Egarr) (Harmonia Mundi SACD)
* Sun Ra: Châteauvallon, France 8-25-76 (selections) (AUD 3CDR)
* Sun Ra: Rehearsal, Unknown Location 9-76 (AUD? CDR)
* John Abercrombie: The Third Quartet (ECM CD)
* Sun Ra: Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA 11-76 (AUD CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Sextet (Molde) 2005 (New Braxton House FLAC>CDR)
* Anthony Braxton: Sextet (Piacenza) 2007 (New Braxton House FLAC>CDR)
* Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up: Actionspeak (482 Music CD)
* Bob Dylan: Nashville Skyline (Columbia SACD)
* Bob Dylan: New Morning (Columbia CD)
* Grateful Dead: To Terrapin: Hartford ’77 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Grateful Dead: Dave’s Picks Vol.1: The Mosque, Richmond, VA 5/25/77 (GDP/Rhino 3CD)
* Genesis: Wind & Wuthering (Atco LP)
* Genesis: Seconds Out (Charisma 2LP)
* Amon Düül II: Phallus Dei (Liberty/Repertoire CD)
* Neu!: Neu! (Brain/Astralwerks CD)
* Neu!: Neu! 2 (Brain/Astralwerks CD)
* Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive! (Deluxe Edition) (A&M 2HDCD)
* The Cure: Seventeen Seconds (Fiction/Rhino CD)†/‡
* Die Kreuzen: October File (Touch and Go LP)
* Die Kreuzen: Century Days (Touch and Go LP)
* Guided By Voices: Let’s Go Eat The Factory (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Gastr Del Sol: Upgrade & Afterlife (Drag City 2LP)
* Gastr Del Sol: Camoufleur (Drag City LP)
* 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: Anesthetize: Live In Tilburg Oct 2008 (KScope DVD)
* Porcupine Tree: The Incident (Roadrunner 2CD)†
* Opeth: Orchid (Candlelight CD)†
* Opeth: Morningrise (Candlelight CD)†(‡)
* Opeth: My Arms, Your Hearse (Candlelight 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: The Forum Theatre, Melbourne, Australia 4-26-06 (FM CDR)
* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD)†
* Opeth: In Live Concert At The Royal Albert Hall (Roadrunner 2DVD/3CD)†
* Opeth: Heritage (Roadrunner CD+DVD/2LP)
* Opeth: Tragarn Night Club & Bar, Gothenburg, Sweden 12-04-11 (AUD 2CDR)
* Katatonia: The Great Cold Distance (Peaceville CD)†(‡)
* Katatonia: Night Is The New Day (Peaceville CD)(†/‡)
* Mastodon: Leviathan (Relapse CD)†
* Mastodon: Blood Mountain (Reprise CD)†
* Mastodon: Crack The Skye (Reprise 2-45RPM LP)
* Mastodon: The Hunter (Reprise 2-45RPM LP)
* Baroness: Red Album (Relapse CD)†/‡
* Baroness: Blue Record (Relapse CD)†/‡

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

The Opeth/Mastodon tour (with special guests, Ghost) is official:

HERITAGE HUNTER TOUR 2012
Featuring Opeth and Mastodon
with Special guests Ghost

04 Apr - Portland, ME @ State Theater**
05 Apr - Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theater*
06 Apr - Montreal, QC @ Metropolis*
07 Apr - Toronto, ON @ The Sony Centre For The Performing Arts*
09 Apr - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory**
10 Apr - Wallingford, CT @ The Dome**
11 Apr - New York, NY @ Roseland**
13 Apr - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theater**
14 Apr - Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection**
15 Apr - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE**
16 Apr - Knoxville, TN @ TN Theater*
18 Apr - Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom**
19 Apr - Dallas, TX @ Palladium*
20 Apr - San Antonio @ Back Stage Live*
21 Apr - Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street*
23 Apr - Denver, CO @ Fillmore*
25 Apr - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues**
26 Apr - Hollywood, CA @ Gibson*
27 Apr - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre*
28 Apr - Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Resort**
30 Apr - Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theater*
01 May - Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum*
03 May - Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Ctr*
04 May - Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall**
05 May - Saskatoon @ The Odeon**
06 May - Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings*
09 May - Washington DC @ The Fillmore*
10 May - Charlotte, NC @ Fillmore**
11 May - Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues*
12 May - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade Music Park**

* = Opeth closing show
** = Mastodon closing show

True to my word, I’ll be taking a road trip to Knoxville to see them at the Tennessee Theatre, an elegant 1928 Beaux-Arts movie palace on April 16. That might seem like an odd venue for an intense heavy metal show, but then again these guys are more “art rock” than metal. Thanks to Opeth’s fan-club pre-sale, I scored seats in the tenth row, center—man, this is gonna be awesome! And since Atlanta is just down the road and it’s the last show of the tour (and located in Mastodon’s hometown), we’re going to try to go that one as well. That will be a very different sort of venue: outdoors, general admission. It should be a party, so long as the weather cooperates.

What has happened to me? Have I turned into a metalhead? A headbanger? I dunno—I just want to hear some good rock music. Heck, I haven’t been this excited about a concert in a very long time—I can’t wait!