Playlist Week of 2014-12-27

* Balkan Spirit (Hespèrion XXI, et al./Savall) (Alia Vox SACD)

* Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 (La Capella Reial, et al./Savall) (Alia Vox 2SACD)

* F. Couperin: Pièces de Violes – 1728 (Savall/Koopman/Maurette) (Alia Vox SACD)

* John Coltrane: Ballads (Impulse! CD)

* Donald Byrd: Stepping Into Tomorrow (Blue Note LP)

* Bobbi Humphrey: Blacks And Blues (Blue Note LP)

* Bobbi Humphrey: Satin Doll (Blue Note LP)

* Marilyn Crispell: Amaryllis (ECM CD)

* Julia Hülsmann Quartet: In Full View (ECM CD)

* Jon Hassell: Power Spot (ECM CD)

* Anouar Brahem: Le Voyage de Sahar (ECM CD)

* Anouar Brahem: The Astounding Eyes of Rita (ECM CD)

* A Taste of Honey: A Taste of Honey (Capitol LP)

* D’Angelo & The Vanguard: Black Messiah (RCA CD)

* Nat “King” Cole: “The Christmas Song” (Capitol EP)

* Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas (Fantasy/Analogue Productions LP)

* Elvis Presley: Elvis’ Christmas Album (RCA-Victor/Friday Music LP)

* Bob Dylan: Christmas In The Heart (Columbia CD)

* Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour: No.34: Christmas & New Years (FM 2CDR)

* John Fahey: The New Possibility: Guitar Soli Christmas Album (Takoma LP)

* The Beatles: “From Then To You”: The Complete Christmas Messages (Purple Chick CDR)

* The 12 Hits of Christmas (United Artists LP)

* Grateful Dead: Dick’s Picks Vol.30: NYC 3/25 & 28/72 (selections) (GDP 4+1HDCD)

* The Moody Blues: Days of Future Past (Deram/Friday Music LP)

* Jade Warrior: Last Autumn’s Dream (Vertigo/Mercury LP)

* P.F.M.: Chocolate Kings (Elektra/Asylum LP)

* Klaatu: Klaatu (Capitol LP)

* Klaatu: Hope (Capitol LP)

* Mingo: Flight Never Ending (Columbia LP)

* Steve Roach: Dreamtime Return (Fortuna 2CD)

* Jordan de la Sierra: Gymnosphere: Song of the Rose (Unity/Numero Group 2LP)

* Wilco: Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014 (d.1-2) (Nonesuch 4CD)

* Tripykon: Melana Chasmata (Century Media 2LP)

* Boris & Merzbow: Sun Baked Snow Cave (Double H Noise 2LP)

* Boris & Merzbow: Rock Dream (Southern Lord 2CD)

†=iPod/iTunes

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Commentary:

I hope everyone out there in Blogistan had a wonderful Christmas, full of good music and good cheer!

Tomorrow (and the next!) brings Sam Byrd back to Heeltop Home Studio for more recording. I've got some interesting ideas brewing which I can't wait to try out. It's going to be very different from Cosmologies or Indeterminate. Stay tuned for more details.

In the meantime, have a Happy New Year - I'll see you in 2015!

Playlist Week of 2014-12-20

* Uccellini: Sonatas (Romanesca) (Harmonia Mundi CD)

* J.S. Bach: The Works for Lute (Kirchhof) (Sony Classical 2CD)

* Jimmy Giuffre 3: The Jimmy Giuffre 3 (Atlantic LP)

* Jimmy Giuffre 3: Trav’lin’ Light (Atlantic LP)

* Bobby Hutcherson: Medina (Blue Note CD)

* Archie Shepp: The Way Ahead (Impulse! CD)

* Archie Shepp: The Cry of My People (Impulse! CD)

* Archie Shepp: Attica Blues (Impulse! CD)

* The Revolutionary Ensemble: The People’s Republic (Horizon LP)

* George Duke: Faces In Reflection (MPS LP)

* Michael Hedges: Breakfast In The Field (Windham Hill LP)

* Michael Hedges: Aerial Boundaries (Windham Hill LP)

* Toots & The Maytals: Reggae Got Soul (Island LP)

* A Taste of Honey : A Taste of Honey (Capitol LP)

* D’Angelo: Brown Sugar (EMI CD)

* D’Angelo: Voodoo (Virgin CD)

* D’Angelo & The Vanguard: Black Messiah (RCA CD)

* Paul McCartney & Wings: Wingspan (d.1) (Capitol 2CD) †/‡

* Grateful Dead: Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA 1993-12-09 (selections) (SBD 3CDR)

* Jade Warrior: Last Autumn’s Dream (Vertigo/Mercury LP)

* Tangerine Dream: Encore: Tangerine Dream Live (Virgin 2LP)

* Tangerine Dream: White Eagle (Virgin LP)

* Phil Manzanera: Diamond Head (Atco LP)

* PFM: Chocolate Kings (Elektra/Asylum LP)
* Kayak: Royal Bed Bounce (Janus LP)

* Nektar: Recycled (Passport LP)

* Sky: Sky (Arista 2LP)

* Prefab Sprout: Swoon (Kitchenware LP)

* Prefab Sprout: From Langley Park To Memphis (Kitchenware/Epic LP)

* Steven Wilson: The Raven That Refused To Sing (KScope CD) †/‡

* Opeth: Blackwater Park (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)

* Opeth: Damnation (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)

* Opeth: Pale Communion (Roadrunner CD/BD/2-7”) (†/‡)

* In Flames: Siren Charms (Sony CD) †/‡

* Sleep: Vol.1 (Very Small/Tupelo LP)

* Electric Wizard: Dopethrone (Rise Above 2LP)

* Anathema: Distant Satellites (KScope CD/DVD)

* London Grammar: If You Wait (Columbia 2LP)

* Nothing: Guilty Of Everything (Relapse LP) †/‡

†=iPod/iTunes

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Commentary:

Liz and I drove down to Atlanta to see Opeth at the historic Tabernacle on Monday and, as always, it was totally awesome!!! 

We did the whole VIP/meet-and-greet thing again because, well, I love Opeth -- plus, it's a relative bargain for what you get, especially in this era of stratospherically-priced concert tickets. As you may recall, we met the band last year in Athens and I gave Mikael Akerfeldt a copy of my CD with Sam Byrd, Indeterminate. Knowing that Akerfeldt is a huge vinyl nut, I had to bring him a copy of the new Cosmomologies (even though I know free jazz is decidedly not his thing).

Much to my surprise, he claimed to remember me and said they played my CD on the bus after the show (though he hadn't listened to it since). I was floored! We talked a little bit about jazz and "avant-garde" music, which he has to be "in the right mood" to sit down and enjoy. Well, who doesn't, right? 

His eyes lit up at Griffin Norman's amazing letterpress artwork and said it reminded him of a record by the Swedish duo, Hansson & Karlsson (composers of "Tax Free," which was made famous by Jimi Hendrix). It's mind-blowingly cool to think of Mikael Akerfeldt having Cosmologies in his record collection -- and maybe even listening to it!

The show itself was spectacular, with openers Red Fang and (co-headliners) In Flames impressing me more live than on record (which is saying something). But nobody can touch Opeth as far as I'm concerned. Starting off with a one-two punch from the prog-infused Pale Communion, their abbreviated but varied 75-minute set included plenty of crushing heaviness, including "The Moor," "The Drapery Falls" and the epic closer, "Deliverance." Akerfeldt may have abandoned the growls of death metal on Opeth's current records, but he still brings it in concert. Stunning!

According to the band, they will be back in the USA later next year for a proper headlining tour, wherein they'll get to do their usual two-plus hour set, which will inevitably feature more songs from Pale Communion. You know we will be there!

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Happy Solstice, everybody! It gets brighter from here.

Playlist Week of 2014-12-13

* F. Couperin: L’Apotheose á la memoire de Lully, etc. (Kuijken, et al.) (Seon/ABC 2LP)

* L. Couperin: Suiten und Pavane (Leonhardt) (Harmonia Mundi LP)

* Satie: L’Œvre pour piano (Ciccolini) (selections) (EMI 5CD)

* Sun Ra: Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow (Saturn/Universal LP)

* Sun Ra: Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy (Saturn/Universal LP)

* Sun Ra: The Night of the Purple Moon (Saturn/Universal LP)

* Sun Ra: Of Mythic Worlds (Philly Jazz LP)

* John Coltrane: Offering: Live At Temple University (Impulse! 2CD)

* Wayne Shorter: Atlantis (Columbia LP)

* Wayne Shorter: Joy Ryder (Columbia LP)

* Ketil Bjornstad/David Darling/Terje Rypdal/Jon Christiansen: The Sea (ECM CD)

* Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Heeltop Home Studio 2014-11-25 (No.9 remix) (WAV)

* Steven Halpern/Georgia Kelly: Ancient Echoes (Heru LP)

* Iasos: Celestial Soul Portrait (Numero Group 2LP)

* Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life (Motown/Universal BD)

* Flying Lotus: You’re Dead! (Warp 2LP)

* Spirit: Spirit (Ode LP)

* Spirit: The Family That Plays Together (CBS LP)

* Nektar: A Tab In The Ocean (Passport LP)

* Nektar: Remember The Future (Passport LP)

* Nektar: Down To Earth (Passport LP)

* Curved Air: Phantasmagoria (Warner Bros. LP)

* Anthony Phillips: 1984 (Passport LP)

* Klaatu: Hope (Capitol LP)

* Earth: A Bureaucratic Desire for Extra-Capsular Extraction (Southern Lord 2-45RPM LP)

* Opeth: Pale Communion (Roadrunner CD/BD+2-7” box)

* Mastodon: Call of the Mastodon (Relapse EP)

* BXI: BXI (Southern Lord EP)

* Cynic: Kindly Bent To Free Us (Trouble In Mind 2-45RPM LP)

* Red Fang: Whales And Leeches (Relapse LP+EP)

* Pallbearer: 2010 Demo (Reliquary Edition) (20 Buck Spin EP)

* Pallbearer: Sorrow and Extinction (Profound Lore CD)

* Pallbearer: Foundations of Burden (Profound Lore CD)

* Usnea: Random Cosmic Violence (Relapse 2-45RPM LP)

†=iPod/iTunes

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Commentary:

"Free Form Friday" was a blast! A nice crowd turned out to hear the Voight-Kampff duo play improvised electronic music followed by a program of three compositions by Stan Link: "In Ida's Mirror" for alto flute and fixed medium (performed by Phil Dikeman, alto flute); "Concert" for piano and laptop (performed by me and Stan); and "Toda la Tierra" for guitar, spoken voice and fixed medium (performed by Joshua McGuire, guitar, and Sal Mirand, voice).

The Black Box Theater is the perfect venue for this sort of experimental, avant-garde music with the Dig Deep Light Show bringing their psychedelic visuals to the proceedings. Kudos to the Metro Parks Department for making this happen -- and with free admission! There is a possibility I will be presenting my music at a future "Free Form Friday" sometime next year. Stay tuned!

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Next up this week: OPETH!