Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/28/07


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DIED PRETTY: S/T 12-EP (What Goes On) - Although Australia’s Died Pretty was a mainstream pandering indie rock band for the majority of their nearly 20 year existence, they did manage to capture a few minutes of true rock glory during their career. This self-titled 12” EP from 1984 compiles the material from their first two 7” singles, which were originally released on the Australian label Citadel Records. Produced by the great Radio Birdman vocalist Rob Younger, this EP contains three tracks: "Out Of The Unknown" (a typical sounding indie rocker from the period that would be forgettable if not for some excellent slide guitar work from Brett Myers), the pleasant, but unremarkable pop ballad "World Without", and their pinnacle of achievement, the 10 minute “Mirror Blues”, a driving rocker featuring in the red keyboards and noisy, over the top electric leads.


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MUTUMBAJOY, SANTIAGO: Yage Pinta! Psychedelic Shaman Songs Of Santiago Mutumbajoy CD (Latitude) - The Latitude subsidiary of Chicago's fine Locust imprint returns after as long absence with this release of solo vocal recordings from Colombian, Santiago Mutumbajoy, which he made while under the influence of a hallucinogen called yage. While I don't deny that these tracks were somewhat interesting and I am glad to have heard/experienced them, I can't imagine deriving any further benefit out of them with additional play, so I, ultimately, consigned this release to the Amoeba trade pile.

At the risk of being gauche, might I suggest that if someone were to do a "remix" (as much as I, in general, am not a big fan of the endless remixing of musical pieces so popular today) of this with some appropriate accompanying music, it could potentially be quite cool. I know - blasphemy!


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Oh, and while I'm name dropping Amoeba, let me say a big "FUCK YOU" to that dopey sweater and thick plastic glasses wearing, "do you think my nerd look is cool?" (NO!), "Even though I'm in my 40's, I'll never be anything more than a lowly worker behind the counter of a record store that you patronize annually to the tune of $2K that helps pay my meager salary" (You're damn straight, loser! I buy, you serve!), Mark Pittman, a stupid little pussy fucktard who, even after all his years tied to the counter at Amoeba, apparently doesn't know the difference between a xmas record and an electronica record!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/26/07 - 2/27/07



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DRAKE, HAMID / BEGER / PARKER: Evolving Silence, Vol. 2 CD (Earsay) - The four tracks on Volume 2 of this series of releases from this trio focuses on the quieter, more subtle aspects of their sound. The opening title track is composed of alternating duo (Parker and Drake) and trio segments, in which Beger blows freely sometimes and at other times contributes minimalist skronk. “Duo #3” is an interesting free improv duet between Parker and Beger, which showcases Beger on alto flute, both talking through his instrument and playing it in a very percussive manner. The aptly named “Funky Lacy” is, indeed, the most uptempo piece on this release. The album closes with its best track " Skies of Israel" an evocative and soulful composition featuring Parker's masterful bow work and Beger's wailing tenor. While this set is clearly not as strong as the first volume in this series, it is still a worthy release and I hope to hear more from Beger in the future.


Archival Additions -

CIRCLE X: S/T CD-EP (Dexter’s Cigar) - Somebody must have uncovered a box or two of this 1996 CD reissue (on the now defunct Drag City subsidiary, Dexter's Cigar, which was curated by David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke) of the debut 12" EP by Circle X, thereby making losers like me, who missed out on it in the first place (and second, for that matter!), happy. Originally recorded and released in France in 1979, this CD-EP contains four tracks of incredible, driving, lo-fi, no wave art punk distorto-doom. Damn, this classic is just stoking the renewed fire of my interest in punk (both new and old school!) even more!


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Sunday, February 25, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/22/07 - 2/25/07



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DRAKE, HAMID / BEGER / PARKER: Evolving Silence, Vol. 1 CD (Earsay) - The Sonictroubadour searches the earth to find new and interesting sounds. Recently, I discovered Israel’s Earsay label and decided to mailorder a few of the most promising titles to investigate. Naturally, two of my selections were releases by this trio consisting of the Jazz world’s leading rhythm section, percussionist Hamid Drake and bassist William Parker, and Israeli multi-instrumentalist Albert Beger. After its soulful opening theme, the first track “Naked Truth” developes into a fairly solid freedom chase with Beger soaring high on tenor above Drake and Parker. “Duo #1” features Beger on alto flute, with Parker on bass. “Duo #2” is another excellent freedom chase, with Beger returning to the tenor, this time accompanied by Drake. The album closes with its best track “Rain Is Calling”, an incredible African folk influenced piece, with Drake working both shakers and the kit while Beger adds a soulful Coltrane informed wail to Parker’s impressive performance on the beautiful and hypnotic douson ngoni (an African hunter’s harp) that continues to expand the vocabulary of the Jazz idiom. So far, the return on my modest investment in Earsay Jazz is quite high. as Beger is an exciting new (at least to me) performer and on this release this trio has delivered a diverse range of high calibre Jazz. Outstanding!


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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/21/07 - And Sad News From The Sun City Girls


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BLACK MERDA: S/T LP (Lilith) - This is a reissue of the 1970 debut from the (hyperbolically) self-proclaimed “first black rock band”, Black Merda (pronounced “murder”). Based in Detroit, Black Merda, combined an interesting blend of influences ranging from blues and funky soul to the rock of Jimi Hendrix create their own unique sound. The group sounds tight and polished throughout the ten tracks on this LP, highlighted by solid guitar work and socially conscious lyrics. Personal favorites include the pop oriented “Reality”, the instrumental “Windsong”, and the meditation on mortality “I Don't Want To Die”. Not a mindblowing statement by any means, but nevertheless, certainly an interesting sounding artifact that captures a nice sonic snapshot of this overlooked group during a fascinating and transitional point in modern American culture.


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Also, I just noticed this today. Sorry if it's old news to many of you.

As posted on the Sun City Girls myspace page:

"With deep regret, we must announce that Charles Gocher passed away on February 19th in Seattle due to a long battle with cancer at the age of 54. He is survived by the two of us who adopted him as a brother 25 years ago and his many friends around the world. He will be missed more than most could ever know. Our thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement during the past three, very difficult years. Many of you were not aware that Charles was ill and that’s because he wanted it that way. Details of a memorial in his honor will be announced soon." ---Alan and Richard Bishop

Damn! It's a good day to remember his fine musical efforts and appreciate all the good things in your life that sometimes get forgotten in the hum-drum grind of daily existence.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/19/07 - 2/20/07



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VOCOKESH: ...All This And Hieronymus Bosch CD (Strange Attractors Audio House) - F/i co-founder Richard Franecki’s dependable spacerock project, Vocokesh, returns to deliver its eighth transmission. Dependable is the operative word here, as the 11 tracks on this release reflect no more than a few minor innovations in the group’s sonic attack. The band has dropped the somewhat more song oriented approach that was present on their previous effort (2005’s “Through The Smoke”) and returned to their familar style of improvised, instrumental jamming. In addition, Franecki’s sitar work plays an expanded role on a couple of cuts, which gives those tracks a more “Eastern” flavor, as well as a more languid feel that’s more “spacey” and less “rocking”. Otherwise, it’s just another solid dose of classic spacerock, featuring driving fuzz riffs, analog synth atmospherics (courtesy of my good friend, former band mate in Primordial Undermind, and talented multi-instrumentalist, Doug Pearson!), and masterful psychedelic guitar leads. Like I indicated above, overall, there’s nothing particularly new nor groundbreaking about the material on this release, yet there’s still something pretty satisfying in hearing masters of the spacerock art form plying their trade in full glory.


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Sunday, February 18, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/18/07


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NOTHING PEOPLE: Problems 7-EP (S-S Records) - Although I’ve been aware of Orland, California's Nothing People for awhile now, I’ll admit I’ve lagged on picking this up; primarily because I really don’t follow the singles scene anymore. Oh, I used to, back in “the day” (and I have almost 2000!), but now I only buy the essential things I’ve heard. Well, this four song 7” EP on S-S Records fits that description. From the awesome lo-fi cyberpunk (in the fine tradition of bands like Chrome) of “Twinkie Defense” to the noisy punk stomper “I Can’t Find A Monkey”, this is an engaging mix of familar, yet still strangely fresh sounding elements. An excellent 7" that makes one wonder if the band has a full length of this calibre in them. If they did, that could really be something special.


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RANT ALERT!!!!! Ebay’s Feedback Forum Is A Complete Fraud!!!!!




Ebay claims that they encourage feedback from the parties involved in any given transaction. Furthermore, they claim that the existence of this feedback forum provides their users with quality information that they can use in order to have a better idea about the reliability of a particular seller and, therefore, ultimately protect themselves from getting ripped-off by unscrupulous sellers.

Yeah, well that all sounds nice in theory, but let’s look at it in practice. Anytime I ever left legitimate negative feedback regarding a seller who didn’t fulfill their commitments (you know, the kind Ebay claims you're supposed to leave so future prospective customers can have some vaguely reasonable idea regarding the people they're preparing to deal with!), I then received (contrary to Ebay's policies, but, despite that fact, they refuse to remove them) undeserved, retaliatory negative feedback. That's complete and utter bullshit and what it causes unhappy buyers to do is just not leave any feedback at all. After all, it’s better to say nothing and not get unfairly tarred, yourself, in the process, than it is to state your legitimate complaints and then have your feedback score unfairly (and, again, contrary to Ebay’s own stated policy!) hit. This, of course, totally undermines the entire validity of their feedback system. The only way you can then get this undeserved, retaliatory negative feedback off your record is to agree to have the legitimate negative feedback that you left for the scum bag seller removed, which, again, only serves to further undermine the validity of their feedback forum.

Of course, this is what Ebay (and their sellers) really want - a system in which people will only post positive feedback, which will, in turn, give the FALSE impression to everybody out there that Ebay is just this wonderful conduit, hooking up happy buyers with honest sellers of merchandise of only the highest calibre. That makes both Ebay and its sellers look both attractive and safe. Unfortunately, the truth is that Ebay is actually a financially dangerous place to shop, populated with an equal number of honest people and scum bag scam artists. 100's of people daily are either ripped off by unscruplous, but real, sellers and/or out right scam artists working the net.

That’s why I say - FUCK Ebay!!!!! I can get almost anything offered there someplace else and, if I can’t, I’ll bet it’s not something that is that important to me anyway.

And I’m not even going to get into the fact that the scumbags who run Ebay also try to encourage as many transactions as possible to go through their subsidiary, Paypal, who collects a percentage of each transaction, in addition to what Ebay already gets in listing and sales fees! There's also been a lot of people who became identity theft victims as a result of using Paypal.

Yep, FUCK Ebay. I don’t use them anymore (and I can’t think of one item I was looking for that I’ve failed to find elsewhere, and often for less the the mania driven price on Ebay!) and you shouldn’t be played for a sucka by using them either. Do a little more surfing the net and you’ll still score that rare psych record or ‘69 Triumph Bonneville you’re looking for!

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/16/07 - 2/17/07

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CIRCLE, FEATURING VERDE: Tower CD (Last Visible Dog) - A long time ago (like 15-20 years now) Circle were among the leaders of a very vibrant Finnish music scene that included great artists like Radiopuhelimet and Keukhot. They released a string of singles and LPs containing an awesome mix of noisy, powerful, guitar riffs and hypnotic, krautrock grooves. Since then, Circle have undergone an almost chameleon like series of changes that caused me to lose my interest in them. Still, I’ve tried to keep an open mind to their evolution, and some of the hype I read about their latest release, “Tower”, sounded interesting enough to entice me to check it out. While I’ll admit that the ambient, minimal, electro-jazz fusion contained on this release was fairly pleasant background music, I find it hard to believe that I would ever view it as being anything more engaging than mere background music. Well, I don’t devote space in my personal library for background music and refuse to sully my fine collection of early Circle vinyl with this lukewarm effort.


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Thursday, February 15, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/15/07


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SOULEYMAN, OMAR: Highway To Hassake (Folk And Pop Sounds Of Syria) CD (Sublime Frequencies) - This is a compilation of material from Syrian vocalist, Omar Souleyman, who, along with his band of incredibly talented musicians, has released numerous recordings of traditional folk and modern Middle Eastern pop since the mid-90’s. Although a true scholar of Middle Eastern music forms would, undoubtedly, break these tracks down into more (sub)categories (and there is more detailed information regarding the various musical styles in the liner notes, which I won’t regurgitate here), my layman’s ears hear two basic styles. First, there are fantastic tracks which contain traditional Middle Eastern folk. The music on these tracks is very organic sounding, with steady percussion in a relaxed, swaying, desert pace providing the foundation for incredible workouts on acoustic instruments such as the kamancheh (an Arabic fiddle), oud, and saz, and, of course, Souleyman’s soulful vocals. Second, are the tracks containing modern Middle Eastern pop. These tracks are incredible whirling dervishes of hallucination inducing sound, with convoluted, psychedelic keyboard leads propelled by blazing percussion. Souleyman’s vocals on these tracks, whether nearly spoken or sung, sound much more bold and urgent, perhaps even confrontational, although I, obviously, do not have any actual knowledge regarding the lyrical content. This is a truly mindblowing release that provides an excellent overview of the music of this amazing artist, the musical traditions of Syria, and is another triumphant public service (and no, I don’t give a damn if they might actually make a few dollars on this release - it’s still a public service to make music like this available to the Western world!) from Sublime Frequencies!

Like I said a few months back, the “shrinking” of the earth due to the internet, globalization, and so on, certainly has both its “pros” and “cons”, but one of the big positives must surely be the fact that we now have access to so many cool sounds that would have been unknown to all but locals and a few hard core musical ethnologists only a few years ago!


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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/14/07


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V/A: Ain’t It Hard! Garage And Psych From Viva Records CD (Sundazed) - This CD documents the Viva Records label that was operated by legendary producer, Snuff Garrett, in LA during the mid-60’s. It contains 16 tracks of well-crafted, comercially leaning, but still interesting, garage, pop, and psych. Highlights include the easy, lysergic pop of Gypsy Trips and the amazing exploito-psych sounds of the Sound Sandwich.

This collection presents an interesting juxtaposition in contrast to the recently issued collection, “Scream Loud!!!”, which documented Michigan’s Fenton label. While both collections cover a similar stylistic range of material (garage punk/psych/pop) and none of the groups represented on either collection made any significant impact in their own right, that’s where the similarities end. In contrast to the relatively lo-tech recordings made by the D. I. Y. bands on Fenton, these Viva groups were recording in high quality LA studios, usually bolstered by studio musicians. As a result, these recordings sound big and well-produced, containing all those nice, little exploito-psych touches. These are recordings made with the aim (and it was a relatively realistic goal at that!) of making a commercially successful record; one that might lead to a real career in the music biz. And many of the artists (J. J. Cale, Kenny Loggins, and Leon Russell, for example) on these recordings did, in fact, go on to lengthy careers in the music industry with varying degrees of artistic and commercial success. While I’m sure the bands on the Fenton collection also harbored dreams of becoming teen sensations, the chances of those dreams being fulfilled were much more lottery-esque in nature and, if I’m not mistaken (and I’m not actually checking the liner notes of the Fenton box to verify this; I’m going on memory), the most success that any member of any of the Fenton bands went on to achieve was playing in the mid-line ballroom-era group from Detroit, the Frost.

While the tracks on “Ain’t It Hard” certainly don’t possess the naive charm nor the raw energy of the material from the Fenton box, there are several solid tracks of merit and this collection does provide a nice sonic snapshot of the just bubbling under, 60’s Sunset Strip scene.


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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/11/07 - 2/13/07



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JANDEK: Khartoum CD (Corwood) - While I was down with Jandek before Jandek was cool (a proud owner of all of his first 22 releases that were originally on vinyl only!), I must admit that I sort of lost interest in Brother J a few years and albums back when he went into a period of solo piano, bass and vox, and even, a cappella releases. While doing some research on an entirely different artist, I landed on some work by Seth Tisue (who has the most complete Jandek website in the universe at http://tisue.net/jandek/), which prompted me to check into the Jandek developments over the past few years. The most notable of these developments, of which I was already, of course, aware, was that Jandek had ended his self-imposed exile and had actually performed a few live shows. I also checked out the review section, which indicated that Jandek had returned (at least temporarily) to the solo acoustic guitar and vox mode of his glory days, so I decided to purchase one of the titles, “Khartoum”, that sounded promising. I’m glad I did, as “Khartoum” is a return to the “classic” Jandek sound that established him as a minor underground legend. It contains eight tracks of his trademark atonal, alien acoustic guitar improvisations which provide a fitting sonic tapestry in which to weave the psychic and metaphysical concerns of his lyrics; all delivered in his demented vocal stylings that range from barely audible, nearly spoken word to pathetic, childlike wails. While I doubt this release could ever reignite the fascination I once had regarding Jandek, it certainly is a welcome return to form and may inspire me to investigate more of his recent releases in the coming days.


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Saturday, February 10, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/9/07 - 2/10/07


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BISHOP, SIR RICHARD: Fingering The Devil LP (Latitudes) - Hot on the heels of “Electronika Demonika”, comes another limited (but not to vinyl only this time around) release from the Sun City Girls’, Sir Richard Bishop. “Fingering The Devil", captures Bishop in familar territory, delivering 9 tracks of solo acoustic guitar improvisations. Historically, Bishop’s work (both solo and with the Sun City Girls) has been informed by many forms modern and traditional ethnic music from around the world and the material on this LP is no exception, as he incorporates gypsy jazz and flamenco elements into these improvisations. Sir Richard’s high energy level and intricate fretwork held my interest throughout the majority of the album. There’s currently a lot of “guitar soli” practitioners out there, but Bishop, as represented by his work on “Fingering The Devil “, has distinguished himself as being among the best in that burgeoning field.


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Thursday, February 08, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/8/07


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Entrance: Prayer Of Death LP (Tee Pee) - While “Prayer Of Death” is the third full length release issued under the Entrance moniker, in many ways this almost seems like a debut. Previously, Entrance was a vehicle for leader Guy Blakeslee’s fairly straight solo blues performances. After relocating to that legendary SoCal haven for talented loners with unique artistic visions, Laurel Canyon, Blakeslee formed a band and reinvented Entrance. Gone are the straight solo blues, replaced by a band (featuring my current rock chick wet dream, Paz Lenchantin, on bass and awesome violin!) delivering eight tracks of lo-fi blues and psychedelia informed by a tradition running from classic rockers, like the Stones and T-Rex, through late-70’s and 80’s acts, such as the Cramps and the Gun Club, up to contemporary groups, like Plastic Crimewave Sound. With the exception of the solo acoustic blues of the title track, this is a noisy, over the top affair, with layers and layers of sound (including sitars and strings, the latter of which plays a particularly important role in the shaping of the overall sound of this album) swirling over, under, and around Blakeslee’s distinctive vocals. Blakeslee whispers, whoops, sings, and wails like a psychedelic shaman as he explores his metaphysical concerns. Highlights include the sweeping granduer of the Eastern European folk-influenced "Pretty Baby" and the noisy eight-minute dirge "Lost in the Dark". Not quite perfect, perhaps, but this is definitely the most captivating record I’ve heard, thusfar, in 2007.


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Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/7/07

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BISHOP, SIR RICHARD: Electronika Demonika LP (Locust) - Richard Bishop is best known as a member of the legendary Sun City Girls. He also has several (primarily) solo acoustic guitar releases that are in a general, post-Fahey improvisational style that’s additionally informed by Bishop’s interest in a variety of international folk music. Bishop, however, completely eschews his acoustic guitar on “Electronika Demonika”, which features music from the soundtrack to Bishop's film "God Damn Religion”. It’s an appropriate title, as the material on this release is certainly dark and demonic sounding, mixing deep space drones, a wash of gurgling electronic noises, insane vocal samples, and, in some segments, industrial pound. While I can’t deny that I found some of this to be interesting (particularly the first track on the B-Side), I didn’t feel that future spins were likely to reveal additional aural rewards. I, therefore, ultimately decided not to add this title to my personal music library.

I should note that this is a limited to 1000 copies, already sold out, vinyl only edition, so if any of you readers think this would appeal more to you than it did to me, then, by all means, contact me and I’m sure we could make the appropriate arrangements for you to have a copy of this rarity for your very own to enjoy!


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On The Horizon, Upcoming New Releases Of Potential Interest -

Fursaxa: Alone in the Dark Wood LP (Eclipse) Out Now!!! I just mail ordered it.

Grails: Burning Off Impurities DLP (Temporary Residence Ltd.) April 24, 2007

Silmaril: The Voyage Of The Icarus DLP (Locust) March 6, 2007

Mutumbajoy, Santiago: Yage Pinta! Psychedelic Shaman Songs Of Santiago Mutumbajoy CD (Locust/Latitude) March 6, 2007

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/6/07



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ELLINGTON, DUKE: The Age Of Ellington TLP (RCA) - Of course, I’m familar with many of Ellington’s recordings and am well aware of his legendary status as one of the most influential figures (as a composer, pianist, and bandleader) in the history of Jazz, but I didn’t actually have any of his material in my collection. So, I was quite pleased to find a fine UK pressing of this mid-70’s triple LP compilation of his work at Amoeba in San Francisco.

Given the fact that Ellington composed over 2000 pieces in a career spanning over 50 years, no mere 3 LP set could ever be considered as being “definitive”, but the 34 tracks on this compilation do provide an excellent overview of his work. Recordings ranging from 1927 through 1967 cover his pop standards (such as “Mood Indigo”, “Sophisticated Lady”, “Solitude”, “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”, and so on), instrumental pieces (like “Take The ‘A’ Train”, “Black And Tan Fantasy”, “C Jam Blues”, and so on), and even his extended works (such as “Black, Brown, And Beige” and “The Far East Suite”). I don’t know where in the pantheon of Ellington’s many recordings these particular versions of these compositions stand, but the performances, as well as the sound quality of the transcriptions of the older material, are very good. This retrospective of Ellington’s work captures an essential piece of American culture and is a welcome addition to my personal music library!


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Monday, February 05, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 2/3/07 - 2/5/07

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CAINE, URI, ENSEMBLE: Plays Mozart CD (Winter And Winter) - In fairness, I should begin this review by stating that, with the exception of a few recordings by 20th Century avant-garde composers and a smattering of well-known standards of the genre, I have little interest in, knowledge of, nor appreciation for Classical music. That being stated, I do continue to try to push my limits and expand my musical horizons beyond my comfort zone. So, to that end, I purchased this latest release from the Uri Caine Ensemble, “Plays Mozart”. I figured that if there was going to be anything new that goes under the general rubric of “Classical music” that I would appreciate, it would be a project featuring some of the hottest, most respected members of the current NYC improvisational underground, such as Chris Speed and DJ Olive.

While this certainly isn’t your Grandfather’s Classical music, only a few tracks (most notably, the amazing, eastern-influenced, “Turkish Rondo From Piano Sonata In A Major”, and the jazzy, experimental version of, “Symphony 40 In G Minor”) really successfully achieve the synthesis of sound that this project portended. The remaining tracks were either relatively straightforward in nature (mainly the various “Piano Sonatas”) or were less well-conceived (and/or executed) tracks where the various elements and musical styles remained relatively segregated, with the focus changing abruptly from segment to segment, rather than flowing in a more seamless (and successful) blend. I applaud Caine and his cohorts for attempting such an intriguing and ambitious concept, but, after giving this release several spins, it still failed satisfy me adequately to make the grade.


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Friday, February 02, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 1/30/07 - 2/2/07


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SYKES, JESSE, AND THE SWEET HEREAFTER: Like, Love, Lust And The Open Halls Of The Soul CD (Barsuk) - This is the third full length release from Seattle’s, Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter. With material ranging from folk to roots-influenced pop and rock, Sykes has crafted 12 songs for “Like, Love, Lust And The Open Halls Of The Soul” that reflect the rich tradition of female singer-songwriters, from the legends of those halcyon days of the 60’s to contemporary artists such as Josephine Foster and Marissa Nadler. Her tight and polished band, supported by talented guests, such as Eyvind Kang and Wayne Horvitz, produces an excellent soundtrack for Sykes’ smokey, emotive vocals and deep, personal lyrics. Highlights include the rocking title track, the haunting folk of “The Air Is Thin”, and the soaring pop of “How Will We Know” and “I Like The Sound”. At times, some of the material on this release is a little too high gloss and straightforward to be fully captivating, but, overall, the rich tones, gripping lyrics, and stunning vocals created by Sykes and her band on this album provided an inviting haven for these ears.


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