Wyatters delights (what are you listening to?)

[theallgolden]

impulse! day

max roach - it's time (blows me away everytime i listen to it, like that  voices thing thereon)
mccoy tyner trio - inception (told my tyner affection a few postings above)
pharoah sanders - jewels of thought (like karma this is a strong effort, too)
sun ra - space is the place (sometimes this is true)
gabor szabo - the sorcerer (and after all that more or less exhausting music something to relax. fetching)

[zeebras]

i'm sure it should come as no surprise that i've been listening to some hugh hopper lately:
1984 - i bought this when it first came out, and, although i had been listening to soft machine for a few years, i wasn't quite prepared for this. but i kept at it, and really grew to love it. this is my favorite hugh hopper disc.
hoppertunity box - i was never able to track this one down when it was first released, and never heard it until cuneiform records re-released it. a nice jazz-rock release.
 caveman hughscore, highspotparadox and delta flora - hugh teams up with seattle's caveman shoestore for three great cd's of canterbury styled rock. a fourth release has been rumoured for a couple of years now. keep your fingers crossed.
and some other music as well:
rosebud - a group formed by jerry yester and judy henske, this is sort of a follow up to their amazing farewell aldebaran. while not quite as spectacular as that record, it has a charm all its own. if you're a fan of henske and yester (and, allgolden, you spring to mind ) you'll enjoy this as well.
greg bendian's interzone - myriad, requiem for jack kirby - percussionist bendian (sticking strictly with vibes in this band) with drummer alex cline and guitar god nels cline (and a different bassist on each release) shredding your brain. makes me think of what gary burton would sound like on steroids.
christy doran's new bag - perspectives - more guitar shreddery. i've been listening to this in preparation for their upcoming concert here in ottawa.

[Max_Gate]

'Mental Notes' by Split Enz (1975)

'Mental Notes' (deftly reproduced by Phil Manzanera as 'Second Thoughts') astonished this pimply New Zealand schoolboy, who promptly lost interest after Phil Judd was no longer there to play Lennon to Tim Finn's McCartney.

There were other, if lesser, losses. I know from talking to keyboard player Eddie Rayner that frontman Tim Finn wanted the inventive drummer Emlyn Crowther out in favour of a time-keeper in order to pursue the elusive (and unnecessary) hit single. To quote the man, "That was my mistake." Subsequently the sonic abominations 'I See Red' and 'Shark Attack' (which use identical templates) were visited upon the unsuspecting public.

Phil Judd, bless his perverse head, trumped Tim Finn by forming The Swingers, topping the Australasian charts with 'Counting the Beat', then retreating to the lucrative pastures of film scores. Phil Judd's 2006 release, 'Mr Fudd & His Novelty Act', has more audacious spunk in its first two songs than Tim Finn's entire solo catalogue. He is the changeling of Antipodean rock.

[Max_Gate]

Wishbone Ash: 'Argus' (Deluxe reissue, 2007): This is a defining release for both the band and the early seventies, when the original album was released. Twin guitars, after the Allman Brothers, but less blues and more poise. While neither Andy Powell nor Ted Turner are especially original players, together they deftly build the sonic equivalent of a cathedral apse with Martin Turner's talking bass set near the altar. What sets this album apart is that rarest of rock qualities, balance. It gives each song an inexorable sense.

[theallgolden]

ah, wishbone ash's 'argus'. that is a beautiful, an extraordinaire album. i own this album threefold. an old vinyl, a vinyl reissue and a remasterd cd version of 2002. but similar like my secret favourite group ''jefferson airplane'', i always forget this album, too  (when talking about favourites). listening to this album is like a maelstrom. no chance to escape.  
   

[Max_Gate]

Miles Davis: 'Circle in the Round' (Columbia). This double compilation ranges from the 1950s to the early 1970s, and was assembled by the label after Miles stepped out of the limelight. So it's cynical and lacks coherence.

It also has unexpected triumphs like an eighteen minute cover of David Crosby's song 'Guinnevere'. The original was a track I loved without wanting to. Perhaps this was the uncertainty of youth, the vigour of snobbery - whatever, now I can say 'I love this cover!' and feel cool because, you know, it's by Miles...

You have to admire his confidence.

[Max_Gate]

From jazz to rock and back...

Miles Davis - 'Dark Magus'
Live at Carnegie Hall, March 30 1974 - Miles was about to shuffle off the stage for six years; here he sounds dark rather than defeated.

The Who - 'Quadrophenia', Disc 2 - '5.15' and 'Love Reign O'er Me' bookend my favourite sequence of Who songs, with Moon propelling Townshend's vision into the back wall.

Wayne Shorter - 'Speak No Evil' - Where Shorter proves he's way more than a sideman of Miles Davis; there are hooks but no formulae.

Morphine - 'The Night' - Mark Sandman's perfect swansong; this is not a darling of the critics but it deserves to be: gritty yet sophisticated.

[zeebras]

caravan - waterloo lily
 this was the first caravan album i bought way back when, and for the longest time was my least favorite. i've really come to appreciate just how good this one is. it's a shame they didn't persue this jazzier direction, but then we wouldn't have had hatfield and the north if richard sinclair stuck around.

miroslav vitous - universal syncopations II and remembering weather report
 miroslav played here in ottawa two years ago with Quebec vibes player jean vanasse. the show was disappointing, but i was reminded what a great player he was and what great music he'd released in the past. these are his last two for the ecm label. UNII is music for ensemble, orchestra and voices, while RWR is a quartet of bass drums sax and trumpet with bass clarenetist michel portal on three tracks. really great music.

the who - a quick one
 my brother brought this home when i was ten, and i listened to it pretty much non stop. here in the colonies, this record was known as "happy jack" and included that track in place of "heat wave". here i am, fity four years old, and this still sounds as fantastic as it did the first time i heard it. i think that speaks pretty well of the music

the allman brothers band - one way out
 a live cd from 2003. i thought "hittin the note", released a year or two earlier, was an amazing release by a band whose best days were well behind them. this one doesn't work as well for me. it's sounds like they're trying too hard, that each song has so much history that they have to turn them into epic features.

[zeebras]

bone - uses wrist grab
here's the cuneiform records description:
"bone is a new band by guitarist nick didkovsky (doctor nerve), bassist hugh hopper (soft machine) and drummer john roulat (forever einstein)
- INTENSE - PRECISE - SURREAL -
their music can be furiously high energy, while at other times it offers deep-ocean floating psychedelia; a power trio that shatters expectations."
i can't argue with that.

machine and the synergetic nuts - leap second neutral
again, the cuneiform blurb:
" . . . this high energy japanese jazz/rock band which features monster grooves and HEAD CRUNCHING HEAVINESS. reference points include mushroom, early passport, mid-period soft machine and frank zappa/the mothers of invention, all filtered through japanese overdriven rock a la happy family or koenjihyakkei or korekyyojinn."

henry kaiser and wadada leo smith - sky garden
a two cd set, also on cuneiform records, celebrating  the electric music of miles davis from 1969 to 1975. a nice mixture of davis compositions and originals, mainly by wadada leo smith. an all star band, including john tchcai and greg osby on saxes tom coster on keyboards and mike keneally on guitar, all playing quite fantastically, and recorded with real clarity. this one's a winner.

son volt - the search
i've been a big jay farrarr/son volt fan for a while now, but lost track of them for a few years. this is the second release by son volt, version two. i came across this at our local used cd store last week, and it's re-ignited my interest in this band. weird, interesting sonic textures and obscure lyrics (jay farrarr is obviously none too pleased with the george w. bush administration), this one's been getting played quite a bit.

[Max_Gate]

Jeff Buckley: 'So Real' - This compilation has been given a hard time by many critics who are, understandably, bored by the incessant repackaging that hangs around Buckley's ghost. Me? It's time for heresy. Musically this compilation is superior to his only completed studio album 'Grace'. That was an impressive debut, deserving of its high critical status, however it also wears on the nerves. Somehow, and I'm not sure how given the range of treatment (from Britten through Cohen to grunge), that album is a one-side-at-a-sitting wonder for me: I can't stay with the whole. Whereas, being able to draw from the unfinished tracks of his abortive second album and also from several concerts, 'So Real' is compelling if synthetic in its vision. This is due, in part, to fine sequencing; not only is each selection strong, the tracks counterpoint one another to total more than the sum of their parts.

[Max_Gate]

Pink Floyd: 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' (mono CD reissue): I have wondered at this album since I was a teenager and expect to be doing so until I hit my deathbed. But I never want to hear it in stereo again. There is a correctness - yes, it's an unexpected word to associate with that madcap Barrett - about this mix. No more irritating gymnastics from left to right during 'Intersteller Overdrive', yet the cosmic swirl remains...

[Max_Gate]

Van Morrison, who makes me feel queasy most days, has won (a little piece of) my heart with the closing track of the so-so 'Common One' (1980). 'When Heart is Open' meanders around my head:

And when heart is open
And when heart is open
You will change just like a flower slowly openin'
And when heart is open
You will change just like a flower slowly openin'
When there's no comin'
And there's no goin'
And when heart is open
You will meet your lover
You will tarry
You will tarry
With your lover?
And when heart is open
You will meet your lover
When there's no comin'
And there's no goin'
Oh, hand me down my old great coat
Oh, hand me down my old great coat
I believe I'll go walkin' in the woods
Oh. my darlin'.
Oh, hand me down my big boots.
Oh, hand me down my big boots
I believe I'll go walkin' in the woods
Oh, my darlin'
And she moves by the waterfall
When she moves
She moves just like a deer
Across the meadow
And when heart is open
You will change just like a flower slowly openin'
When there's no comin'
And there's no goin '
You will tarry
With your lover
When heart is open
You will meet your lover
Oh, hand me down my great coat
Oh, hand me down my great coat
I believe I'll go walkin' in the woods
Oh, my darlin'.
Oh, hand me down my big boots
Oh, hand me down my big boots.
I believe I'll go walkin' in the woods
Oh, my darlin'.
Oh, when she moves,
She moves like a deer across the meadow.
When heart is open
You will change just like a flower slowly openin'
You will change just like a flower slowly openin'
You will change just like a flower slowly openin'
When there's no comin'
When there's no comin'
And there's no goin'
You will meet
You will meet your lover
When there's no comin'
And there's no goin'
You will meet
You will meet your lover

To balance the Celtic twilight I'm also spinning (and spinning to) 'Joplin in Concert'. Janis is the proverbial lost little girl who moans in a voice that is more dangerous than a cut-throat razor.

[Max_Gate]

Yesterday I revisited Bert Jansch's recordings with John Renbourn: 'Historic Collaborations, After the Dance' (Shanachie CD99006) - an ideal weekend sountrack, music that is sunny but has enough cloud to make you shiver occasionally.

This morning Neil Young's eponymous debut (Neil Young Archives, ORA1) is playing. This is a conundrum. I don't think much of most tracks, which are cartoons rather than finished paintings, however I'm still attending thirty years after I first discovered them. I've sold this album at least five times - only to buy it again so that I could hear the wondrous opening of 'I've Been Waiting for You', along with 'The Old Laughing Lady' and 'The Loner'.

You must have albums like that, ones that make you say: "Yes, this is shonky but God I want more." Tell us about them.

[Max_Gate]

David Bowie: '1. Outside'
An album silky as the lining of a cloud, steamy as a heart-throb in a hot pool, and mysterious as Catholic liturgy. Unforgettable yet often neglected.

[theallgolden]

it seems that i am getting old. new music sounds often really boring to me. so i dived into the past and listened to many old school jazz, tropicalia and mpb music. now i took notice that universal in brasil released a 14 cd box called salve, jorge containing 14 cd's all from his phillips era, i.e. his greatest works like africa brasil, forca bruta, his 1969 release or a tábua de esmeralda . but what i call his best work is an album called he made together with gil giberto called ogum xango . just imagine this two guys sitting around with their guitars and jam. my first thoughts of this album were 'grateful dead' . and the fourteen minutes version of jorge ben's taj mahal is, ah, mindblowing. you see i am enthusiastic about this album. but i think it is worth the praising.