What are you listening to?

[Syt]

Duque, remember this one? https://youtu.be/y84gW_5ZFKE

Or this one? https://youtu.be/U2zv7xzAt0U 

[Malthus]

I keep trying to listen to Ghosteen (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds). It's one of the few albums I have trouble listening to - not because it is too bad, but because it is too good at what it does.

It is a devastatingly accurate rendition of the emotions of grief. If you have ever done any grieving, it is hard to listen to. Particularly the last track, "Hollywood".

[Duque de Bragança]

Duque, remember this one? https://youtu.be/y84gW_5ZFKE

Or this one? https://youtu.be/U2zv7xzAt0U 

Wacken 2004? That old? 
I feel like Mambo Kurt was a couple years ago only. Mayhem is more distant in memory for some reason. 

PS: with Mambo Kurt's intro about the best Bossa Nova band in Germany, Rammstein!

[Duque de Bragança]

Conan the Barbarian (transcribed for Organ) - Philipp Pelster (from the Basil Pouledoris score obviously)

Sunday Mass Vibe 

A curiosity, released by the Naxos classical music label (famous for its affordable pricing).
I'll get the OST by Intrada anyways.

[mongers]

Conan the Barbarian (transcribed for Organ) - Philipp Pelster (from the Basil Pouledoris score obviously)

Sunday Mass Vibe 

A curiosity, released by the Naxos classical music label (famous for its affordable pricing).
I'll get the OST by Intrada anyways.

Daque, now that sounds interesting.

[The Minsky Moment]

Louis Armstrong Town Hall Concert 1947

Armstrong presents a bit of a problem; his 1920s Hot Five and Sevens recording are the ur text for all subsequent American music and his celebrity status casts a long shadow.  But the 30s were a kind of lost decade, playing pop tunes in a big band format that never really suited him. When the war ended and most big bands had folded, Armstrong reformed a small group and began playing jazz tunes again, fueling a comeback that lasted the rest of his career.  The knock was that he didn't get up to speed with the times and kept playing the same standards from the 20s in pretty much the same way, as compared to a contemporary like Coleman Hawkins who kept updating his style and spent his middle age playing on records with guys like Monk and Coltrane.

But the response to the criticism is the energy and skill and joy of his playing in this concert - it may have been old fashioned even back then, but then and since no one could play like that, no one could sing like that, no could entertain like that. 

The one hitch is that like many 40s era recordings the sound quality is not ideal.

[Savonarola]

The Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun (1968)

The original producer quit after Bob Weir asked him to record "Thick air" leaving the Dead to produce their own album.  The results are one of a kind.  It's sort of a live show, sort of a studio album, sort of a music collage as they spliced together studio sets, live shows and electronic noise with mad abandon.  It's not bad (and very much in the spirit of the times), but it does suffer from the same problems as most Grateful Dead albums before "Workingman's Dead," the jams are wa-a-a-ay too long and the vocal tracks are muddy. 

[Josephus]

Rush--A Farewell to Kings

[Savonarola]

Harry Nilsson - Aerial Ballet (1968)

There are two big hits on this album "Everybody's Talking At Me" (the version that's in "Midnight Cowboy" ) and the original version of "One" (which would be a hit for Three Dog Night.)  The rest of the album manages to somehow be avant garde easy listening music.  It's sort of pop-psychedelia, like a collaboration between Burt Bacharach and the Zombies; except the songs are things like a heartfelt love song written to his desk.  Even by the standards of 1968 this one is a little weird.

[The Minsky Moment]

Sonny Rollins & Don Cherry Live at the Village Gate (1962)

If Louis Armstrong represents one musical pole, Cherry represents the other.  They both played cornet, but Cherry more often than not played a "pocket cornet" which looked more like a child's toy. Cherry's range was limited and critics knocked him for flubbing notes on solos.  But he had a good sense of rhythm and a knack for improvising little themes on the spot which made him a favored collaborator for leaders -notably Ornette Coleman - seeking to break from the harmonic constraints of the postwar bebop style. Sonny Rollins wasn't much like Ornette Coleman but Cherry's supportive role here is similar and Rollins really let's loose on his solos, while still staying within accepted tonality. The underrated Billy Higgins - the Where's Waldo of jazz drummers c 1960-85, provides the rhythmic glue to hold it alll together.

Three edited songs from a live performance at the Village Gate were released in 1962 under the title Our Man in Jazz, enough to get a taste but just a taste.  However, it turns out the entire 4 day club date was taped and just never released until 2015 when a no-name label based in Spain released a full 6 CD set. This presents a bit of an ethical dilemma as it is not  entirely clear how the label got access to the tapes (the sound quality is good) or what rights they had to publish, a concern reinforced by the bargain price for the set ($24 for 6 CD box).  Normally I pass on these kinds of releases, but this material has never been released in any form and may never be again - so it's the only way to hear it.  My bargain with my conscience was to get it but pledge to buy a later version with more clear provenance if it is released.

[Malthus]

Listing to "Is Satan Real?" By the Church of the Cosmic Skull. Perfect music by which to draw demons on playing cards! 😄

My favorite tracks are "Mountain Heart" and "Evil in your eye".

Not sure how to categorize the music. Prog plus a really twisted injection of gospel? Anyway, I enjoy it.

[mongers]

Rush--A Farewell to Kings

Did you hear the Welsh dawn chorus in the background? 

[Josephus]

Rush--A Farewell to Kings

Did you hear the Welsh dawn chorus in the background? 

I listened to the whole album.

[mongers]

Just came across an excellent music documentary on netflix:

'ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band From Texas'

Well worth a viewing.

[Duque de Bragança]

Conan the Barbarian (transcribed for Organ) - Philipp Pelster (from the Basil Pouledoris score obviously)

Sunday Mass Vibe 

A curiosity, released by the Naxos classical music label (famous for its affordable pricing).
I'll get the OST by Intrada anyways.

Daque, now that sounds interesting.

Easy to find on youtube but the CD may be found for cheap as well.

https://youtu.be/3e5eu-NMeUw

Well, ordered the re-release of the somewhat pricy 3CD official version by Intrada, as I said.