Playlist, Week of 2015-08-16

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You may have noticed a curious entry in my playlist below: "(started, 00:00:00 - 05:42:00)" --that's because I have begun listening through this 10-hour mix of all the Dark Star jams from 1972.

As of Sunday I have gotten through 5 hours and 42 minutes of it, and of course, it's glorious.

For the last few years I have been trying to collect every version of "Dark Star" from the Dead that I could get my hands on, and pound for pound, the ones from 1972 (especially from the European tour and, of course, the majestic Veneta version)  are by far my favorites (with 1973 a close second). That's when they took it the farthest out; they really experimented with it, with its form and with what it could contain. And of course, also, for 1972-73, there was only one drummer...Bill Kreutzmann rules! Mickey Hart is a fine drummer but I so much prefer Bill's looseness and vitality without him.

I am also a huge fan of John Oswald's Grayfolded, which of course is after something different than this, but which achieves a sort of Ur-"Dark Star" that manages to encompass everything they did with it, from all across the time spectrum, while also opening new doors to perception and pointing the way to a future of timeless Dark Stars, always existing in floating and never-ending space.

This mix, on the other hand, just lays it all out there, one jam at a time, extending into its own kind of ten-hour infinity. Yes, I could listen to this forever. At the very least I'll be streaming it whenever I can until I get through it at least twice, and of course I won't give it the attention it deserves....but it'll be on, a lot!

Playlist 2015-08-17:

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts January 1943 “Black, Brown, and Beige”
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Duke Ellington 1947-1953 Volume 2 (selections)
*Duke Ellington: The Great Paris Concert (disc 1)
*Mary Halvorson Quintet: 2012-08-25 Saalfelden, Austria (CDR)
*Julius Hemphill: Coon Bidness
*LARK: 2013-06-16 Brooklyn, NY (CDR)
*Living By Lanterns: 2013-08-25 Sant’Anna Arresi (CDR)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2015-06-22 “Chops for Chomsky” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2015-08-10 “Counterweight” (wav)
*Tom Rainey: Obbligato
*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: Secrets of the Sun
*Cecil Taylor Quartet: Nailed
*Cecil Taylor Quartet featuring Anthony Braxton: 2007-06-08 London (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor/Anthony Braxton/William Parker: 2007-10-12 Bologna (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor Quartet featuring Anthony Braxton: 2007-10-13 Reggio Emilia, Italy (CDR)
*D’Angelo and the Vanguard: Black Messiah
*D’Angelo and the Vanguard: 2015-06-14 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Manchester, TN (CDR) (disc 1)
*Area: Arbeit Macht Frei (Il Lavore Rende Liberi)
*Area: Caution Radiation Area
*Area: Crac!
*Blind Faith: Blind Faith (Deluxe Edition) (disc 2)
*Bob Dylan: Bringing It All Back Home
*Bob Dylan: 1965-07-25 Newport Folk Festival (CDR)
*Grateful Dead: Dark Star 1972 (streaming) (started, 00:00:00 - 05:42:00)
*Jimi Hendrix: 1970-09-06 Isle of Fehmarn, Germany (boot CDR)
*13th Floor Elevators: Live in Texas
*13th Floor Elevators: Easter Everywhere
*Various artists: The Wild and Wacky World of Bollywood (CDR compilation)
*Wig Drop: 2015 selections (CDR)
*Wondermints: Bali