Playlist, Week of 2026-06-07

 

Familiar with Pat Thomas mostly through his work with Tony Oxley, and later with [Ahmed]... I love his acoustic piano playing, but I really love the electronics on Strata, Act... obviously I need to do more exploration... Sonny Sharrock's contribution to Jack Johnson is exemplary... too bad he didn't play with Miles more... 

Playlist 2026-06-08:

*Jon Anderson: Olias of Sunhillow
*Art Ensemble: 1967/68 (disc 2) "Trio (Oh Susanna)"
*Beatles: Mono Masters (disc 1)
*Beatles: Rubber Soul (2009 mono remaster)
*Paul Butterfield Blues Band: East West
*John Coltrane: Ascension (Edition I/take 2)
*John Coltrane: Ascension (Edition II/take 1)
*Miles Davis: The Prestige 10-Inch LP Collection, Vol. 2 (LP 3: sides 1, 2)
*Miles Davis: The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (disc 5) "Yesternow"
*Dietrichs: Live Bahdu
*Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra: The Ellington Era, Vol. 1: 1927-1940 (side 3)
*Duke Ellington: The Indispensable Duke Ellington (Volumes 5/6) - 1940 (side 3)
*Funkadelic: Standing on the Verge of Getting It On
*Funkadelic: Let's Take It to the Stage
*Grateful Dead: 1972-04-11 Newcastle (CDR) "Truckin'"
*Grateful Dead: 1990-11-01 London (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1990-12-12 Denver (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1990-12-14 Denver (CDR) "Space > Dark Star"
*Neil Jendon/Mark Nagy: Cardew/Treatise, Vol. 1: Pages 1-24
*Neil Jendon/Mark Nagy: Cardew/Treatise, Vol. 2: Pages 25-50
*Magda Mayas' Filamental: Murmur
*Charles Mingus Quintet: 1975-05-07 Boston (CDR)
*Amina Claudine Myers: Solace of the Mind
*New Ting: 2026-06-01 "Slinky Wink" (wav)
*Larry Ochs/Nels Cline/Gerald Cleaver: What Is To Be Done
*Jean-Luc Ponty: Enigmatic Ocean
*Sun Ra: East Two +5 (sides 1, 2)
*Sun Ra and His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra: 1980-12-29 Detroit (CDR) (disc 2)
*Cecil Taylor: Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts (disc 1)
*Pat Thomas & XT: Strata, Act (Joy Contemporary)* (discs 1, 2)
*XTC: Live Boots: Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey 17th April 1981 (sides 1, 2)

Reading List, Week of 2026-06-07

Reading List 2026-06-08:

*Birkerts, Sven. Reading Life: Books for the Ages (started)
*Sorrentino, Gilbert. Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things (reread/started)
*Homer. The Odyssey (transl. Emily Wilson) (reread/finished)
*Rothfuss, Patrick. The Wise Man's Fear (reread/finished)
*Christgau, Robert. Is It Still Good to Ya? Fifty Years of Rock Criticism, 1967-2017 (in progress)
*Garner, Bryan A. Modern American Usage, 2nd ed. (in progress)
 

Sven Birkerts on Rereading

Possibly I believed, as most survivors of higher education believe, that a book is somehow used up, finished, by our reading; that it is a device, spring-loaded with themes and characters, which discharges itself fully as we finish, and that anything else—our memories and references—constitutes a kind of dreamlike residue. I no longer think so. Reading infiltrates. Books stay alive, not just in the active imagination, but in the very structures of our awareness. (Sven Birkerts, "The Reading Life," in Reading Life: Books for the Ages, 2007, Graywolf Press, p. 21)

Magic Jukebox Time: Walkin'

Here's another Magic Jukebox shuffled playlist... the weather's fine for walking! And I don't mind when the MJ plays three Ellington songs in a row...

1. William Bell - Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye
2. Shirelles - Ooh Poo Pah Doo
3. Billie Holiday - I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (and Throw Away the Key)
4. Bad Brains - F.V.K. 
5. Muffins - Queenside [remix]
6. Jelly Roll Morton - My Little Dixie Home
7. Fletcher Henderson - T.N.T.
8. Dan the Automator - Punjabis, Pimps, and Players
9. Elvis Presley - The Thrill of Your Love
10. Ornette Coleman & Prime Time - Spelling the Alphabet
11. Marvin Gaye - Together We Stand (Divided We Fall)
12. Tim Gane & Sean O'Hagan - La Vie d'Artiste (Generique)
13. Tad Thaddock - Checking In
14. Beatles - It's All Too Much
15. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - Making Up and Breaking Up
16. Bruce Springsteen - Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
17. Sun Ra - Of Drastic Measures
18. Platters - With This Ring
19. Jelly Roll Morton - Salty Dog
20. Lewis Taylor - Please Help Me if You Can
21. Charlie Parker - Indiana/Donna Lee (live)
22. Explorers Club - Summer Air
23. Alvin Robinson - Down Home Girl
24. Dion & the Belmonts - A Teenager in Love
25. Frank Zappa - Eat That Question
26. Sun Ra - Under the Spell of Love
27. Sun Ra - Stompy Jones
28. Beatles Remixers Group - All Things Must Pass
29. Beatles - Hold Me Tight
30. Beatles - All My Loving (live Vancouver)
31. Chords - Sh-Boom
32. Stock, Hauden, & Walkman - Index
33. Charlie Parker - Fine and Dandy (live Sweden)
34. Kid Koala - Space Cadet 2
35. Cold Blood - Too Many People
36. John Zorn & the Dreamers - Nekashim
37. Duke Ellington - Louisiana
38. Beatles - One After 909
39. Duke Ellington - The Swingers Get the Blues, Too
40. Duke Ellington - Way Low
41. Duke Ellington - I'm So in Love with You
42. Prince - Good Man
43. Johnnie Lee Willis - Square Dance Boogie
44. Deerhoof - Fresh Born
45. Sun Ra - I'll Get By
46. Sun Ra - Exotic Two
47. Prince - Strange Way
48. Mary Halvorson Quartet - Jesodoth
49. Brand X - Euthanasia Waltz
50. Jeff Byrd - Song No. 1
51. James Brown - Don't Be a Dropout
52. Deerhoof - Itchy P-Pads
53. Duke Ellington - Isfahan
54. Led Zeppelin - Black Mountain Side
55. Patsy Cline - I'll Sail My Ship Alone
56. Anthony Braxton - Comp. 57
57. Captain Beefheart - Fallin' Ditch
58. Sun Ra - Spontaneous Simplicity
59. Stephen Stills - Old Times Good Times
60. Jimi Hendrix - Burning of the Midnight Lamp (BBC)
61. Guided By Voices - Wished I Was a Giant
62. Dan Weiss - Cry Box
63. Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe (live Berkeley)
64. David Bowie - Red Money
65. Duke Ellington - East St. Louis Toodle-O
66. Muddy Waters - Country Boy
67. Remains - Don't Look Back
68. Baby Washington - I'll Never Be Over You
69. Beatles - This Boy (live Paris)
70. Buffalo Springfield - Bluebird
71. Stevie Wonder - Summer Soft
72. Animal Collective - Today's Supernatural
73. Billie Holiday - A Sunbonnet Blue (and a Yellow Straw Hat)
74. Pere Ubu - Chinese Radiation
75. Knight Brothers - Temptation 'Bout to Get Me
76. Parliament - Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight
77. Booker T. & the MGs - Ain't That Peculiar
78. Led Zeppelin - Sick Again (live)
79. Robert Wyatt - Instant Pussy (live)
80. Beatles - Dream Baby (BBC)
81. Robert Wyatt - Rangers in the Night
82. Sun Ra - The Antique Blacks
83. Beatles - I Just Don't Understand (live Stowe School)
84. Blackman -  No Place to Go
85. Henry Cow - Halsteren: Extension 2
86 .Johnny Hodges - The Rabbit's Jump
87. Deerhoof - Tuning a Stray
88. RAIC - Synnecrosis
89. Doris Duke - I Can't Do Without You
90. Sun Ra - Cosmic Machine
91. High Llamas - Bramble Black
92. Eddie Purrell - The Spoiler
93. Leon Ware - I Wanna Be Where You Are
94. Alton Ellis - Wide Awake in a Dream
95. Captain Beefheart - One Rose That I Mean
96. Frank Zappa - The Birth of Captain Beefheart
97. Husker Du - Monday Will Never Be the Same
98. Olu Dara - Your Lips
99. Sun Ra - Immortal Being
100. Sonic Youth - Karen Revisited
 

Playlist, Week of 2026-05-31

Henry Now: nice to hear these old timers crank it... starting another run of live Art Ensemble, this time in 1978 with Lester Bowie... I am surprised at how much I still love Earth Wind and Fire... as long as they stay away from the guitar-based power ballads... 

Playlist 2026-06-01:

*[Ahmed]: Play Monk (disc 2)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: Bap-Tizum (side 2)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1978-03-08 NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (DSS) (side 2)
*Paul Bley: Ramblin'
*Brand X: Moroccan Roll (side 2)
*Anthony Braxton: 3 Compositions of New Jazz (side 2)
*Anthony Braxton: Nine Compositions (DVD) 2003 "Comp. 328 (12tet)" "Comp. 72H and 74E (Trio)" 
*Anthony Braxton Large Ensemble: 2008-12-03 Wesleyan (CDR) "Comp. 100/134/91"
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (New Haven) 2014 (disc 4)
*Tina Brooks: True Blue
*Chicago: Chicago (side 2)
*John Coltrane: Concert in Japan (side 3)
*Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (UltraDisc One-Step) (side 1)
*Richard Dawson: The Ruby Cord
*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S02 E52: Young and Old
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S02 E53: Days of the Week
*Earth Wind & Fire: Gratitude (side 2)
*Earth Wind & Fire: I Am (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington: Reflections in Ellington (side 2)
*Duke Ellington: 1938 (side 4)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: A Drum Is a Woman (side 1)
*Duke Ellington: 1899-1974 (side 3)
*Flying Sutra with Ayumi Ishito: Out Beyond Orbit
*Funkadelic: Cosmic Slop
*Funkadelic: Tales of Kidd Funkadelic
*Grateful Dead: Wake Up to Find Out (disc 2, 3) "Dark Star," "Space > Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1990-07-12 Washington DC (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1990-09-20 NYC (CDR) "Space > Dark Star > Playing Reprise > Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1990-10-20 Berlin (CDR) "Dark Star, Space > Dark Star"
*Hatfield and the North: The Rotters' Club (50th Anniversary Ed.) (sides 1, 2)
*Joe Henderson: Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase (disc 1)
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland (side 3)
*Henry Now: Then Again (side 1)
*Charles Ives: Symphonies No. 1 & 4 (Michael Tilson Thomas/Chicago Symphony)
*King Crimson: Islands (40th Anniversary Ed.) (disc 1)
*King Crimson: The Young Persons' Guide to King Crimson (side 4)
*Harry Miller: BBC Sessions, 1976-1977 (CDR)
*Roscoe Mitchell/Tyshawn Sorey: 2013-10-20 North Macedonia (CDR)
*National Health: Of Queues and Cures (sides 1, 2)
*Rova/Nels Cline Singers: The Celestial Septet
*Rufus featuring Chaka Khan: Ask Rufus
*Soft Machine: Six (side 2)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Thunder of the Gods (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Crystal Spears (sides 1, 2)
*Sun Ra: Lanquidity (45rpm version) (sides 3, 4)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: In for a Penny, In for a Pound (disc 1) "Ceroepic (For Drums and Percussion)"
*Justin Timberlake: Tiny Desk Concert
*Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life (disc 1)
*XTC: Live Boots: Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey 17th April 1981 (side 1)
*Yes: Tales from Topographic Oceans (side 4)
*John Zorn/Brian Marsella Trio: Alea Iacta Est

Reading List, Week of 2026-05-31

Reading List 2026-06-01:

*Christgau, Robert. Is It Still Good to Ya? Fifty Years of Rock Criticism, 1967-2017 (started)
*Boyd, Brian. Nabokov's Pale Fire: The Magic of Artistic Discovery (finished)
*Clowes, Daniel. The Complete Eightball: Issues 1-18 (finished)
*Garner, Bryan A. Modern American Usage, 2nd ed. (in progress)
*Homer. The Odyssey (transl. Emily Wilson) (reread/in progress)
*Rothfuss, Patrick. The Wise Man's Fear (reread/in progress)
 

Playlist, Week of 2026-05-24

 

Always nice to return to the lethargic majesty of Robert Wyatt's masterpiece.... with the always important underpinning of two great bassists, Richard Sinclair and Hugh Hopper... My original vinyl of Tales from Topographic Oceans sounds so much better than the Steven Wilson remix... that doesn't take away from the fun in hearing different details in the remix, though... I need to check out Vol. 1 of Ayumi Ishito's Roboquarians, because Vol. 2 is fantastic... 

Playlist 2026-05-25:

*[Ahmed]: Play Monk (disc 1)
*Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
*Ayumi Ishito: Roboquarians, Vol. 2
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (England) 1985 (disc 5)
*Bruford: Gradually Going Tornado (side 1)
*Caravan: In the Land of Grey and Pink (side 1)
*Nels Cline Singers: The Giant Pin
*Nels Cline Singers: Macroscope
*John Coltrane: Live Trane: The European Tours (disc 1)
*Richard Dawson: The Ruby Cord
*Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Masterpieces by Ellington (side 3)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Ellington at Newport (side 1)
*Duke Ellington: Dance Date Air Force U.S.A. March 1958 (side 1)
*Emerson Lake and Palmer: Emerson Lake & Palmer
*Entropic Hop: Entropic Hop
*Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (side 3)
*Goal Weight: Keep Telling Yourself That
*Grateful Dead: 1978-04-11 Atlanta (CDR) (discs 2, 3)
*Grateful Dead: Formerly the Warlocks (disc 5) "Dark Star," "Space"
*Grateful Dead: 1989-10-16 East Rutherford NJ (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1989-10-26 Miami (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1989-12-31 Oakland CA (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Kip Hanrahan: 1991 Stuttgart (CDR)
*Happy the Man: Happy the Man (sides 1, 2)
*Joe Henderson: The State of the Tenor: Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 1 (side 2)
*Hyper Gal: After Image
*Lazro/Léandre/Lovens: For Baritone Sax, Double Bass & Drumset
*Matching Mole: Matching Mole (side 1)
*Merzbow/Mats Gustafsson/Balázs Pándi: Cuts Cut
*Muffins: Baker's Dozen (disc 10)
*New Ting: 2026-05-11 "Battering Wham" (wav)
*Nico: 1980-09-26 Squat Theater, NYC (CDR)
*OOIOO: The Horizon Spiral
*Jimmy Reed: Mr. Luck: The Complete Vee-Jay Singles (disc 3)
*Tomeka Reid Quartet: 3+3 (side 2)
*Residents: Eskimo (side 2)
*David Sancious: Forest of Feelings (side 2)
*Michael Sarian: The Sea, the Space, and Egypt, Vol. 1
*Sun Ra and His Inter-Galactic Research Arkestra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Crystal Spears (side 1)
*Sun Ra: Strange Celestial Road (side 1)
*Sun Ra and His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra: 1980-12-29 Detroit (CDR) (disc 1)
*Test: Ecstatic Peace 
*Various artists: Bollywood Movie Title Music
*Various artists: Telugu Connection (CDR)
*Various artists: WSAM: Dark Star and Behind (CDR compilation)
*Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom (sides 1, 2)
*XTC: Apple Venus, Vol. 1
*Yes: Tales from Topographic Oceans (sides 2, 4)
*Yes: Going for the One