Playlist, Week of 2014-03-30

Playlist 2014-03-31

*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2013-12-23 Nashville (wav)
*John Coltrane: Live in Japan “Afro Blue”
*Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (“Spanish Key”)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-03-15 Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring MD (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-03-19 Musicircus, University of Richmond (wav)
*Sun Ra: Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow
*Deerhoof: Breakup Song
*High Llamas: Talahomi Way
*Jefferson Pilot: Hello Mississippi
*Residents: Not Available

Reading List, Week of 2014-03-30

Reading List 2014-03-31

*Alexander, Lloyd. Taran Wanderer (started)
*Shakespeare, William. Love’s Labour’s Lost (Arden ed., 2nd series, ed. R.W. David) (reread/started)
*Alexander, Lloyd. The Castle of Llyr (started/finished)
*Alexander, Lloyd. The Black Cauldron (started/finished)
*Alexander, Lloyd. The Book of Three (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: Legends in Exile (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: Animal Farm (started/finished)
*Gaddis, William. A Frolic of His Own (finished)
*Weldon, Michael J. Psychotronic Video Guide (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2014-03-23

Playlist 2014-03-24:

*Cage/Feldman/Hidalgo/La Rosa/Marchetti: Rumori alla Rotonda
*AMM: Laminal (disc 1)
*AMM: Combine + Laminates + Treatise ‘84
*Cornelius Cardew: Treatise
*Kris Davis: Massive Threads
*Miles Davis: 1970-04-11 Fillmore West (CDR)
*Miles Davis: 1970-04-12 Fillmore West (CDR)
*Miles Davis: Miles Davis At Fillmore (disc 1)
*Mary Halvorson Trio: 2009-12-14 The Vortex, London (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: 2012-05-26 Moers Festival (CDR)
*Joe Morris/Agusti Fernandez/Nate Wooley: From the Discrete to the Particular
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-03-15 Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring MD (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-03-19 Musicircus, University of Richmond (wav)
*Sun Ra: “Blood” Blister Presents: An Evening with Sun Ra, Vol. 2 (cassette compilation)
*Thirteenth Assembly: 2010-10-13 Brooklyn (CDR)
*Various artists: Small Band Swing
*Ben Webster: The Best of Ben Webster 1931-1944
*Bombino: Nomad
*Chuck Brown: We Got This (disc 2)
*King Crimson: The Road to Red (disc 17)
*Matching Mole: Smoke Signals
*Frank Ocean: Channel Orange
*Opeth: Ghost Reveries
*Emitt Rhodes: Emitt Rhodes
*7 Days of Funk: 7 Days of Funk
*Stooges: Fun House
*Neil Young: Live at the Cellar Door

Reading List, Week of 2014-03-23

Reading List 2014-03-24:

*Gaddis, William. A Frolic of His Own (started)
*King, Stephen. The Dark Tower (Dark Tower VII) (reread/finished)
*Weldon, Michael J. Psychotronic Video Guide (in progress)

New Ting Ting Loft Musicircus Contribution

Here's the audio from New Ting Ting Loft at Musicircus:



and here's a couple of photos:

Thanks, Tim, for sending those on from The Facebook!

New Ting Ting Loft Pyramid Gig

Here are some photos from the Pyramid gig last week. Thanks to sis and bro for taking these! It was great having so much family there. Here is the audio file (if it doesn't work, you can find it here):

 

More Shelfies

Shelfies!

I've always loved looking at peoples' bookshelves. The bookshelves (if they're even there) are the first place I'm drawn to when I enter a room. There are a few websites that have been around a while featuring photos people have submitted of their well-stocked shelves, but the concept of "shelfies" had its own moment in the sun at the end of last year. So I thought I'd put up a few shelfies myself!

Playlist, Week of 2014-03-16

Playlist 2014-03-17:

*Miles Davis: 1970-04-09 Fillmore West (CDR)
*Miles Davis: Black Beauty
*Dawn of Midi: Dysnomia
*Mary Halvorson: 2009-03-21 NYC (CDR)
*Mary Halvorson Septet: Illusionary Sea
*Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: 2009-01-07 The Stone, NYC (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock/Dan Peck/Tom Rainey: 2012-05-11 Moers (CDR)
*MAP (Tatsuya Nakatani, Mary Halvorson & Reuben Radding): 2009-05-21 NYC (CDR)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-02-24 “Allow Paper To Dry” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-03-15 Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring MD (wav)
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: 2010-05-13 Koln (Break-Ups) (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1973-12-28 NYC (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor Trio: 1975-06-09 Village Gate (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor Trio: 1975 Philadelphia (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor: 3 Phasis (side 1)
*Sun Ra: Great Live Gilmore (cassette compilation)
*Beach Boys: Made in California (disc 5)
*Charles Bradley: No Time for Dreaming
*Bill Bruford: Feels Good to Me
*Elvis Costello: Trust
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-03-07 (wav)
*Tex Goldstein: Horse In The Teepee (Bandcamp)
*Guided By Voices: The Bears for Lunch
*High Llamas: Talahomi Way
*Jefferson Pilot: Hello Mississippi
*Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: Give the People What They Want
*King Crimson: The Road to Red (disc 16)
*Dan Penn: The Fame Recordings
*Stooges: Fun House

Reading List, Week of 2014-03-16

Reading List 2014-03-17:

*King, Stephen. The Dark Tower (Dark Tower VII) (reread/started)
*King, Stephen. Song of Susannah (Dark Tower VI) (reread/finished)
*Weldon, Michael J. Psychotronic Video Guide (in progress)

The first book I ever read

Not a bad start!

New Ting Ting Loft at Musicircus 2014-03-19

New Ting Ting Loft will be performing as part of John Cage's Musicircus next week. Curated by Brian Jones, this event is always fun and compelling (if less cacophonous at UR, since lots of the bands are in separate rooms and not crammed in next to each other). Stop by and see us, as well as all the other marvelous musicians playing all over the place at the same time!

Playlist, Week of 2014-03-09

Playlist 2014-03-10:

*Mozart: 6 String Quartets (Quatuor Ysaye) (discs 1, 2)
*Kris Davis: Massive Threads
*Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (“Spanish Key”)
*Miles Davis: 1970-03-06 Fillmore East (CDR)
*Miles Davis: Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It's About That Time
*Duke Ellington: The Original Edward “Duke” Ellington Hits: Vol. 1 1927/31
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 6: Studio Sessions New York 1968
*Jerry Gonzalez: Ya Yo Me Cure
*Mary Halvorson: 2009-06-28 Joe’s Pub, NYC (CDR)
*Mary Halvorson Septet: Illusionary Sea
*Ingrid Laubrock: 2009-08-01 The Stone, NYC (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock’s Anti-House: 2010-01-18 London (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock/Achim Tang/Simon Camatta: 2012-11-15 Essen, Germany (CDR)
*Living By Lanterns: New Myth/Old Science
*Alexander von Schlippenbach: Globe Unity
*Sun Ra: Continuation (side 2)
*Anarchist Republic of Bzzz: Anarchist Republic of Bzzz
*Animal Collective: Monkey Been to Burn Town
*Elvis Costello: This Year's Model (2002 reissue, disc 1)
*Dark Carpet: Dark Carpet (Bandcamp)
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-01-17 (wav)
*Bill Fay: Bill Fay 4 Sam (CDR compilation)
*Guided By Voices: 1994-11-03 Middle East, Cambridge MA (CDR)
*Henry Cow: Leg End
*King Crimson: The Road to Red (discs 14, 15)
*Various artists: The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968 (disc 9)

Reading List, Week of 2014-03-09

As far as my reading plan from last year is going, in case you were wondering, I am pretty much in the "re-read" portion of the plan now--it just felt like the right time to delve back into Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and I am very glad it was. It's a real page-turner: lots of meta-fun and just a wonderful story (with lots of stories embedded in it). I have gotten through some of the books from my dresser pile, and I read one book from my list of "recurring titles" (Beloved). Of course, the pile has changed (grown? evolved?), and I still have lots to look forward to. In the meanwhile, I am thoroughly enjoying revisiting The Dark Tower.



Reading List 2014-03-10:

*King, Stephen. Song of Susannah (Dark Tower VI) (reread/started)
*Enjoy the Experience. Ed. Johan Kugelberg (finished)
*King, Stephen. Wolves of the Calla (Dark Tower V) (reread/finished)
*Weldon, Michael J. Psychotronic Video Guide (in progress)

New Ting Ting Loft at Pyramid Atlantic March 15

We're excited to be playing up in Silver Spring Md. at the Pyramid Atlantic this coming Saturday, March 15.  Sponsored by Sonic Circuits, this will be the first second public performance of the entire quintet since we started playing together (there have been two quartet performances, but not all five of us...'til now!)

Correction! Jimmy informs me that this is our second gig as a quintet, and of course he's right. I completely forgot about our very first quintet performance, at the Nile in RVA back in may of last year. Maybe it was because we were performing under a different name then (Godzilla Meets King Kong Quintet), heh heh....or maybe it's because I done plumb forgot! Anyway, thanks for setting me straight, Jimmy! And: I am no less excited about the gig; it's always fun to play at the Pyramid, and we've covered a lot of ground since last year, so watch out. (2014-03-11)

Playlist, Week of 2014-03-02

Playlist 2014-03-03:

*AMM: 1970-03-02 London (CDR)
*Anthony Braxton Pine Top Aerial Music: 2011-12-01 Wesleyan (CDR
*Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet: 2013-11-09 Jazz Gallery, NYC (2nd set) (CDR)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Cosmologies (2014-03 LP mix) (wav)
*Miles Davis: The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (discs 2, 3, 4, 5)
*Mary Halvorson Quintet: 2012-05-18 Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock Quintet: 2011-06-18 Red Hook Jazz Festival, Brooklyn (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: 2011-08-06 Lisbon (CDR)
*New Loft: 2014-02-10 “Sink Correction” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-02-17 “On a Scale from Ben to Tim” (wav)
*Paradoxical Frog: 2012-09-21 Firehouse 12, New Haven CT (CDR)
*Tom Rainey Trio: 2011-05-06 Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT (CDR)
*Matana Roberts: 2009-03-30 Brooklyn, NY (CDR)
*Sun Ra: “Blood” Blister Presents: An Evening with Sun Ra, Vol. 2 (cassette compilation)
*Belle Orchestre: As Seen through Windows
*Bill Fay: Bill Fay
*Guided By Voices: Let’s Go Eat the Factory
*King Crimson: The Road to Red (disc 13)
*UYA: 1989-06-12 Middle East, Cambridge MA
*UYA:  Selections 25: Knot Named
*UYA:  Selections 26: Extraction Bucket
*Various artists: The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968 (disc 8)

Reading List, Week of 2014-03-02

Reading List 2014-03-03:

*King, Stephen. Wolves of the Calla (Dark Tower V) (reread/started)

*Cutler, Chris. “Plunderphonia” (started/finished)

*King, Stephen. Wizard and Glass (Dark Tower IV) (reread/finished)

*Enjoy the Experience. Ed. Johan Kugelberg (in progress)

*Weldon, Michael J. Psychotronic Video Guide (in progress)

Sun Ra: It Is Forbidden/The Other Side of the Sun

  

[A little over 10 years ago, I used to write record reviews for Nine Times, a publication of Plan 9 Music. From time to time I will put up some of these reviews for posterity.]

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Arkestra
It Is Forbidden
Total Energy

Sun Ra and His Arkestra 
The Other Side of the Sun
Comet Records

These recordings from jazz great Sun Ra highlight two very different aspects of his prodigious output.  Recorded live at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival in Exile (held in Canada after the promoters lost their license in Michigan) in 1974 , It Is Forbidden showcases Ra's vitality and versatility as a showman, a big band leader and entertainer deeply concerned with the use of spectacle and splendor to get his messages across to unsuspecting audiences.  The Other Side of the Sun features Ra as elder statesman and master of the recording studio.

It Is Forbidden has never been released before, and it's a significant addition to his recorded legacy.  It's the third in a series of Ra Ann Arbor festival recordings, produced by John Sinclair, and it's the strongest of the three.  The first two were heavy on space chants and preaching, and while that's always a prominent part of most Ra shows, there's less of it on this disc, where the focus is more on instrumental improvisation, with Ra contributing heavily on mini-moog.  Several of the standard Ra pieces, like "Love in Outer Space" and "Discipline 27," show up in the extended set, but they serve as signposts along the way between lengthy improvs rather than standalone set pieces.  With this band Ra also extended his sound palette with the addition of Dale Williams on electric guitar, who at one point contributes a wild post-Hendrix solo break that's highly reminiscent of the guitar work Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas were contributing to Miles Davis' band at around the same time period.  "It is Forbidden" is a catchy chant making its first appearance on CD.  This is a great disc that's one of Sun Ra's better live recordings from the '70s.

The Other Side of the Sun is the first release on CD of an obscure album previously available on the Sweet Earth label.  Recorded in 1978-79, it turns out to be one of the strongest studio recordings of Ra's last decade and a half, on the same level as 1990's Mayan Temples.  Throughout the '80s, Ra's music was much less experimental and more rooted in older jazz styles than it was in the late '60s and early '70s, and this record in many ways serves as an earlier pointer to that direction. The CD opens with "Space Fling," a delightful big band romp that swings ferociously.  There are two cover tunes: a slightly twisted, sublime version of "Flamingo" that manages to emulate the mood of the Ellington/Strayhorn arrangement while undermining it at the same time, and a marvelous version of "The Sunny Side of the Street," with one of the best John Gilmore tenor sax solos of the later period of his playing.  Almost every studio recording  of Ra's signature tune "Space is the Place" is unique; this version is an extended space/funk workout in the style of Lanquidity.  The disc ends with a beautiful controlled improvisation piece, "Manhattan Cocktail," with several sequences of contrasting textures and instrumental combinations, unified by Sun Ra's electronic keyboard work--an excellent close to an excellent album.

2001-06-29 (Originally published in Nine Times, 2001)