Playlist, Week of 2014-05-25

Exciting to get a test pressing of the new album in the mail! Rodger has done amazing work on this release; the sound on the test pressing is solid and vibrant, full-bodied and detailed. Hot damn! Rodger's posted a video about it as well.

Playlist 2014-05-26:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: 1-OQA + 19
*AMM: Sounding Music
*AMM: From a Strange Place
*Anthony Braxton and Max Roach: Birth and Rebirth
*Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi’s) 1997, Vol. 3 (disc 2)
*Anthony Braxton Small Ensemble: 2009-05-04 Wesleyan: Echo Echo Mirror House Music (disc 2)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Cosmologies (LP test pressing)
*Miles Davis: 1973-10-17 Boston (CDR)
*Dreamhead: Ed Son of America (cassette>wav)
*Globe Unity Orchestra: 1978-07-15 Imola, Italy (CDR)
*Jerry Gonzalez: Ya Yo Me Cure
*Charles Mingus: Right Now
*New Loft: 2014-05-05 “Mission Permission” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-05-12 “Action Sound Super Band” (wav)
*Schlippenbach Quartet: Hunting the Snake
*Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra: 2013-10-05 Atlas, Washington, DC (video>mp3)
*Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra: 2014-05-03 Mt. Rainier, MD (video>mp3)
*Sun Ra: Continuation (Saturn/Corbett vs. Dempsey 2CD) (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: Discipline II and Misc. (cassette compilation)
*Sun Ra: Planets and Lights (cassette compilation)
*Lily Allen: Sheezus
*Animal Collective: Monkey Been to Burn Town
*D’Angelo: Voodoo
*D’Angelo: Live at the Jazz Cafe, London
*D’Angelo: Live in Oslo (disc 2)
*Gonjasufi: A Sufi and a Killer
*Grateful Dead: 1974-06-16 Des Moines IA “Eyes of the World”
*Guided By Voices: Cool Planet
*Buddy Holly: Down the Line: Rarities (disc 1)
*King Crimson: USA (30th Anniversary Remaster Expanded Edition)
*Lucia Pamela: Into Outer Space with Lucia Pamela (selections)
*St. Vincent: St. Vincent
*Soft Machine: Virtually
*Various artists: WSAM: Zombies-Ra-TMP Misc. (cassette compilation)

Reading List, Week of 2014-05-25

Reading List 2014-05-19:

*Coover, Robert. The Adventures of Lucky Pierre: Directors' Cut (started)
*Gopnik, Adam. “The Poet’s Hand,” in New Yorker 2014-04-28 (started/finished)
*Hanks, Fletcher. I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets (started/finished)
*Prevost, Eddie. “The Arrival of a New Music Aesthetic: Extracts from a Half-Buried Diary,” in Leonardo Music Journal, 2001 (started/finished)
*Pratchett, Terry. The Color of Magic (finished)
*Reynolds, Simon. Retromania (finished)
*Stebbins, Jon. The Beach Boys FAQ (in progress)

I am going to try to do better about adding commentary to some of these lists, but for now it ain't happening. Too much else going on!

Playlist, Week of 2014-05-18

Playlist 2014-05-19:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: 1-OQA + 19
*AMM: Laminal (disc 3)
*AMM: Combine + Laminates + Treatise ‘84
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: Bits and Pieces (cassette compilation)
*Anthony Braxton Small Ensemble: 2009-05-04 Wesleyan: Echo Echo Mirror House Music (disc 1)
*Chick Corea/Dave Holland/Barry Altschul: A.R.C. (side 2)
*Cornelius Cardew: Treatise (World Premiere Complete Recording)
*Miles Davis: 1973-06-19 Tokyo (CDR) (disc 2)
*Miles Davis: 1973-07-08 Montreux
*Miles Davis: 1973-07-10 London (CDR)
*Miles Davis: 1973-07-11 Paris (CDR)
*Duke Ellington: The Complete 1936-1940 Variety, Vocalion, and Okeh Small Group Sessions (disc 5)
*Globe Unity Orchestra: Globe Unity ‘67 & ‘70
*Charles Mingus: Blue Bird (side 1)
*Roscoe Mitchell and Muhal Richard Abrams: Duets & Solos
*Sun Ra: Sun Ra Solo Works (online compilation)
*Weather Report: Solarization’s (1974-12-08) (boot LP) (side 1)
*James Brown: I Can’t Stand Myself When You Touch Me
*James Brown: I Got the Feelin’
*Circus Devils: My Mind Has Seen the White Trick
*D’Angelo: Brown Sugar
*Guided By Voices: Motivational Jumpsuit
*Khan: Space Shanty (side 1)
*Lata Mangeshkar: Lata… As Never Before (disc 1)
*Modest Mouse: The Fruit That Ate Itself
*Nine Inch Nails: And All That Could Have Been
*Opeth: Damnation
*Opeth: Watershed (selections)
*Otis Redding: Tell the Truth (selections)
*Steely Dan: Two Against nature
*Steely Dan: Everything Must Go
*Stock, Hausen & Walkman: Giving Up with Stock, Hausen & Walkman (selections)
*Percy “Thrills” Thrillington: Thrillington
*UYA: 1990-02-18 Willow Jazz Club, Somerville, MA (cassette>wav) (tape 1, side A)
*Various artists: As Good As It Gets: Rockabilly (disc 2) (selections)
*Various artists: James Brown’s Funky People (Part 2) (selections)

Reading List, Week of 2014-05-18

Reading List 2014-05-19:

*Pratchett, Terry. The Color of Magic (started)
*Ware, Chris. Building Stories (finished)
*Reynolds, Simon. Retromania (in progress)
*Stebbins, Jon. The Beach Boys FAQ (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2014-05-11

Now that it's getting warmer, a great time to roll down the windows and crank this in the car!

Playlist 2014-05-12:

*AMM: Laminal (disc 2)
*Tim Berne: Snakeoil
*Tim Berne’s Snakeoil: Shadow Man
*Anthony Braxton Small Ensemble: 2009-04-30 Wesleyan: Echo Echo Mirror House Music (disc 2)
*John Coltrane: Live in Japan “Crescent”
*Miles Davis: In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall (disc 2)
*Miles Davis: 1972-10-01 Stanford University, CA (CDR)
*Miles Davis: The Complete On the Corner Sessions (discs 3, 4, 5)
*Miles Davis: 1973-06-19 Tokyo (CDR) (disc 1)
*David Fiuczynski: Kif Express
*Dave Holland: Prism
*Evan Parker/Derek Bailey/Han Bennink: The Topography of the Lungs
*Sun Ra: Planets and Lights (cassette compilation)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1976-01-30 Philadelphia (CDR) (disc 2)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1986-04-10 West Berlin (CDR)
*Allied Chemical Brothers: Soundz of Comix
*The Band: Live at the Academy of Music 1971 (disc 2)
*Beatles: Beatles for Sale (2009 mono remaster)
*Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Get Happy (2003 reissue, disc 1)
*D’Angelo: Live in Oslo (disc 1)
*Dreamhead: Ed Son of America (cassette>wav)
*Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos
*Flying Lotus: Cosmogramma
*Jefferson Pilot: Hello Mississippi
*King Crimson: The Road to Red (disc 21)
*Modest Mouse: Building Nothing Out of Something
*Muffins: Manna/Mirage (side 2)
*Lewis Taylor: The Lost Album
*Teenage Guitar: Force Fields at Home
*Irma Thomas: A Woman's Viewpoint: The Essential 1970s Recordings
*UYA: Rebuilding Billy (cassette>wav) (side B)
*Various artists: Greasy Truckers (side 2: Henry Cow)

Reading List, Week of 2014-05-11

Reading List 2014-05-12:

*Ware, Chris. Building Stories (started)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: Snow White (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: Cubs in Toyland (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: Inherit the Wind (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: Super Team (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: Rose Red (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: Witches (started/finished)
*Reynolds, Simon. Retromania (in progress)
*Stebbins, Jon. The Beach Boys FAQ (in progress)

AMM and the Importance of Documentation

On the music of AMM:

This is music which is not exhausted by repetition, and even seasoned AMM admirers (ourselves included), who might once have rejected the very idea of 'mechanical reproduction,' have begun to accept the importance of documentation. This is music which transcends its moment. It does make sense to listen to it many times. It is never the same, always fresh, always developing, or developing new pathways in the listener. --Cook & Morton, Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 5th ed. (p. 38)

Playlist, Week of 2014-05-04

Word is that William Bell will be appearing at the next Richmond Folk Festival. To which I say: woo-hoo!!!!

Playlist 2014-05-05:

*League of Automatic Music Composers: Automatic Music Cassettes 78-81 “Ear Benefit Rehearsal- Martian Folk Music”
*League of Automatic Music Composers: Automatic Music Cassettes 78-81 “Ear Benefit Rehearsal- Pedal with Twitter”
*League of Automatic Music Composers: Automatic Music Cassettes 78-81 “Home- Dense Drone- Side A”
*AMM: Laminal (disc 1)
*AMM: At the Roundhouse
*Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet & 7-tette: Navigation (The Complete Firehouse 12 Recordings) (disc 2)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Cosmologies (reference lacquer, 24-bit/96kHz transfer) (side A)
*Miles Davis: The Complete On the Corner Sessions (discs 1, 2)
*Miles Davis: 1972-09-14 Boston (CDR)
*Miles Davis: In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall (disc 1)
*Elton Dean/Joe Gallivan/Kenny Wheeler: The Cheque Is in the Mail (side 1)
*Dave Holland: Prism
*Naked Truth: Ouroborus
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-04-07 “Once Again, a Title” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-03-15 Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring MD (wav)
*Return to Forever: Where Have I Known You Before (side 2)
*Sun Ra & His Astro-Infinity Arkestra: Other Strange Worlds
*Sun Ra: Sun Ra Solo Works (online compilation)
*Allman Brothers: At Fillmore East (side 3)
*Syd Barrett: The Madcap Laughs
*Beatles: Hard Day's Night (2009 mono remaster)
*William Bell: A Little Something Extra
*Boredoms: Pop Tatari
*Boredoms: Super AE
*Circulatory System: Circulatory System
*De La Soul: De La Soul Is Dead
*Deerhoof: Breakup Song
*Dr. Dog: B-Room
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-03-07 (wav)
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: Miami Pop Festival
*Jefferson Pilot: Hello Mississippi
*Killswitch Engage: As Daylight Dies
*MC5: Back in the USA
*Muffins: Manna/Mirage (side 1)
*National Lampoon: That’s Not Funny, That’s Sick (side 1)
*Nine Inch Nails: And All That Could Have Been
*OOIOO: Taiga
*Rolling Stones: Undercover of the Night
*Lewis Taylor: The Lost Album
*UYA: 1991-05-02 Middle East  Cambridge MA
*Various artists: WSAM: Drive (cassette compilation)
*Edgar Winter: Entrance (side 1)
*Robert Wyatt; The End of an Ear

Reading List, Week of 2014-05-04

Reading List 2014-05-05:

*Reynolds, Simon. Retromania (started)
*Stebbins, Jon. The Beach Boys FAQ (started)
*Swift, Jonathan. The Tale of a Tub (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: War and Pieces (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: The Great Fables Crossover (started/finished)
*Weldon, Michael J. Psychotronic Video Guide (finished)
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Progress on my reading plan: Since November 2013 I've read two of the five books on my list of "recurring titles," Handmaid's Tale and Beloved, and immensely enjoyed both of them. No surprise at all that they keep showing up on must-read lists. From the re-read list, I've only read one: The Dark Tower. Granted, that was really seven books, and was pretty long, but still. I sense more re-reading in my future. Only re-read one Shakespeare (two if you count Edward III) since November, but that's OK for now. Then there's the big Malazan re-read. I'm working up to that. For now, my shifting plans include finishing the Fables series, getting through Retromania, the newest Chris Ware book, and a couple of other possibilities, then I can wait no more--on to Malazan!