Playlist, Week of 2014-06-29

Digging the sounds of The Lost, great Boston band of the '60s: hard-rocking primo garage sound. Three Capitol singles, no album unfortunately, but 2 CDs from Arf! Arf! with all their studio work, plus early demos and a few live tracks. Thanks, Walter!

Playlist 2014-06-30:

*Mesias Maiguascha: FMelodies II
*Portsmouth Sinfonia: Plays the Popular Classics
*AMM: The Crypt: 12th June 1968, The Complete Session
*AMM: Laminal (disc 1)
*AMM: 1970-03-02 London (CDR)
*AMM: Tunes Without Measure or End
*Daniel Barbiero & Chris Lynn: Augmented Landscapes
*Lol Coxhill: Before My Time (side 1)
*Kris Davis: Massive Threads
*Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (“Bitches Brew”)
*Roscoe Mitchell Sextet: Sound
*Roscoe Mitchell: The Roscoe Mitchell Solo Saxophone Concerts
*Roscoe Mitchell Septet: 1976-02-08 Studio Rivbea, NY (CDR)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Nonaah
*Roscoe Mitchell: Duets with Anthony Braxton
*Sonny Murray: Sonny’s Time Now
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-05-19 “Pipe Down, Face Up” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-06-23 “Squandered Book of Love” (wav)
*William Parker/In Order to Survive: Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy
*Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra: 2014-05-03 Mt. Rainier, MD (video>mp3)
*Cecil Taylor Quintet: 1965-07-02 Newport Jazz Festival (streaming)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: Cecil Taylor Unit “Holiday en Masque”
*Animal Collective: Centipede Hz
*Dawn of Midi: 2013-09-02 NYC (CDR)
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-06-13 (wav)
*Essex Green: Everything Is Green
*Jimi Hendrix: West Coast Seattle Boy (deluxe ed.) (disc 2)
*High Llamas: Live (CDR compilation)
*Buddy Holly: Down the Line: Rarities (disc 2)
*Lost: Lost Tapes 1965-1966
*Lost: Early Recordings: Demos, Acoustic, and Live 1965-1966
*Love with Arthur Lee: 1970-11-21 Fillmore West (CDR)
*Lou Reed: Metal Machine Music
*UYA: 1989-08-17 DEA (wav)
*Yes: Close to the Edge

Reading List, 2014-06-29

Reading List 2014-06-30:

*Brown, Charles Brockden. Edgar Huntly, or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker (started)
*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. The Terrorists (started/finished)
*Prévost, Edwin. No Sound Is Innocent (in progress)

Finished the Martin Beck series. It just got better and better.

New Release from Daniel Barbiero

Daniel Barbiero has a new release on Zero Moon: Augmented Landscapes, with Chris Lynn. Found sounds and manipulated sounds blend with Dan's beautiful bass playing. Check it out, and while you're listening, be sure to read Dan's two articles on sound over at Percorsi Musicali.

Virginia Woolf on Proust

     https://jacket2.org/commentary/poets-novel

My great adventure is really Proust. ... I am in a state of amazement; as if a miracle were being done before my eyes. How, at last, has someone solidified what has always escaped – and made it too into this beautiful and perfectly enduring substance? One has to put the book down and gasp. The pleasure becomes physical – like sun and wine and grapes and perfect serenity and intense vitality combined. (Virginia Woolf, 1941, quoted in Leland de la Durantye, "Style Over Substance: Translating Proust," in Boston Review, 2014-06-16)

A Bird in Its Natural Habitat

A candid shot, taken by James Trice.

Playlist, Week of 2014-06-22

Playlist 2014-06-23:

*Luc Ferrari: Heterozygote (1963-64)
*Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kurzwellen mit Beethoven (Stockhoven-Beethausen Opus 1970)
*Edgard Varese: Déserts (1950-54) for Orchestra and Tape (world premiere with Hermann Scherchen)
*AMM: 1989-10-07 London (CDR)
*AMM: 1991-12-15 London (CDR) (disc 2)
*AMM: 1994-05-16 Bielefeld, Germany (CDR)
*AMM: 2008-09-06 Rome (CDR)
*Paul Bley: Barrage
*Miles Davis: Agharta
*Miles Davis: Pangaea
*Miles Davis: 1975-06-11 Bottom Line, NYC (CDR)
*Miles Davis: 1975-07-01 Avery Fisher Hall, NYC (CDR)
*Havard/Leduc/Morin/Ottavi: Digital Live Radio Session
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-05-12 “Action Sound Super Band” (wav)
*Tony Oxley Sextet: 1972-11-01 Berlin (CDR)
*Tony Oxley Quintet: 1974-03-18 London (CDR)
*Tony Oxley Sextet: 1976-10-28 London (CDR)
*Tony Oxley Quartet: 1976-06-20 Hamburg (CDR)
*Schlippenbach Quartet: Hunting the Snake
*S.O.S.: Looking for the Next One (disc 1)
*Sun Ra & His Solar-Myth Arkestra: The Solar-Myth Approach, Vol. 2
*Lily Allen: Sheezus
*Scott Brookman: Smellicopter
*Scott Brookman (unreleased selections 2014)
*Sam Cooke: The Man Who Invented Soul (selections)
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-06-13 (wav)
*Guided By Voices: Under the Bushes Under the Stars
*Guided By Voices: Hold on Hope
*High Llamas: Talahomi Way
*Iftin: Somolian Funk
*Jefferson Pilot: Hello Mississippi
*UYA: 1989-08-10 Middle (cassette>wav) (side A)
*Various artists: Sissy Man Blues: 25 Authentic Straight And Gay Blues And Jazz Vocals
*Robert Wyatt: Dondestan (Revisited)

Reading List, Week of 2014-06-22

Reading List 2014-06-23:

*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. Cop Killer (started/finished)
*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. The Locked Room (started/finished)
*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. The Abominable Man (started/finished)
*Miracles: Poems by Children of the English-Speaking World. Collected by Richard Lewis (finished)
*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. Murder at the Savoy (finished)
*Prévost, Edwin. No Sound Is Innocent (in progress)

A Squeaking Door

Morton St. house door, http://babyghosty.com/

In the face of the thundering energy and giantist perspective of The Who or some Wagnerian extravaganza, can anyone turn away to find meaning and artistic fulfilment in the sounds of a squeaking door? (Edwin Prévost, No Sound Is Innocent, p. 47)

Yep: Sun Ra.

Miles after 1975

Photograph: Rex Features

I am coming to the end of my chronological listening project of Miles Davis. Astute watchers of this list may notice that I am stopping at 1975. Yep. While undoubtedly Miles did some great playing after his hiatus in the late '70s, I just find the overwhelming majority of his work in the '80s depressing and frustrating. There are some bright moments, certainly, and I may listen to some of them again. I've got a live recording from 1987 in Boston where the band kicks it and Miles is in great form. But the cheesy keyboards, the tune selection, the weaker soloing of his bandmates, and the overall feel of his later work is a bummer to me, especially after the heights he scaled with the '73-'75 bands. And I'm sorry, but his choice of cover material just doesn't cut it for me. "Human Nature" and "Time after Time" just don't have the resonance or heft to sustain great jazz the way the standards and Broadway cover tunes of the '50s and '60s did.  So for my next chronological listening projects, I am stopping at 1975 Miles and moving on to greener pastures: Roscoe Mitchell, then Coltrane, then Sun Ra. This plus my ongoing fascination with and discovery of AMM, as well as my deep dive into the UYA archives (more on that later) should keep me intellectually stimulated for a while. Think I'm making a mistake? Are there truly great Miles moments from the '80s that I'm missing out on? Don't say "Jean Pierre."

Make a Sound

The most fundamental reason for making music is to communicate and this ability and its fulfilment is fundamental to human existence. What else explains the almost compulsive desire to make or consume music? There may be no more thing for a human being to do than make a sound and know that it is being heard by another human being. (Edwin Prévost, No Sound Is Innocent, p. 43)

Playlist, Week of 2014-06-15

Playlist 2014-06-16:

*Marti Epstein: Marti’s Greatest Hits (cassette compilation)
*Karlheinz Stockhausen: Stockhausen Composer Day, BBC Symphony Orchestra: "Inori" (CDR)
*AMM: 1991-12-15 London (CDR) (disc 1)
*AMM: 1998-04-03 Padova, Italy (CDR)
*AMM: 2001-04-15 Chicago (CDR)
*Daniel Barbiero & Chris Lynn: Augmented Landscapes
*Jean Chevalier/Christophe Howard/Julien Ottavi/Keith Rowe: [N:Q]
*Miles Davis: The Complete On the Corner Sessions (disc 2) (selections)
*Miles Davis: Dark Magus
*Miles Davis: 1975-01 Los Angeles (CDR)
*Miles Davis: 1975-01-22 Tokyo (CDR)
*Fletcher Henderson: Fletcher Henderson’s Sextet (1950)
*Masters of Disorientation: 1990-02-25 Birmingham, Eng. (CDR)
*Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra: 2014-05-03 Mt. Rainier, MD (video>mp3)
*Sun Ra & His Solar-Myth Arkestra: The Solar-Myth Approach, Vol. 1
*Sun Ra: Sun Ra Solo Works (online compilation)
*Airport 5: Tower in the Fountain of Sparks
*Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam
*Burt Bacharach: The Best of Burt Bacharach: The Millennium Collection
*Scott Brookman (unreleased selections 2014)
*Johnny Burnette: Johnny Burnette & the Rock ‘n Roll Trio
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-05-09 (wav)
*Alton Ellis: Joy in the Morning (CDR compilation)
*Guided By Voices: The Grand Hour
*Guided By Voices: Mag Earwhig!
*High Llamas: Can Cladders
*Melody’s Echo Chamber: Melody’s Echo Chamber
*Robert Pollard: Normal Happiness
*UYA: 1989-07-30 The Cage, Boston (cassette>wav)
*UYA: 1989-08-07 Under Yellow Afterglow (cassette>wav)
*Various artists: The Copulatin’ Blues Compact Disc
*Various artists: Short Cuts (cassette compilation) (selections)
*Dionne Warwick: Presenting Dionne Warwick (selections)
*Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times

Reading List, Week of 2014-06-15

Reading List 2014-06-16:

*Prevost, Edwin. No Sound Is Innocent (started)

*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. Murder at the Savoy (started)

*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. The Fire Engine That Disappeared (started/finished)

*Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart (finished)

*Miracles: Poems by Children of the English-Speaking World. Collected by Richard Lewis (in progress)

Happy Bloomsday!

http://www.manhattanrarebooks-literature.com/

Martin Amis:

...that then leaves Ulysses, which is clearly the century's key text. It is impossible to cite or imagine any other novel, apart from Don Quixote, capable of giving the form of fiction such a violent evolutionary jolt. ("Nabokov and literary greatness," 1999-04-15)

Happy Bloomsday!

Great Difference

Here's a fun, understated passage from one of the Martin Beck novels, written in 1969. Beck and  Kollberg are police; Beck's 16-year-old daughter has just left them:

When Martin Beck and Kollberg came out into the hall to put on their overcoats, loud pop-music was pouring out through her closed door.

     "The Beatles," said Martin Beck. "It's a miracle her ears don't drop off."

     "The Rolling Stones," said Kollberg.

     "How can you tell the difference?"

     "Oh, there's a great difference," said Kollberg, starting down the stairs.      (Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, The Fire Engine That Disappeared, transl. Joan Tate, pp. 94-95)

Another Bonus Playlist from the Magic Jukebox

Every so often, I like to post playlists from the Magic Jukebox. Here's another one, this time from around the last week of May.

1. Cardinals: The door is still open
2. Hank Williams: Dear John
3. Little Richard: Greenwood, Mississippi
4. Otis Redding: You've made a man out of me
5. Mar-Keys: Grab this thing (pt. 1)
6. Kendall Sisters: Yea yea
7. Lowell Fulson: Trouble trouble
8. Jimi Hendrix: Lover man
9. Husker Du: Visionary
10. Booker T. & the MGs: Expressway to your heart
11. Dawn: I'm afraid they're all talking about me
12. Hank Williams: Pins and needles in my heart
13. Carter Family: Will you miss me when I'm gone
14. Beatles: I'm down (take 1)
15. Captain Beefheart: Neon meate dream of a octafish
16. Charlie Parker: Chasin' the bird
17. Archie Bell & the Drells: A thousand wonders
18. Kinks: Mister Pleasant
19. Charlie Parker: Home cooking 1: Opus
20. High Llamas: Fly baby fly
21. Joe Tex: A woman can change a man
22. Rolling Stones: Jigsaw puzzle
23. Prince: 2morrow
24. Naked City: Jazz snob eat shit
25. Beatles: Tell me why (take 4)
26. Allman Brothers: Stormy Monday
27. Kid Koala: The mushroom factory
28. Booker T. & the MGs: When something is wrong with my baby
29. Todd Rundgren: A long time, a long way to go
30. Bob Dylan: The times they are a-changing
31. Deerhoof: My purple past
32. Kinks: Arthur
33. Betty Wright: Clean-up woman
34. Chris Clark: Something's wrong
35. Frank Zappa: Dense slight
36. Boredoms: 7th June '98 remix
37. Jackie Wilson: Reet petite
38. Duke Ellington: Rock skippin' at the Blue Note
39. Solomon Burke: Save it
40. Hank Ballard & the Midnighters: From the love side
41. Arthur Alexander: In the middle of it all
42. Sun Ra: Dorothy's dance
43. Lew Stone & His Band: Garden of weed
44. Tower of Power: Soul vaccination
45. Beatles: Strawberry fields forever (take 2)
46. Billie Holiday: April in my heart
47. Sun Ra: Wurlitzer and celeste
48. Rolling Stones: Stupid girl
49. Cellos: Rang tang ding dong (I am the Japanese sandman)
50. Rutles: Hold my hand
51. Beatles: Everybody's trying to be my baby
52. George Jones: Out of control
53. Orioles: Crying in the chapel
54. Bob Dylan: It takes a lot to laugh
55. Clovers: Lovey dovey
56. Otis Redding: Gone again
57. Al Green: One of these good old days
58. Yani Martinelli: Purple and yellow
59. Alemayehu Eshete: Shegitu Mare
60. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles: Oh be my love
61. Kinks: Some mother's son
62. Etta James: Steal away
63. Eddie Floyd: Water
64. Otis Redding: A woman, a lover, a friend
65. Etta James: It hurts me so much
66. Otis Redding: Ton of joy
67. Johnny Cash: Guess things happen that way
68. Dennis Wilson: Pacific ocean blue
69. XTC: The rhythm
70. Fela: My lady frustration
71. Prince: Desire
72. Dionne Warwick: The green grass starts to grow
73. Beatles: Michelle (demo)
74. Muddy Waters: Baby please don't go
75. Stock, Hausen, & Walkman: Index
76. Rolling Stones: Child of the moon
77. Duke Ellington: Body and soul
78. Duke Ellington: Weely
79. Charlie Parker: All the things you are
80. Shirelles: It's love that really counts
81. Bob Dylan: Moonlight
82. Tad Thaddock: Over before you know it
83. Beatles: Get Back ("Love" version)
84. Sun Ra: Urnack
85. Beatles: Day tripper (take 3)
86. John Coltrane: To be
87. Fletcher Henderson: Clarinet marmalade
88. Dennis Wilson: Wild situation
89. Fletcher Henderson: Teapot dome blues
90. Prince: I rock therefore I am
91. Brian Wilson: I'm in great shape/I wanna be around/Workshop
92. Tad Thaddock: Smegma on the highway
93. Cryptic Jr. (disc 1, track 17)
94. Charles Mingus: East coasting
95. Muddy Waters: Got my mojo working
96. Valentines: Lily Maebelle
97. Jimi Hendrix: Can you see me
98. Tower of Power: Check it out
99. Prince: All day all night
100. Dee Dee Warwick: I want to be with you
101. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell: Ain't nothing like the real thing
102. Stock, Hausen, & Walkman: New
103. DJ Spooky/Marcel Duchmap: The creative act
104. Otis Rush: Walking down the aisle
105. Charlie Rich: Break up
106. Kinks: I'll remember
107. Beatles: Strawberry fields forever
108. Mothers of Invention: Toads of the Short Forest
109. Stevie Wonder: Tuesday heartbreak
110. Major Organ & the Adding Machine: Life forms (Transmission received)
111. XTC: That's really super, Supergirl
112. Jack Jenney: Stardust
113. Beatles: Two of us
114. Mars Volta: Tourniquet man
115. Dusty Springfield: I had a talk with my man
116. Dark Carpet: I'm in love with a girl
117. Sun Ra: The shadow world ("Soul Vibrations of Man")
118. Eddie Floyd: Soemthing you got
119. Billie Holiday: I'm gonna lock my heart
120. Cliff Carlisle: Shanghai rooster yodel #2
121. John Coltrane: Serenity
122. Sun Ra: El is a sound of joy ("Live at Montreux")
123. Sun Ra: Discipline/Tall trees in the sun
124. Sun Ra: Angels and demons at play (live at Slug's '72)
125. Rolling Stones: Beast of burden

Youth and Death

One reason Humans remain young so long, compar'd to other creatures, is that the young are useful in many ways, among them in providing daily, by way of the evil Creatures and Slaughter they love, a Denial of Mortality clamorous enough to allow their Elders release, if only for moments at a time, from Its Claims upon the Attention. (Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon, p. 37)

Reading List, Week of 2014-06-08

Reading List 2014-06-09:

*Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart (started)
*Miracles: Poems by Children of the English-Speaking World. Collected by Richard Lewis (started)
*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. The Laughing Policeman (started/finished)
*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. The Man on the Balcony (started/finished)
*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. The Man Who Went up in Smoke (started/finished)
*Sjowall, Maj, and Per Wahloo. Roseanna (started/finished)
*Perry, Thomas. Poison Flower (finished)
*Stebbins, Jon. The Beach Boys FAQ (finished)

I started this wonderful series of Martin Beck mysteries: ten Swedish novels from the late '60s and early '70s that basically defined the police procedural, collectively known as The Story of a Crime. "Started," as in: devoured.

Playlist, Week of 2014-06-08

Playlist 2014-06-09:

*League of Automatic Music Composers: The League of Automatic Music Composers, 1978-1983
*Muhal Richard Abrams: 1986-03-28 Charlottesville VA (cassette)
*AMM: The Crypt: 12th June 1968, The Complete Session
*AMM: 1988-01 BBC Maida Vale Studios (CDR)
*AMM: 1990-03-31 Zurich (CDR)
*AMM: Uncovered Correspondence
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: 1983-10-01 Mulhouse, France (CDR)
*Anthony Braxton's Sonic Genome Project: 2010-01-31 Vancouver (CDR) (disc 1)
*Miles Davis: 1973-11-03 Vienna (CDR)
*Miles Davis: 1973-11-15 Paris (CDR)
*Miles Davis: 1974-01-26 Willimantic, CT (CDR)
*David Fiuczynski: Planet Microjam
*Ganelin Trio: Baltic Triangle (side 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Duets with Tyshawn Sorey and Special Guest Hugh Ragin
*Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris: Testament: A Conduction Collection "Conduction 22, Documenta: Gloves & Mitts, Part 1”
*Oliver Nelson: Blues and the Abstract Truth
*William Parker: Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy
*S.O.S.: Looking for the Next One
*Various artists: That's What I Call Sweet Music: American Dance Orchestras of the 1920s
*Beach Boys: That’s Why God Made the Radio
*Archie Bell & the Drells: Tighten Up
*Scott Brookman: Smellicopter (selections)
*Scott Brookman (unreleased selections 2014)
*James Brown: Motherlode (selections)
*Guided By Voices: Under the Bushes Under the Stars
*Guided By Voices: Hold on Hope
*Lucia Pamela: Into Outer Space with Lucia Pamela (selections)
*Kelley Stoltz: Double Exposure
*Lewis Taylor: The Lost Album (selections)
*UYA: Hairpin (cassette>wav) (side B)
*Various artists: Bolus of Pop Chyme/7-Inchers of Pleasure (cassette compilation)
*Who: The Who Sell Out (1995 reissue)

War, Peace, and Pierre

Gordon Thomas is one of the best film writers out there.  He has written an excellent review of one of my favorite films: Sergei Bondarchuk's excellent 7-hour epic War and Peace.  Check it out here!



This is the version I have. Evidently there was also a UK version put out by Artificial Eye, but it's out of print. The Ruscico version is still around and is well worth it.

And look here for more of Gordon's film writing for Bright Lights Film Journal.

Playlist, Week of 2014-06-01

Playlist 2014-06-02:

*AMM with John Butcher: Trinity
*Miles Davis: 1973-10-29 Copenhagen (CDR)
*Duke Ellington: The Complete 1936-1940 Variety, Vocalion, and Okeh Small Group Sessions (disc 6)
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 2: Studio Sessions Chicago 1957, New York 1962
*Charles Mingus: The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65 (disc 3)
*Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble: Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancin’ Shoes
*Parker/Guy/Lytton/Schlippenbach Trio: 2x3=5
*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: Discipline I (cassette compilation)
*John Zorn/Yamantaka Eye: Nani Nani
*John Zorn: Astaroth: Book of Angels Vol. 1: Jamie Saft Trio Plays Masada Book Two
*Acid Mothers Temple: Pataphisical Freak Out MU!!
*Lily Allen: Alright, Still
*Scott Brookman (unreleased selections 2014)
*Roky Erickson & the Aliens: The Evil One
*Guided By Voices: Class Clown Spots a UFO
*Robert Pollard: Mouseman Cloud
*Yellow Dress: Faint Music//Ordinary Light (streaming)

Every time I listen to Roscoe Mitchell I am reminded that I don't listen to him enough! Of course, that's true for many artists I listen to. Still, this one's one of my favorites: marches, funk, abstract sound, free bop, and as always: Mitchell's sometime acerbic, always gut-bucket/free/powerful playing. He's definitely one of my all-time favorite saxophonists.

Reading List, 2014-06-01

Reading List 2014-06-02:

*Perry, Thomas. Poison Flower (started)
*Clowes, Daniel. The Death-Ray (started/finished)
*Sanson, Matthew. “Imaging Music: Abstract Expressionism and Free Improvisation,”  in Leonardo Music Journal, 2001 (started/finished)
*Coover, Robert. The Adventures of Lucky Pierre: Directors' Cut (finished)
*Stebbins, Jon. The Beach Boys FAQ (in progress)

Records Create the Landscape

In response to my quote about AMM and the importance of documentation, Dan Barbiero responded with his review of this book that deals with how recordings of the early experimental music of John Cage and others helped shape and exert its influence. There are some interesting thoughts here, and Dan teases them out nicely. I've often been impatient with those who say that recordings can never capture the experience of being at a performance and hearing the music live. In so many ways, that goes without saying, but on the other hand, I'd rather listen to a recording of a Charlie Parker performance from 1948 than read about it. Thank goodness someone was there pushing the buttons. I am glad to have recordings of me and my brother from 1977. We did a lot of stuff together, more than I can remember, but I can at least approach some of that sonic intensity through the magic of tape.