Playlist, Week of 2017-06-25

Beautiful noise-imbued ambience from Anduin... stream it here... There's never time to listen to everything I want to listen to every day... if I had days long enough to be able to listen to everything I wanted to on a daily basis, something from Cecil Taylor would always be included.... Garden is one of my fave Cecil solo recordings, as much for its lyricism as for its pyrotechnical brilliance... I'm still absorbing the Feel Trio box set, and Tony Oxley continues to be my favorite drummer for Cecil... Fun to revisit the old Arthur Blythe Columbia albums... tons of great ideas and great playing, although my tastes have certainly changed over the years... I have a harder time enjoying his sharp vibrato trills now, which strike me as shrill... I need to dig out my old cassettes of the Blythe "In the Tradition" quartet at the Village Vanguard... as I remember, there were technical difficulties, but also incredible playing, especially from Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall... so glad I got to see both of these masters, and in such a vibrant, intimate setting... stay tuned...

Playlist 2017-06-26:

*Arthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown
*Arthur Blythe: In the Tradition
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium J (disc 4)
*Rodger Coleman/Sam Byrd: Who Doesn't Fade?
*Coleman Hawkins: 1953-1954
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-06-12: "Spread the Eggs" (wav)
*Charlie Parker Quintet: Complete Live at Birdland (disc 2)
*Cecil Taylor: Garden 1st Set
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 10)
*Anduin: Noir Tales
*Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band (Super Deluxe Ed.) (disc 3)
*Gong: Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible Part 1)
*Grateful Dead: Road trips, Vol. 4 No. 5: Boston 6-9-76 (disc 3)
*Grateful Dead: Cornell 5.8.77 (disc 1)
*Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention: Meat Light: The Uncle Meat Project/Object Audio Documentary (disc 1)

Reading List, Week of 2017-06-25

The summertime sci-fi reading binge continues....

Reading List 2017-06-26:

*Shakespeare, William. Love's Labour's Lost (original-spelling ed.) (reread/started)
*Turner, Steve. Beatles '66: The Revolutionary Year (started)
*Murphy, Andrew. "Shakespeare Goes Digital: Three Open Internet Editions" in Shakespeare Quarterly, 61:3 (2010) (started/finished)
*Corey, James S. A. Nemesis Games (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*King, Frank. Walt and Skeezix, Vol. 3: 1925-1926 (reread/in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Music and Youth

 
Cecil Taylor

Youth, to paraphrase some smart geezer, may be wasted on the young. But music doesn't have to be. (Jon Pareles, "Out of Tune With the Times?" in New York Times, 1988-04-24)

Playlist, Week of 2017-06-18

Just got the new Sgt. Pepper box set... wonderful Father's Day gift from my lovely wife!... More on it later... needless to say, it sounds great.... It's always fun to revisit the wacky world of Gong... Pip Pyle's drumming on the first album is much simpler and more straight-forward than his work with Hatfield and the North or National Health... Finally getting around to watching the DVD of the live performance of Trillium J... it's wonderful! I'm glad I tried to absorb the music by itself before trying to watch it... the visuals give it a whole new dimension, of course, but what I really enjoy is hearing how the orchestra lives and breathes behind and around the singing... More soft spots: 1. the Brian Wilson's last Beach Boys record, That's Why God Made the Radio... lots of MOR pap, sure, but also some brilliant melodies and gorgeous singing... 2. the warped rock-and-roll of the title track from Yes' Going for the One... beautiful Steve Howe slide guitar...

Playlist 2017-06-19:

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1997-06-29 Vignola, Italy (CDR)
*BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: 2016-11-19 Glasgow (Braxton: Comp. 27, 63; Fei; Bynum) (CDR)
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium J: 2014-04-19 Roulette, NYC, Act One (DVD)
*Anthony Braxton Zim Sextet: 2017-06-03 Moers (CDR)
*Rodger Coleman/Sam Byrd: Who Doesn't Fade?
*Fushitsusha: II (disc 1)
*Rod Laver Quartet: 2017-06-15 Richmond VA (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-04-17: "Unsudden Settling into Grey Emotion" (wav)
*Charlie Parker Quintet: Complete Live at Birdland (disc 1)
*Purple Trap: Decided ... Already The Motionless Heart Of Tranquility, Tangling The Prayer Called "I" (disc 1)
*Return to Forever: Where Have I Known You Before (side 1)
*Aki Takase & Ingrid Laubrock: 2016-11-04 Berlin (CDR)
*Them Against Them: Night Returns with a Gallup
*Wuppertal Workshop Ensemble: The Family
*John Zorn: Cobra (disc 2)
*Beach Boys: 50 Big Ones (disc 2)
*Beach Boys: That’s Why God Made the Radio
*Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band (Super Deluxe Ed.) (discs 1, 2)
*Gong: Camembert Electrique
*Grateful Dead: Road trips, Vol. 4 No. 5: Boston 6-9-76 (disc 2)
*Led Zeppelin: Presence
*NRBQ: Tiddly Winks
*Prince and the Revolution: Dream Factory (soniclovenoize reconstruction) (boot CDR)
*Prince: The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale
*Prince: The Dawn (boot CDR) (disc 1)
*Prince: Box o' Chocolates (boot CDR)
*Prince: Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic
*Various artists: Big Dance Mix (CDR compilation) (discs 1, 4)
*Yes: Going for the One

Reading List, Week of 2017-06-18

Reading List 2017-06-19:

*Corey, James S. A. Nemesis Games (started)
*King, Frank. Walt and Skeezix, Vol. 3: 1925-1926 (reread/started)
*Kirkman, Robert, et al. The Walking Dead (issues 85-87) (started/finished)
*Corey, James S. A. Cibola Burn (finished)
*Shakespeare and the Digital World (ed. Christie Carson and Peter Kirwan) (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Consolidation

cnet

The danger ... is that the illusion of infinite choice may well belie the forces of coercion and manipulation which steer that choice, and the fact that despite the appearance of greater autonomy, our choices are increasingly similar to those of everyone else around us. (Stephen Purcell, "The Impact of New Forms of Public Performance," in Shakespeare and the Digital World, ed. Carson and Kirwan, 2014, p. 222)

Announcement of New CD: Who Doesn't Fade?

I am pleased to announce that Rodger Coleman and I have a new CD out: Who Doesn't Fade? It's available for streaming or purchase. Rodger has done a fantastic job editing and mastering these live-in-the-studio improvisations, recorded at the end of last year. The cover photography by Jeff McLennan and design by James Buttery fit the music perfectly. Please check it out!

Playlist, Week of 2017-06-11

Loving the Aki Takase duos with Ingrid Laubrock... this is my first exposure to this pianist, and I will definitely need to check out more... Continuing to enjoy Jeff's Wig Drop recordings...he's got a way with a melody, and I love the textures and am jealous of his drumming... I was never a big fan of the Flo and Eddie period of the Mothers of Invention, but the Road Tapes release of a live show from 1970 is to my ears way more fun and interesting than Just Another Band from L.A.... A large part of it is the material; they rework a lot of melodies from Uncle Meat as well as bits from earlier albums... but also, there's less Flo and Eddie "comedy," Zappa's guitar playing is superb, and the band is super-tight... Excellent heartfelt improvisations from RAIC... nice to hear Zoe Olivia Kinney's cello so well-recorded... Revisiting Brian Wilson's first solo album reminded me that there are some wonderful melodies there, buried beneath the overproduced '80s synth sheen that bothered me so much when it first came out... "Let It Shine" and "Melt Away" are true gems... The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's renditions of large-scale works by Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, and James Fei are remarkable... you don't get stuff like that in these parts... thank goodness for the radio, the internet, and dime... Speaking of Braxton, the recent Zim Sextet Moers set is typically fantastic... this is music of life, positivity, and the breathtaking exhilaration of exploration and the communal creation of music... I've been lucky enough to hear many mid-sized Braxton ensemble recordings, and the recent ones from the last five or six years have pretty much all been uniformly Great (with a capital G!)... I love it that Ingrid Laubrock has been a part of many of these; her breathy tones and endless stream of ideas meld beautifully with Braxton's quicksilver lines and burnished sound... the Moers lineup also features cello, two harps, tuba, and the perennial cornet of Taylor Ho Bynum. Fantastic stuff!

Playlist 2017-06-12:

*Muhal Richard Abrams Orchestra: Blu Blu Blu
*Muhal Richard Abrams: One Line, Two Views
*Daniel Barbiero/Cristiano Bocci: Vόστος
*BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: 2016-11-19 Glasgow (Braxton: Comp. 27, 63; Fei; Bynum) (CDR)
*Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers: 'S Make It
*Anthony Braxton: Piano Quartet, Yoshi's 1994 (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium J (disc 3)
*Anthony Braxton Zim Sextet: 2017-06-03 Moers (CDR)
*John Coltrane: Live Trane: The European Tours (disc 6)
*Kris Davis Trio: 2014-03-04 London (CDR)
*Decoy & Joe McPhee: Oto
*Duke Ellington: The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
*Ghaphery/Bivins/Davis: 2007-09 Chapel Hill, NC (CDR)
*Ghaphery/Bivins/Davis: 2007-09 South Carolina (CDR)
*Barry Guy New Orchestra: Inscape - Tableaux
*Mary Halvorson Septet: Illusionary Sea
*Mary Halvorson Octet: Away with You
*Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: 2016-11-05 Strasbourg, France (CDR)
*George Lewis/Douglas Ewart: Jila - Save ! Mon. - The Imaginary Suite
*Joe Morris/Agusti Fernandez/Nate Wooley: From the Discrete to the Particular
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-05-01 "Push That Sound Over Here, Will You?" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-05-08 "No Crickets Here" (wav)
*Bud Powell: The Amazing Bud Powell Vol. 2
*Bud Powell: Bud! The Amazing Bud Powell Vol. 3
*RAIC: Love Lingers Like Poison In The Veins
*Tom Rainey Trio: Hotel Grief
*Archie Shepp: Mama Too Tight
*Archie Shepp: The Way Ahead
*Pete La Roca Sims: Turkish Women at the Bath
*Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suite (disc 2)
*Aki Takase & Ingrid Laubrock: 2016-11-04 Berlin (CDR)
*Them Against Them: Night Returns with a Gallup
*David Torn & Prezens: 2008-01-19 Budapest (CDR) (disc 1)
*John Zorn: Cobra (disc 1)
*John Zorn: The Painted Bird
*Archie Bell & the Drells: Tighten Up
*Boredoms: Vision Creation Newsun
*Clash: The Singles (disc 2)
*Count Five: Psychotic Reaction
*Cream: Disraeli Gears (Deluxe Ed.) (disc 2)
*Dr. Dog: Be the Void
*Dr. Dog: Psychedelic Swamp
*Bob Dylan and The Band: The Basement Tapes- Complete (disc 6)
*Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind
*Bob Dylan: Together Through Life
*Grateful Dead: Road trips, Vol. 4 No. 5: Boston 6-9-76 (disc 1)
*Al Green: Anthology (disc 1)
*Hatfield and the North with Robert Wyatt: 1973-01-02 Paris (CDR)
*Hatfield and the North: Hattitude
*Heldon: Un Rêve Sans Conséquence Spéciale
*Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
*King Crimson: Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind (disc 2)
*Paul McCartney: Pure McCartney (Deluxe Ed.) (disc 1)
*Joni Mitchell: The Hissing of Summer Lawns
*Joni Mitchell: Hejira
*Andy Partridge: Extras (The Unreleased Fuzzy Warbles Demos) (boot CDR)
*Prince: Crystal Ball (disc 1)
*Remains: The Remains
*Arsenio Rodriguez: Inolvidable 6
*Spacemere: Apartment Opera
*Dusty Springfield: Ooooooweeee!!!
*UYA: 1990-03-19 Middle East, Cambridge MA (CDR)
*UYA: 1990-09-03 Willow Jazz Club, Somerville MA (CDR) (disc 2)
*Wig Drop: Wig Drop 2
*WMWS: One Night Stand
*Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson
*Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention: Road Tapes, Venue #3 (1970) (disc 2)

Reading List, Week of 2017-06-11

Reading List 2017-06-12:

*Corey, James S. A. Cibola Burn (started)
*Kirkman, Robert, et al. The Walking Dead (issues 81-84) (started/finished)
*Thompson, Ann, and Neil Taylor. "Additions and Reconsiderations" in Shakespeare, Hamlet (Arden 3rd series, rev. ed.) (started/finished)
*Tatsumi, Yoshihiro. A Drifting Life (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Shakespeare and the Digital World (ed. Christie Carson and Peter Kirwan) (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2017-06-04

Busy week, lots of traveling and work... Highlight of the week was getting to hear an almost-completed mix of the new Jefferson Pilot release... it's an EP-length mini-suite of epic proportions with strange dischordant banging and ruminations from the Troubled Youth Orchestra... Got through the long "Good Lovin'" suite that was included as bonus material on the Grateful Dead CD of Europe '72... I don't think it's Pigpen's finest hour... there are many versions of "Lovelight" that gel far better... that being said, it's great driving music (as is the absolutely stunning "Truckin'" suite that precedes it on the disc!)... Excellent brand-new set from Anthony Braxton at Moers, a crack band with special guest Ingrid Laubrock... see here for a short write-up.

Playlist 2017-06-05:

*Anthony Braxton/Tomas Fujiwara/Tom Rainey: Trio (New Haven) 2013 (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton Zim Sextet: 2017-06-03 Moers (CDR)
*Miles Davis: The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (disc 2)
*Mary Halvorson Quintet: Bending Bridges
*Andrew Hill: 2000-04-29 London (CDR)
*Paul Lytton/Nate Wooley: 2011-03-02 The Stone, NYC (CDR)
*Beach Boys: Good Vibrations: Thirty Years Of The Beach Boys (disc 1)
*James Brown & the Famous Flames: Live at the Apollo
*Dr. Dog: B-Room
*Brian Eno: Music for Films
*Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 16 (1969-11-08 Fillmore West) (disc 1)
*Grateful Dead: Europe '72 (disc 2)
*Jefferson Pilot with the Troubled Youth Orchestra: Sympathy for SuperBad
*King Crimson: Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind (disc 1)
*Shelby Lynne: Just a Little Lovin’
*UYA: 1990-09-03 Willow Jazz Club, Somerville MA (CDR) (disc 1)
*Various artists: The Stax Story (disc 3)
*Various artists: Nigeria Soul Fever: : Afro Funk, Disco and Boogie: West African Disco Mayhem! (disc 2)
*Dionne Warwick: The Dionne Warwick Collection: Her All-Time Greatest Hits

Reading List, Week of 2017-06-04

One of the best books on Hamlet I've read...

Reading List 2017-06-05:

*Josipovici, Gabriel. Hamlet: Fold on Fold (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Shakespeare and the Digital World (ed. Christie Carson and Peter Kirwan) (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)
*Tatsumi, Yoshihiro. A Drifting Life (in progress)