Playlist, Week of 2017-11-19

It's a pleasure to hear more sixties-pop-infused (with a touch o' Todd) pop rock from RVA's own Scott Brookman... brilliant, catchy melodies, beautifully produced and just plain charming... check out Smellicopter 2 on Bandcamp... Playing catch-up... have been enjoying Animal Collective's Painting With... maybe not as strong compositionally as Centipede Hz (which I prefer to Merriweather Post Pavilion), but really nice nonetheless... better than most critics would have you believe... One of the best indications of  Henry Threadgill's strength as a composer is just how little difference it made when the personnel of the Sextett changed over the years... from Olu Dara and Craig Harris to Rasul Siddik and Frank Lacy just didn't make that much difference in the overall sound... unlike some other groups, where individual members can really make their mark on how the music develops, with Threadgill I think his compositional focus overrides individual contributions... compare this to Air and New Air, where the difference of the drummer in fact made all the difference in the world... Air was more of an improvisational vehicle for Threadgill than a compositional one... although maybe it's a mistake on my part to think that Threadgill was even the nominal leader of Air...

Playlist 2017-11-20:

*Art Ensemble of Chicago with Muhal Richard Abrams: 1974-08-07 Laren, The Netherlands (CDR)
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: Incidentals
*Paul Chambers: 1st Bassman
*Alex Cline's Flower Garland Orchestra: Oceans of Vows (disc 1)
*Decoy with Joe McPhee: Spontaneous Combustion (disc 2)
*Barry Guy/London Jazz Composers Orchestra: Study II, Stringer
*Roscoe Mitchell Trio: No Side Effects (disc 1)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side (disc 2)
*New Air: Live at Montreal International Jazz Festival
*New Air: Air Show No. 1
*Charlie Parker: Unheard Bird: The Unissued Takes (disc 2)
*Tom Rainey Trio: 2017-09-09 Jazz Gallery, NYC (wav) (disc 2)
*Tyshawn Sorey: Verisimilitude
*Sun Ra: The Antique Blacks
*Henry Threadgill Sextett: 1985-09-27 Amsterdam (CDR)
*Henry Threadgill Sextett: You Know the Number
*Henry Threadgill: Easily Slip Into Another World
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 2: Second a-chronology 1936-2003 (disc 1)
*Tony Williams Lifetime: Emergency! (selections)
*John Zorn/Simulacrum: 49 Acts of Unspeakable Depravity in the Abominable Life and Times of Gilles de Rais (selections)
*Animal Collective: Painting With
*Jose "Chepito" Areas: Jose "Chepito" Areas
*Scott Brookman: Smellicopter Two
*David Crosby: If I Could Only Remember My Name
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (discs 11, 12)
*Foo Fighters: Concrete and Gold
*Grant Hart: The Argument
*Steve Miller/Lol Coxhill: "The Story So Far​.​.​." ".​.​.​Oh Really?" (disc 2)
*Ozric Tentacles: Strangeitude (disc 1)
*Rascals: Freedom Suite (side 4)
*Kelley Stoltz: Circular Sounds
*Various artists: Space Age Cocktail Lounge (discs 2, 3)
*Various artists: "The Sound of Wonder!": The First Wave of Plugged-In Pop at the Pakistani Picture House
*Yes: The Yes Album
*Yes: Progeny: Highlights From Seventy-Two