Playlist, Week of 2022-01-30

Really been enjoying the Sparks box set of Island LPs.... looking forward to seeing them at Big Ears... Bird Meets Wire is brooding and beautiful, a blend of dissonance, drones, and austere melodies paradoxically creates a sense of unrest and relaxation... With compositions by Andrew Hill and Joe Chambers and fantastic solos from Hill and Sam Rivers, Bobby Hutcherson's Dialogue is a classic... Standout track on Robert Wyatt's Flotsam Jetsam: the 1971 Symbiosis track with Mongezi Feza and Gary Windo... kind of a cross between Brotherhood of Breath and Fourth-era Soft Machine... great to hear Wyatt's drumming in this context … In light of all the news--all the news--I have been finding solace and comfort from Blue Note , especially the gorgeous tenor sax of Hank Mobley… nothing earth-shattering, just solid, thoughtful swing… Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson, and Andrew Hill are also doing it for me… All of Ingrid Laubrock and Tom Rainey's Stir Crazy series episodes are worth listening to, but special attention should be paid to the final awesome episode (Episode 60): a huge mashup of the previous 20 episodes... a blend of 20 different Ingrids and Toms in a beautifully arranged synthesis of multiple sessions… hell, yeah!

Playlist 2022-01-31:

*Susan Alcorn/Leila Bordreuil/Ingrid Laubrock: Bird Meets Wire

*Beach Boys: Holland (Analogue Productions) (sides 1, 2, 4)

*Beatles: Get Back: The Rooftop Performance

*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 402)

*Circle: 1971-03-03 Hamburg (CDR) "There Is No Greater Love"

*John Coltrane: Impressions (side 1)

*John Coltrane: My Favorite Things: Coltrane at Newport "Impressions" (1963)

*Kris Davis: Rye Eclipse

*Eloping with the Sun: Counteract This Turmoil Like Trees and Birds

*Stan Getz: The Complete Roost Recordings (disc 1)

*Joe Henderson: The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Sessions (disc 1)

*Andrew Hill: Mosaic Select (disc 1)

*Lightnin' Hopkins: Dirty House Blues (disc 2)

*Bobby Hutcherson: Dialogue

*Joseph Jarman: As If It Were the Seasons "As If It Were the Seasons"

*Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: Stir Crazy (CDR compilation) (discs 15, 16)

*Roscoe Mitchell Discussions Orchestra: Discussions

*Hank Mobley: The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (disc 6)

*Louis Moholo Octet: 1978-10 BBC (CDR)

*Opeth: Damnation

*Charlie Parker: Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve (disc 6)

*Prince & the New Power Generation: Caught in the Act: The Classic 1993 Broadcast (boot CDR) (disc 1)

*Tomeka Reid Quartet: Old New

*Matana Roberts: 2009-04-01 London (CDR)

*Rolling Stones: Their Satanic Majesties Request (2017 stereo remaster)

*Sparks: Kimono My House (side 1)

*Sparks: Propaganda (sides 1, 2)

*Sparks: Indiscreet (sides 1, 2)

*Sparks: Big Beat (sides 1, 2)

*Sparks: The Rest of Sparks (sides 1, 2)

*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Omniverse

*Sun Ra: Black Utopia Excerpts (CDR compilation)

*Horace Tapscott: The Dark Tree 1 & 2 (disc 2)

*Cecil Taylor: Garden (disc 1) "Garden II"

*Henry Threadgill Zooid: In for a Penny, In for a Pound (disc 2)

*Umlaut Big Band: Mary's Ideas (disc 2)

*Brian Wilson: At My Piano

*Stevie Wonder - Roddie Joy: Selections (CDR compilation)

*WSAM: Razz-Junk-Fock (cassette compilation) (side A)

*Robert Wyatt: Flotsam Jetsam

 

Reading List, Week of 2022-01-30

 

Reading List 2022-01-31:

*Segar, E. C. The Complete E.C. Segar Popeye: Vol. 1 Sundays 1930-1932 (started)

*Corey, James S. A. Tiamat's Wrath (finished)

*McCartney, Paul. The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (finished)

*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)

*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/in progress)

*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)

*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

*Winn, John C. Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Vol. 1: 1957-1965 (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2022-01-23

Good stuff.... all the way around...

Playlist 2022-01-24:

*Beach Boys: Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 (disc 2) (selections)
*Anthony Braxton: Five Pieces 1975 (side 2)
*Gerald Cleaver/Larry Ochs: Songs of the Wild Cave
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: Cosmologies (side 1)
*Miles Davis: The Complete On The Corner Sessions "Calypso Frelimo"
*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can
*Jimi Hendrix: 1970-09-04 Berlin (CDR)
*Andrew Hill: Passing Ships
*Bobby Hutcherson: Joe Chambers: Composer (cassette compilation) (side B)
*Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: Stir Crazy (CDR compilation) (discs 13, 14)
*Irreversible Entanglements: Open the Gates
*Lucas & Corey: Rainy in New York (streaming)
*Mat Maneri/Matthew Shipp: Conference of the Mat/ts
*Garry Martin Project (CDR compilation) (disc 3)
*Nicole Mitchell: Engraved in the Wind
*Roscoe Mitchell with Ostravská Banda: Distant Radio Transmission (side 1)
*Hank Mobley: The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (discs 3, 4, 5)
*Louis Moholo Moholo Quartet: 4 Blokes
*Thurston Moore: By the Fire (discs 1, 2)
*Opeth: Ghost Reveries
*Evan Parker/Matthew Shipp: Rex, Wrecks, & XXX (disc 2)
*Pavement: Wowee Zowee! (Sordid Sentinels ed.) (disc 1)
*Rolling Stones: Their Satanic Majesties Request (2016 mono remaster)
*Wadada Leo Smith: Kabell Years 1971-1979 (disc 1)
*Tyshawn Sorey: Alloy "Movement"
*Sparks: Kimono My House (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: Propaganda (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: Indiscreet (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: Big Beat (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: The Rest of Sparks (sides 1, 2)
*Stravinsky/Columbia Symphony Orchestra: Three Favorite Ballets: Stravinsky Conducts Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring (sides 1, 2)
*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: The Magic City (remastered and expanded stereo version) (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Astro Black (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Beyond Saturn edition)
*Sun Ra and His Cosmo Love Adventure Arkestra: Pine Street Theatre, October 28th 1988 (sides 2, 3, 4)
*Sun Ra/Beach Boys: Surfer Majestic (CDR compilation)
*Horace Tapscott: The Dark Tree 1 & 2 (disc 1)
*Cecil Taylor: Conquistador! (side 2)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: In for a Penny, In for a Pound (disc 1)
*Mal Waldron: The Call (side 1)
*XTC: Nonsuch (sides 3, 4)

Reading List, Week of 2022-01-23

The high and the low.... the sublime and the ridiculous... the quick and the dead...

Reading List 2022-01-24:

*Corey, James S. A. Tiamat's Wrath (started)
*Winn, John C. Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Vol. 1: 1957-1965 (started)
*Hanks, Fletcher. I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! (reread/finished)
*Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Arden 3rd series, ed. William C. Carroll) (reread/finished)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*McCartney, Paul. The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (in progress)
*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-01-16

Catching up on Christmas goodies.... the XTC Steven Wilson remix of Drums and Wires is wonderful: full-bodied and punchy... the Ape vinyl version sounds damn good too... Lots of excellent Sun Ra vinyl out there... since I am not lucky enough to own a single Saturn, this is a way to vicariously pretend... Two standout albums of the last few years: We Are on the Edge and Radum Calls, Radum Calls... Devil Kids has Deerhoof kicking ass and taking no prisoners, with a quick overview of at least one song from most of each of their albums... Greg Saunier sounds as good as he ever has... 

*Susan Alcorn/Leila Bordreuil/Ingrid Laubrock: Bird Meets Wire

*Art Bears: Hopes and Fears

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: We Are on the Edge: A 50th Anniversary Celebration (discs 1, 2)

*Billy Bang: A Tribute to Stuff Smith

*Beatles: With the Beatles (2009 stereo remaster) (side 1)

*Borderlands Trio: Wandersphere (disc 2)

*Anthony Braxton: Nine Compositions (Hill) 2000

*Anthony Braxton Large Ensemble: 2008-12-03 Wesleyan (CDR) "Comp. 173 & 102"

*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (New Haven) 2014 (disc 4)

*Chicago: Chicago at Carnegie Hall Complete (selections CDR) (disc 5)

*Rodger Coleman/Sam Byrd: Who Doesn't Fade? "What Remains"

*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle

*Decoy & Joe McPhee: Oto "Opening Night"

*Deerhoof: Devil Kids

*Duke Ellington: 1899-1974 (sides 1, 4)

*Duke Ellington: The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World (discs 2, 3)

*Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 4 (1970-02-13 Fillmore East) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: Listen to the River: St. Louis '71 '72 '73 (disc 20) "Dark Star"

*Jimi Hendrix: Hendrix Live In Hawaii - 1970 (sides 1, 2)

*Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: Stir Crazy (CDR compilation) (disc 12)

*Hank Mobley: The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (disc 2)

*Hank Mobley: Soul Station

*Sean O'Hagan: Radum Calls, Radum Calls

*Pere Ubu: Datapanik in the Year Zero (disc 4)

*RAIC: Lamentations

*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: The Magic City (remastered and expanded stereo version) (side 1)

*Sun Ra: Astro Black (side 1)

*Sun Ra: Pathways to Unknown Worlds (side 2)

*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Omniverse (side 2)

*Sun Ra and His Cosmo Love Adventure Arkestra: Pine Street Theatre, October 28th 1988 (side 1)

*Craig Taborn: Light Made Lighter

*Keith Tippett Tapestry Orchestra: Live at Le Mans (disc 2)

*Umlaut Big Band: Mary's Ideas (disc 1)

*Anna Webber: Clockwise

*Dan Weiss: Starebaby

*New Tony Williams Lifetime: Believe It

*Tony Williams: The Joy of Flying

*Brian Wilson: At My Piano

*Amy Winehouse: Back to Black (sides 1, 2)

*XTC: Drums and Wires (Surround Sound Series) (disc 2) (selections)

 

Reading List, Week of 2022-01-16

 

Reading List 2022-01-17:

*Hanks, Fletcher. I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! (reread/started)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*McCartney, Paul. The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (in progress)
*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Arden 3rd series, ed. William C. Carroll) (reread/in progress)

The Symbiosis of Sun Ra and John Gilmore

The Ellington song "Stompy Jones" showed up randomly on the Magic Jukebox 2 last night-- a live version from the first night of Sun Ra's Detroit residency in 1980. It's got a typically brilliant sax solo from John Gilmore, but it's also got so much more than that. It's a wonderful demonstration of the symbiotic relationship between Gilmore and Ra. Gilmore, of course, is swinging yet solid: the solid rock of hard-rocking swing. As hard as it is to tear your ears away from Gilmore's solo, try to pay attention to what Ra's doing (on organ)-- he's comping, feeding Gilmore chords and ideas, responding to figures from Gilmore, engaging in a robust dialogue all throughout the solo. It's a conversation, and a heated one at that--a symbiotic coupling of sounds. When Gilmore stops, Ra continues with a brief but outstanding solo, and it's clear he's been inspired by Gilmore's playing. Beauty ensues!

Playlist, Week of 2022-01-09

Dave Brubeck sounds downright AACM-y on All the Things We Are.... it helps that Anthony Braxton is on two tracks... I want to explore Andrew Hill more…  especially the later stuff… Nice to hear Ingrid Laubrock in an avant-rock context on Andrew Drury's Content Provider… Finally watched Get Back.... so much, and so little, to say... amazing how much they perked up when Billy Preston joined them... it's a joy to see... and damn if Paul doesn't knock it out of the park on every damn take of "I've Got a Feeling"... 

Playlist 2022-01-10:

*Susan Alcorn/Leila Bordreuil/Ingrid Laubrock: Bird Meets Wire
*Beatles: Let It Be (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Let It Be… Naked (disc 1)
*Beatles: Anthology 3 (disc 2)
*Borderlands Trio: Wandersphere (disc 1)
*David Bowie: Young Americans
*David Bowie: Re:Call 3
*Anthony Braxton: 4 Compositions (Ulrichsberg) 2005 Phonomanie VIII (disc 2)

*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (New Haven) 2014 (disc 4)
*Dave Brubeck: All the Things We Are
*Chicago: Chicago at Carnegie Hall Complete (selections CDR) (disc 4)
*Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True (sides 1, 2)
*Deerhoof: Halfbird
*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can
*Deerhoof: Devil Kids
*Andrew Drury: Content Provider
*Duke Ellington: The Bethlehem Years, Vol. 1 (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington: Ellington Uptown
*Duke Ellington: Hot Summer Dance
*Andrew Hill: Dance with Death
*Billie Holiday: The Complete Original American Decca Recordings (disc 2)
*Dave Holland: Prism
*Irreversible Entanglements: Open the Gates
*King Crimson: Starless (disc 15)
*Layers of Memory: Hence Thrice
*Lovely Little Girls: Glamorous Piles & Puffy Saddlebags
*Lovely Little Girls: Cleaning the Filth from a Delicate Frame
*Lovely Little Girls: Glistening Vivid Splash
*Garry Martin Project (CDR compilation) (disc 2)
*Hank Mobley: The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (disc 1)

*Pere Ubu: Terminal Tower (sides 1, 2)
*Matthew Shipp/Nate Wooley: What If?
*Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet: Golden Quartet
*Wadada Leo Smith: Ten Freedom Summers (disc 4)
*Sparks: Angst in My Pants
*Sun Ra: Pathways to Unknown Worlds (side 1)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Omniverse (side 1)
*Craig Taborn: Light Made Lighter
*Cecil Taylor: The Willisau Concert
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: Tomorrow Sunny/The Revelry, Spp
*Keith Tippett Tapestry Orchestra: Live at Le Mans (disc 1)
*Robert Turman: Chapter Eleven (disc 1)
*June Tyson/Sun Ra: Saturnian Queen of the Sun Ra Arkestra (sides 1, 2)
*Anna Webber: Clockwise
*New Tony Williams Lifetime: Million Dollar Legs
*Brian Wilson: At My Piano
*XTC: Drums and Wires (Surround Sound Series) (disc 1)
*XTC: English Settlement (sides 1, 2, 3, 4)
*John Zorn/Simulacrum: The Garden of Earthly Delights 

 

Reading List, Week of 2022-01-09

 Reading List 2022-01-10:

*McCartney, Paul. The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (started)

*Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Arden 3rd series, ed. William C. Carroll) (reread/started)

*Erikson, Steven. The God Is Not Willing (finished)

*Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Arden 2nd series, ed. Clifford Leech) (reread/finished)

*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)

*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/in progress)

*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)

*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2022-01-02

Happy New Year! Hope to get back to more commentary and reviews this year... we'll see... sometimes I don't feel so verbose, but the listening continues...

Playlist 2021-12-27 and 2022-01-03:

*Autechre: Chiastic Slide (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Beatles for Sale (2009 mono remaster)
*Beatles: Rubber Soul (2009 mono remaster)
*Cluster: Cluster
*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can
*Irreversible Entanglements: Open the Gates (sides 1, 2, 3, 4)
*Kluster: Klopfzeichen
*Matching Mole: Matching Mole
*Opeth: Waterfall
*RAIC: Gestalt
*Sparks: Live at the Record Plant
*Sparks: Lil Beethoven
*Sparks: Hello Young Lovers
*Sparks: Exotic Creatures of the Deep
*Rod Stewart: Merry Christmas, Baby
*Sun Ra: Sleeping Beauty
*Lewis Taylor: Stoned- Part II
*Various artists: Complete UK Upsetter Singles Collection Vol. 1 (disc 1)
*XTC: Drums and Wires (sides 1, 2) 

Reading List, Week of 2022-01-02

Reading List 2021-12-27 and 2022-01-03:

*Erikson, Steven. The God Is Not Willing (started)
*Atkinson, Kate. Behind the Scenes at the Museum (finished)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Arden 2nd series, ed. Clifford Leech) (reread/in progress)