Playlist, Week of 2022-11-27

 

Short list this week... back to more regular listening next time!

Playlist 2022-11-28:

*Miles Davis: That's What Happened 1982-1985 (discs 1, 2)
*Necks: Mindset

Reading List, Week of 2022-11-27

Reading List 2022-11-28:

*Bevington, David. "Determining the Indeterminate: The Oxford Shakespeare." Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 38, No. 4 (Winter, 1987) (started/finished)
*Rabelais, François. The Histories of Gargantua and Pantagruel (transl. J.M. Cohen) (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Troilus and Cressida (Arden 2nd ed., ed. Kenneth Palmer) (reread/in progress)

 

Playlist, Week of 2022-11-20

Good stuff....

Playlist 2022-11-21:

*Zoh Amba: Bhakti (streaming)

*Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion

*Art Ensemble: 1967/68 (disc 2) "Trio (Oh Susanna)"

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City: Live at Iridium "Erika"

*Beatles: Revolver (Super Deluxe 4 LP Edition 2022) (side 3)

*Jeff Beck: Blow by Blow

*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Moscow) 2008

*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 416)

*Boston Spaceships: Camera Found the Raygun

*Circus Devils: Ataxia

*Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Armed Forces (sides 1, 2)

*Tadd Dameron: 1947-1949

*Deerhoof: Devil Kids

*Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant avec Folie à Quatre: Séances

*Duke Ellington: Midnight in Paris (sides 1, 2)

*Fẹla and Afrika 70: Zombie (sides 1, 2)

*Chad Fowler: Alien Skin (streaming)

*Grateful Dead: 1968-01-17 Carousel Ballroom, SF (CDR) (disc 1)

*Grateful Dead: Dave's Picks vol. 4 (1976-09-24 Williamsburg) (disc 1)

*Grateful Dead: 1981-12-31 Oakland "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1984-07-13 Berkeley "Dark Star"

*Andrew Hill: Dance with Death

*Jefferson Pilot: The Return of Troubled Youth Orchestra

*Mars Volta: Live

*Merzbow/Keiji Haino/Balázs Pándi: An Untroublesome Defencelessness

*Ikue Mori: Tracing the Magic

*David Murray/Milford Graves: Real Deal

*Yoko Ono: Plastic Ono Band

*Santana: Borboletta (selections)

*Sparks: Big Beat (sides 1, 2)

*Sparks: Whomp That Sucker

*Sun Ra: The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (sides 1, 2)

*Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra: When Angels Speak of Love

*Sun Ra: Monorails & Satellites, Vol. 1

*Sun Ra: Oblique Parallax

*Sun Ra: Celestial Love

*Sun Ra Arkestra: Living Sky

*Craig Taborn: Shadow Plays

*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1976-04-15 Ann Arbor (CDR)

*Cecil Taylor: 1987-03-06 Rome (CDR)

*Various artists: Bollywood "Music From the Third Floor" (CDR compilation) (discs 17, 19)

*Leon Ware: Musical Massage

*Stevie Wonder: Innervisions

*Neil Young: Olden Days (CDR compilation)

*John Zorn/Chaos Magick: Multiplicities: A Repository of Non-Existent Objects

 

Reading List, Week of 2022-11-20

Reading List 2022-11-21:

*Rabelais, François. The Histories of Gargantua and Pantagruel (transl. J.M. Cohen) (started)
*Shakespeare, William. Troilus and Cressida (Arden 2nd ed., ed. Kenneth Palmer) (reread/started)
*Choi, Susan. My Education (finished)
*Green, Daniel. American Postmodern Fiction (finished)
*Hergé. Tintin in America (finished)
*Jackson, MacDonald P. Defining Shakespeare: Pericles as Test Case (finished)

 

New Jefferson Pilot Album: The Return of Troubled Youth Orchestra

 

The Troubled Youth Orchestra is back with a vengeance. On The Return of Troubled Youth Orchestra,  Jefferson Pilot's new release, the TYO is presented as a collaborator, or alter ego, of the artist. Making its first appearance on a single track of The Optimist Field, here the TYO is featured, in a big way, with a two-minute prelude and a fourteen-minute extravaganza. Strange percussive effects, offbeat and sinuous saxophone lines, and dissonant harmonica effects all swirl together in a mélange of effort. These conflicting textures evoke a jagged landscape of sonic possibilities and disorienting psychedelia.

That psychedelic underpinning extends to the whole album. After "Intro," the songs settle into the slightly more familiar territory of slow majesty that informs much of Jefferson Pilot's recent work--songs that, with their Ringo-esque drumming, Robert Wyatt-influenced vocals, and mellotron textures, evoke a Canterbury-like feel that also shares a lot with the pianistic sensibility of Dennis Wilson and structural modularity of Smile-era Brian Wilson. A strong release for Jefferson Pilot that rivals his earlier releases in its ingenuity, flow, and experimentation.

(Full disclosure: Jefferson Pilot's my brother.)

New Ting RVA October 2022

 

Nice photo from Randy Reus of Fred and me at the latest New Ting gig...

Rodger Coleman's Sun Ra Sundays Is Out!

Today is the official launch of Rodger Coleman's Sun Ra Sundays, published by the Digital Press at the University of North Dakota. Press announcement here. Download it free or order a print copy here. It's great to see this come to fruition!

And do check out publisher William Caraher's excellent overview of recent Sun Ra scholarship here.

Playlist, Week of 2022-11-13

Always inspired by Rashied Ali's brilliant drumming on Live in Japan... and Tony Oxley's on Two Ts for a Lovely T... 

Playlist 2022-11-14:

*Muhal Richard Abrams Sextet: 1973-11-04 Berlin (CDR)
*Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam
*Beatles: Revolver (Super Deluxe 4 LP Edition 2022) (sides 4, 10)
*Beatles: Abbey Road (Anniversary Edition) (disc 1)
*Paul Bley: Open, to Love
*Paul Bley: Annette
*Anthony Braxton: The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (side 4)
*Anthony Braxton/Robert Schumann String Quartet: Anthony Braxton · Robert Schumann String Quartet
*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 415)
*Caravan: If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
*John Coltrane Quartet: Crescent (side 1)
*John Coltrane: Live in Japan (disc 1) "Peace on Earth"
*Death Ambient: Drunken Forest
*Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant avec Folie à Quatre: Séances
*Sheila E: Sheila E (selections)
*Gang of Four: Another Day/Another Dollar
*Gang of Four: Songs of the Free
*Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 22 (1968-02/23-24 Lake Tahoe) (disc 2)
*Grateful Dead: Dark Star 1972 version 2 (in progress, 8:20:09-10:18:22)
*Hatfield and the North: Hatwise Choice
*Jefferson Pilot: The Return of Troubled Youth Orchestra
*Allen Lowe: Jews & Roots: An Avant Garde of Our Own: Disconnected Works: 1980-2018 (disc 7)
*Michael Mantler: Concertos
*Charles Mingus: Mingus at Carnegie Hall (Deluxe ed.) (disc 1)
*Sly and the Family Stone: Higher! (disc 4)
*Tyshawn Sorey: Unfiltered (disc 2)
*Sparks: Exotic Creatures of the Deep (sides 3, 4)
*Sun Ra and His Blue Universe Arkestra: Universe in Blue (2022 remaster) (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Cosmos
*Sun Ra: Celestial Love
*Sun Ra Arkestra: Living Sky
*Cecil Taylor: 1983-07-27 Genoa (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: 2 Ts for a Lovely T (disc 1)
*UYA: 1992-005-06 Viva Bogus Vegas! (wav)
*Various artists: Do It Again! The Songs of Brian Wilson
*Neil Young: Twisted Road (CDR compilation)
*John Zorn/Brian Marsella Trio: Buer (Book of Angels Vol. 31)

 

Reading List, Week of 2022-11-13

Reading List 2022-11-14:

*Choi, Susan. My Education (started)
*Green, Daniel. American Postmodern Fiction (started)
*Hergé. Tintin in America (started)
*Jackson, MacDonald P. Defining Shakespeare: Pericles as Test Case (started)
*Barton, Anne. "Shakespeare and Jonson," in Essays, Mainly Shakespearian (started/finished)
*Hergé. Tintin in the Congo (1931 version) (started/finished)
*Kirwan, Peter. Shakespeare and the Idea of Apocrypha (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. King Richard III (Arden 3rd ed., ed. James R. Siemon) (reread/finished)

Jazz Thoughts

In his excellent new article on Charles Mingus and Cecil Taylor's 1965 television appearance on Jazz: The Experimenters, Ethan Iverson states: "Those eager to condemn Ralph Ellison, Albert Murray, Stanley Crouch, and Wynton Marsalis as hopelessly conservative may want to stop and learn more about what they were trying to conserve."

I don't have any problem with what they were trying to conserve; I love the music they champion. What I take exception to is not what they were trying to conserve, but that they chose to do it at the expense of the music of iconoclasts like Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, and late Miles Davis. "Jazz," as problematic as the term is, is nothing if not inclusive. So, yeah, I guess I'm eager to condemn Marsalis and Crouch for their lack of tolerance. Yeah, I am intolerant of their intolerance.

Playlist, Week of 2022-11-06

 

Another brilliant studio album from the Sun Ra Arkestra... Living Sky captures some of the same peaceful late-night intensity of Sleeping Beauty and On Jupiter... current favorite track: "Marshall's Groove"... Am also enjoying the new remastered vinyl release of Ra's Universe in Blue, featuring #26 on my list of favorite John Gilmore solos... you can smell the smoke coming out of this groove... the CD version also includes, as a bonus track, #27 from my list... I mean, this is unbelievable stuff... 

Playlist 2022-11-07:

*Ask the Trees: Subjugation of a Ghost
*Beach Boys: Smiley Smile (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Revolver (Super Deluxe 4 LP Edition 2022) (sides 1, 2, 7, 8)
*Beatles: Revolver (Super Deluxe Edition 2022) (discs 2, 3)
*Jeff Beck: Blow by Blow
*Anthony Braxton: Sextet (Parker) 1993 (disc 11)
*Anthony Braxton: Trio (NYC) 2011
*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 414)
*Ornette Coleman: The Music of Ornette Coleman: Forms & Sounds "Forms and Sounds"
*Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant avec Folie à Quatre: Séances
*Fred Frith/Phil Minton: 1981-01-11 RAW, Richmond VA (CDR)
*Fred Frith: 1982-06-19 RAW, Richmond VA (CDR)
*Gang of Four: Solid Gold (sides 1, 2)
*Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 22 (1968-02/23-24 Lake Tahoe) (disc 1)
*Grateful Dead: 1970-02-13 Fillmore East (disc 3)
*Grateful Dead: Wembley Empire Pool, London, England 4/8/72 (side 7)
*Jefferson Pilot: The Return of Troubled Youth Orchestra
*Radu Malfatti/Keith Rowe: Φ (disc 1)
*Charles Mingus: Let My Children Hear Music (side 1)
*Prince: The Black Album (side 1)
*Prince: Chaos and Disorder
*Alexander von Schlippenbach: Monk's Casino (The Complete Works of Thelonious Monk) (disc 1)
*Wadada Leo Smith/Peter Kowald/Bobby Naughton: 1981-10-07 RAW, Richmond VA (CDR)
*Tyshawn Sorey: Unfiltered (disc 1)
*Sparks: Angst in My Pants
*Sparks: Terminal Jive
*Spirit: Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
*Sun Ra: Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 3: The Lost Tapes "Intercosmosis"
*Sun Ra and His Blue Universe Arkestra: Universe in Blue (2022 remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Sun Ra Arkestra: Living Sky
*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1977-06-15 Munich (CDR) (discs 1, 2)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1979-03-15 WKCR, NYC (CDR)
*This Heat: This Heat
*Titan to Tachyons: Cactides
*Titan to Tachyons: Vonals
*UYA: 1992-04-28/05-03: So Nice To Be Here (wav)
*Various artists: Bollywood "Music From the Third Floor" (CDR compilation) (disc 18)
*Anna Webber: Simple
*XTC: Nonsuch (side 2)
*Larry Young: Lawrence of Newark
*John Zorn/Jamie Saft Trio: Astaroth: Book of Angels, Vol. 1
*John Zorn/Chaos Magick: Multiplicities: A Repository of Non-Existent Objects

Reading List, Week of 2022-11-06

Reading List 2022-11-07:

*Kirwan, Peter. Shakespeare and the Idea of Apocrypha (started)
*Beard, Mary. Women & Power (finished)
*Whitehead, Colson. Sag Harbor (finished)
*Kirby, Jack, and Stan Lee. Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (reread/finished)
*Shakespeare, William. King Richard III (Arden 3rd ed., ed. James R. Siemon) (reread/in progress)

 

Playlist, Week of 2022-10-30

Ringo, baby! In glorious mono... I missed out on the mono vinyl in 2009, so I'm glad to be able to get it in this box... sounds great...

Playlist 2022-10-31:

*Beatles: Revolver (Super Deluxe 4 LP Edition 2022) (sides 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
*Anthony Braxton: Sextet (Parker) 1993 (disc 10)
*Anthony Braxton: Nine Compositions (Hill) 2000
*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 412)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: A Drum Is a Woman
*Grateful Dead: 1972-05-24 London (CDR) (discs 1, 2, 3)
*Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 1 (1973-12-19 Tampa) (disc 1)
*Grateful Dead: Dark Star 1972 version 2 (in progress, 5:48:40-8:20:09)
*Barry Guy/Blue Shroud Band: Tensegrity (Small Formations) (disc 4)
*Jimi Hendrix: Songs for Groovy Children (The Fillmore East Concerts) (disc 1)
*Andrew Hill: The Complete Blue Note Andrew Hill Sessions (1963-66) (disc 3)
*Ikue Mori: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
*Ikue Mori/Brian Marsella/Sae Hashimoto: Archipelago X
*New Loft: Pieces 45 (2003): Following Sounds
*New Ting: 2022-10-15 Battery Show, RVA (wav)
*NRBQ: High Noon: A 50-Year Retrospective (selections)
*Charlie Parker: The Complete Legendary Rockland Palace Concert 1952 (disc 2)
*Annette Peacock: An Acrobat's Heart
*Prince and the Revolution: 1986-08-25 Paris (CDR)
*Sun Ra: Continuation (Saturn/Corbett vs. Dempsey 2CD) (disc 2)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Discipline 99 (Out Beyond the Kingdom Of)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye (discs 1, 2)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1980-12-17 Blues Alley, DC (CDR)
*Various artists: Bollywood "Music From the Third Floor" (CDR compilation) (disc 17)
*John Zorn: Taboo & Exile

 

Reading List, Week of 2022-10-30

 

Reading List 2022-10-31:

*Beard, Mary. Women & Power (started)
*Kirby, Jack, and Stan Lee. Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (reread/started)
*Whitehead, Colson. Sag Harbor (started)
*Coviello, Peter. Vineland Reread (finished)
*Homes, A. M. The Safety of Objects (finished)
*Kirby, Jack. Jimmy Olsen Vol. 1 (finished)
*Kirby, Jack, and Stan Lee. Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 4 (reread/finished)
*Shakespeare, William. King Richard III (Arden 3rd ed., ed. James R. Siemon) (reread/in progress)