Containing, among other things, my humble effort to bring my fellow fifty(ish) year olds up to date on some current, and frankly, not so current, pop music.
At family gatherings, my dear old dad had the curious habit of reviving topics that we had finished discussing the hour before.At 4pm, let’s say, we would be discussing how the local football team sucked, but by five we’d have moved onto how the local baseball team sucked.Just as we’d be ripping into an overpaid leftfielder dad would bring up the overpaid quarterback again, and suddenly we’d all be back on football.
Well I’m getting more like my dad all the time.Young folks listen to music, decide what’s a hit, and move on to the next thing.With radio being the big waste of time it is, and me with my so-called adult life, I don’t even hear about that music until the next year when the annual-best-of polls come out.(But now, thanks to metacritic.com, I at least know what people think when it first comes out.)
It’s that time lag that kept me from getting a CD from this decade until late 2001.So there I am, pretending to be cool by advocating music that the target demographic has long since finished with, and that my demographic couldn’t care less about.
Now add to that the fact that I’m still catching up on other decades (not to mention centuries), and it means that a lot of my musical highlights came from other decades:
The 90s: The Magnetic Fields’ “69 Love Songs”, Randy Newman’s “Faust”, Luna’s “Penthouse” and Belle and Sebastian’s “Tigermilk”
The 80s: Nothing.Screw you, 80s.
The 70s: Richard & Linda Thompson’s “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight”, Nick Drake’s “Five Leaves Left” and “Pink Moon”
The 60s: Brian Wilson’s “Smile”, The Zombies’ “Odyssey and Oracle”
The 50s: John Coltrane/Thelonious Monk Quartet - Live at Carnegie Hall
Then there is my lifetime self improvement project, resulting in my getting some great compilations of Hank Williams, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Johnny Cash, Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, and Igor Stravinsky.And let’s not forget “Nuggets”.
My reactions to music outside of my favorite genres – rock/pop – can sound more appreciative than enthusiastic.Sorry, it just takes me more time to learn the new territory.Here are ten records - jazz/hip-hop/world/classical - that I’ve probably underrated out of sheer density.
Jazz: Benny Goodman’s “Famous Carnegie Hall Concert”
Hip Hop: Kanye West’s “The College Dropout”, Burial’s “Untrue”, De la Soul’s “Three Feet High and Rising”
World: “The Music In My Head”, “Rough Guide to Youssou N’Dour and Etoile Dakar”
Classical: Mozart’s and Brahm’s Requiems, Mahler’s Second Symphony,
Country: James Tally’s “Got No Money, No Bread, But We Sure Got a Lot of Love”
If I winnow it all down to just those records I got this decade that actually came out this decade, and that I love without reservation, they are, no particular order:
These records are great! but maybe not GREAT.That’s okay.We’d all like to meet Abe Lincoln, but we probably don’t want to spend the whole party with him:
The Wrens “The Meadowlands”, The Flaming Lips’ “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”, Orlando Lopez’s “Cachaito”, The Red Hot Chili Peppers “By the Way”, Modest Mouse’s “Good News for People Who Like Bad News”, Orchestre Baobab’s “Specialists in all Styles”, The Streets “A Grand Don’t Come for Free”, Radiohead’s “Kid A” and “In Rainbows”.
And just to give this some context, here’s a sampling of what some major news outlets said:
There was a hell of a lot more to this decade than just music.Not all of it good, by any means.But music is my safe haven where magic happens - just a simulation of life’s real joys, which unfortunately can’t be burned onto a CD to be played at will.Music can, however, reminder me that those joys do exist. Sometimes I forget.
Sometimes music lets me down.It happens when I’ve asked more from it than it can possibly provide.I begin to think that I’m done with it, and that in the new decade I’ll be looking elsewhere (Books? Art? Other human beings, perhaps?) for magic.But then those decade-end polls just whet my appetite all over again.
It’s good to be alive, for any number of reasons.Music is definitely one of them.
I knew going into 2009 that it was going to be an exhausting year – there was just a lot going on, both personally and professionally – but nothing that an adult couldn’t handle.And my way of dealing with stress is… well, you know.
Winter in Paris (Sort Of):
Ever since I first heard Edith Piaf singing in the background at some fancy-schmancy restaurant I was trying to avoid getting thrown out of - waiters in tuxes, no menu, dining by a living room fireplace - I was smitten.Being somewhat of a procrastinator/cheapskate, it took thirty years and five bucks (cheap date!) to consummate my smittenship.
And a tragedy of sorts - Virgin closed two megastores in my town.(More tragic was their idea of a going-out-of-business sale - prices that were still higher than the everyday prices at my favorite record store, which is doing quite well thank you very much.)The single disc “Voice of the Sparrow: The Very Best of Edith Piaf “ probably wouldn't satisfy the typical Edith Piaf fanatic but it suits me just fine (except that the CD is flawed and the last song craps out on me.The same thing happened to my son’s “Legend” by John Lennon, bought from the same store.No wonder the bastards went out of business.)She’s got that joie de vivre and je ne se quoi and all those other few remaining things we don’t yet hate about the French.
---------------- Now playing: Édith Piaf - La Vie en rosevia FoxyTunes
Spring is for Jazz Lovers:
John Coltrane “Live” at the Village Vanguard is your typical JC album, if there is such a thing. Again, I thought I'd get that great songI heard on the radio twenty years ago, thinking perhaps it was "Chasin the Trane." I could swear there was a “train” (or “trane”) in the title.Well, wrong again. But it's never a waste with JC. This one fits neatly between “My Favorite Things” and “A Love Supreme”. I'm just proud of myself that I didn't go off the deep end and get the 4CD expanded version.
Oliver Nelson's “The Blues and the Abstract Truth” has medigging a little deeper into jazz, past the obvious greats, to some lesser-knowns, and why not? Like Avis, they try harder. This early-sixties record boasts an incredible lineup (Bill Evans, Eric Dolphy, Roy Haynes, etc.) great sound, accessible tunes, but with enough of a twist to keep things interesting. Definitely worth checking out.
Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto, Featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim
And why didn’t Astrud (Ms. Gilberto) get her name on the cover?After all, she’s the (admittedly non-professional) singer.You’ve heard them.Remember “The Girl from Impanema”?You could play it in the morning, or for dinner guests, but not, for God's sake, after dinner.You'll put everyone to sleep and then you'll never get rid of them.You'll be tempted to put them up for the night.Don't.Get them up and out with the Hold Steady and Gogol Bordello records I told you about.They'll never bother you again.Ever.
---------------- Now playing: Antônio Carlos Jobim - The Girl From Impanemavia FoxyTunes
I Have No Class(ical Music):
Okay, that’s an exaggeration.But it’s taken a back seat to pop and jazz.
I read somewhere that Holst's “The Planets” isone of the most popular classical music pieces for people in my neck of the woods.I’ve gotten CDs for dumber reasons than that, so I picked up the one by the Berlin Philharmonic (I’d put the German spelling, but then you might think there’s a harmonica on the record, and I’m almost positive there isn’t one) with Simon Rattle conducting.This one’s got a bonus disc of other space oriented pieces by other conductors.This is just the type of gimmick to pull in ignoramuses (ignorami?) like me.It’s pretty cool, but you have to keep adjusting the volume, because Mars and Venus, as you might expect, are not on the same page.It takes me months or even years to get into some jazz and world music.It may take a millennium for classical music.But in the meantime, this one won’t make you run away screaming, or sleeping.
The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos – “Chant”
This is the tenth anniversary bonus edition.(Not of the music, dummy.Of the major cash-in on said music just this past century.)Two CDs are more than I need but I can’t pass up a bargain. Is it me or are these dudes singing the same song over and over again?(I wonder if they ever thought of hiring a drummer?) For all I know, they just put two copies of the same disc in there.
In any case, I smell a rat, and suspect the whole thing is a scam, dreamed up in the 14th century, to entice me down this branch of speculation, just to waste my (and now your) time. Morning music.Early morning. Maybe even before those Requiems.
Father's Day!
Ah, my favorite day of the year, when my family has no choice but to let me do whatever the hell I want.This year I spent it in the backyard, listening to the music they got me.How do they know what to get me, you ask?Oh, they know.I make sure of it.Three words: Amazon.Wish.List.
My biggest problem with rap music is that it forces you to listen.As important as the sound may be, it’s the words that matter.Whereas I can listen to and love a pop record for months before I ever understand the lyrics, rap doesn’t give me that luxury.De La Soul’s “Three Feet High and Rising” is very smart hip hop from the late eighties.They don’t fit into any fifty-something’s idea of what rap music is - they’re more nerds than thugs, which makes for a nice surprise.So I’ll need more time with this one. ---------------- Now playing: De La Soul - The Magic Numbervia FoxyTunes
How about an album of Dylan covers that won’t make you yawn?Well, you start with great but obscure songs, and then you don’t get all serious about it.That’s how McGuinness Flint Coulssen and Dean came up with “Lo and Behold”.I admit that I prefer most of the originals, but then again I’m a “Basement Tapes” fanatic.But for anyone not familiar with these songs, it’s a revelation.The singing is a bit too high, and some of the music isn’t very adventurous, but these guys had the right idea.
Sometime’s a record is so good that I’m reluctant to get something else by the artist, for fear that I’ll be disappointed and feel like a sucker.Belle and Sebastian’s “If You’re Feeling Sinister” was one of the great records of the nineties, and I’ve been wondering which of their several other records I should try.Then I spot “Tigermilk” – their first album, but released in the US years later.Legend has it that this was a final project for a music class they were taking in college.(All I ever did was a term paper.)It’s a bit more tuneful, if that’s possible, than “Sinister”.It’s also a bit less profound, but so what? Tuneful will keep me coming back. Ah, the trials and tribulations of coeds!The highlight for me is the warm, loving "I Don't Love Anyone".Only the disturbing cover prevents me from showing it to company.
Pavement was/is a nineties lo-fi, noise-rock group whose approach was to play and sing in tune most of the time.Having gotten their first record, “Slanted and Enchanted”, way back when, I knew what to expect from “Brighten the Corners”, and settled in for about a dozen listens before passing judgment.They dare you to hate them, and there are times when I take them up on it.But I’ve probably listened to it more than any other record this year, if only to get to the bottom of the damned thing.So I guess the joke’s on me.I’d recommend it, but I’m tired of getting those funny looks.
Did I say Father’s Day was the best day of the year?Yes, because on that day I share the burden of having a good time with all my no good, beer drinking brethren.It provides the solidarity and support needed to keep the guilt away, and the cover to annoy the rest of the population as a group.
Not so birthdays.You’re on your own, brother, as your family watches you sink under the weight of expectations that you know how to enjoy yourself.Sometimes it all collapses and the pathetic charade is revealed.Then, even the Amazon Wish List isn’t enough to save you (or your family).
Maybe it was an end of summer blues.Maybe it was the there’s more to lifethan music feeling that overcame me.Maybe I’m just done.But I immediately regretted getting The Mekons, the Streets and DJ Shadow.Now I think I get why - I already had something by each of them, and thus was flouting my main shopping basket culling rule (link).Was I lowering my standards and opening the floodgates to even more, and possibly more mediocre, CDs.
Too late now.These guys better pony up.
The Mekons made one of my favorite rock and roll albums in 1989. It was imaginatively titled “Rock and Roll”. “Fear and Whiskey” (really, “Original Sin”, which incorporated F&W and extra stuff) was an earlier, rawer record that had some fierce rock and roll, country and avant garde spoken word mishmashes. It was a little more daunting so I decided to keep my Mekons records spaced out by ten years or so. “OOOH!” is short for Out of Our Heads. It leans more to the country, songish side, but is quite sharp. Still sinking in.
Ten years ago, I got DJ Shadow’s "Endtroducing..." (on the same time as “If You’re Feeling Sinister”!) which was also one of the most potent records of that decade. Now that “Tigermilk” had panned out, I decide to dip in for DJ Shadow’s second record, “The Private Press”. DJS samples hundreds of records, shatters them into a million pieces, and re-assembles them to form something new.It's also not quite sunk in yet (“Endtroducing” took some time, too) and it sounds a bit too much like the first (after all, where do you go from there?) but I've learned to give him some time.
Right now, The Streets first album “Original Pirate Material” is sounding way over-rated.I really enjoyed their second one “A Grand Don’t Come for Free”, which seemed funnier and more tuneful.OPM reeks of self-importance, which comes in handy when the music itself is a little lacking.
Some families are made up of Jedi knights.Some not.But like my father before me, I took my son to the record store.(Okay, dad would have brought me to the corner bar, but whatever.)One of his favorite bands – The Used - was playing there, and I got to browse.That’s where I found Modest Mouse’s The Moon and Antarctica”.This provided some relief because it took the edge off “Good News for People Who Like Bad News”.And like that record, it’s a real “album album” in that it has variety – some good tunes, some challenging cuts, that all hang together very well.
---------------- Now playing: Modest Mouse - Third Planetvia FoxyTunes
By now I was feeling that while everything was good, nothing was Great.I had to reach outside of the decade.
Although we can agree that there was a lot of great music made in the sixties, it was not all necessarily crowded together on the same albums. It was a time of singles, and you could only expect great albums from the major artists. So any album outside of that select group is automatically suspect. To my great delight I sometimes find exceptions to this rule.
It’s 1968, and The Zombies’ “Odyssey and Oracle” - their last stab at a hit after a several year dry spell - sinks like a stone. Two years later, “Time of the Season” becomes a hit.But it's too late - the Zombies are no more. Decades pass, and word finally gets around that “Odyssey and Oracle” is a wonderful record.It’s aged quite well, and there's not a bad song on it. I’ve got the one with the ten bonus cuts, all worthwhile and then some. Even the lyrics are good. Highly recommended.
Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” starts off well enough, andthere are some intriguing tunes, but when you give more prominence to the flugelhorn instead of the guitar, don’t expect a big fan base. This is okay.But then the singing is , well.... not that there's anything wrong with it.
Young cousin Michelle is making me look bad, talking classical music, dropping composers names and all.Concerto this, Opus that.Hey, I’m the adult here!But next time I’ll be ready for her.I got Mahler’s Second Symphony, per her recommendation.I plan to get every record she ever mentions just so that I can say “Oh yes, I’m familiar with that one…” (Maybe I’ll challenge her to arm wrestling instead…)Anyway, Gustave’s an emotional guy and he does deliver the goods.You don’t get bored.It’s got a good beat and you can dance to it.
Thanksgiving:
This is the time for song based records that artificially inject magic into what should be a magic time of year.What can I tell you?I need all the help I can get.
And if your idea of magic is the story of a couple from hell slowly destroying themselves, the Mountain Goats “Tallahassee” is just for you.Wow, these guys don’t mess around.John Darnielle doesn’t skimp on the words or over arrange the music.His thin, high voice might be annoying if not paired with striking music and oh so sharp lyrics.Funny too, but dark…
You’ve heard of Richard Thompson, right?He’s been around for ages – playing with Fairport Convention, which did rock tinged versions of English folk ballads and Bob Dylan songs.He left in the early seventies and has been making solo records ever since.So he’s got a career that spans almost six decades, and you’re wondering where to start.I can think of worse places than his first record with his then wife Linda, “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” (1974).It’s all here: the songwriting, the guitar playing, the singing (Linda Thompson has one of the great voices in pop music, and even Richard sounds good.)With its accordion when needed, even my mom would like this record.It’s worth checking out anyway.It might be a great one.
The title song is great, and it was instrumental in making me break one of my golden rules – just because you like the song you heard on the radio, don’t buy the CD because you’ll end up hating it when they play it to death . Besides the album may not be as good.Okay, less a rule than a voice inside my head.The jury’s out on this.It’s certainly tuneful enough.Maybe a little too pretty and polished.But it’s full of feeling, and that’s worth a lot.
I can hold onto a dollar, but it’s hard to resist those “You’ve got a free CD in your cart” offers.I must act.And Radiohead’s “Kid A” has been hanging out on my “to buy” list for some time (along with at least a thousand others) so it wasn’t anything pressing.No sooner do I get it when I find out that Rolling Stone has declared it Album of the Decade. I didn’t realize they were monitoring me that closely.Well, this came out in 2000, and it took me until the very end of 2009 to hear it. Oh, yeah, I’m all over this decade.
This is a special time in my house, when we each watch in horror at what CDs the other family members receive.And since these same family members are both perpetrator and victim of this practice, it can be the source of a year’s worth of recriminations.
That amazon wish list heads off those problems for me, if not them.Some are not so lucky.
My gifts included Manu Chao’s hit-them-with-everything-you’ve-got world music “Esperanza: Proxima Estacion” and The Xx’s spacey, spare debut record.I’ll let you know.
Then there’s the gift card to that record store, which might mean yet another record before the years over.So I can’t even sum up a year, let alone a decade.
Since I’ve already done a roundup of 2007 and 2008, I’m just going to give them a quick once over to see if I’ve changed my mind about anything. (Have I ever?)
There’s not much to add, except to say that Neko Case, while not outdoing the Go Betweens, did outlast them.While it clear from the start that “Oceans Apart” was great, “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” hung back and slowly took over.Once it kicked in, we played it for weeks straight.It’s definitely one of the best of that year, and of the decade, too.
The other Go Betweens record – “Spring Hill Fair” - turned out to be pretty good, but not great.Sometimes the GBs –at least the Robert Forster part - are all elbows.It’s on “Oceans Apart” that they grow wings.
So the revised “Great List” stands as:
The Go Betweens – “Oceans Apart”
Neko Case – “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood”
PJ Harvey – “Stories of the City, Stories of the Sea”
And the “Really Goods” now are:
Nick Drake – Pink Moon
John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Featuring Eric Clapton
Thelonious Monk – “Solo Monk”
The remainder of that year’s music more or less stays where it was in my original estimation, although some records will continue to swim around inside my brain, only to surface years from now, at the oddest times.
Just when things were going really well, another major life crisis arrived, and life suddenly sucked again.Luckily for me and everyone else, this time around, when the thrasher came I was able to give what was mine.And, unlike the last time when this happened, I decided that I wouldn't forgo music.Maybe it would help.
But not right away.
Spring:
When your life sucks, why not retreat into someone else’s?Which is why I read Neil Young’s biography, “Shakey”.This would lead me to filling some holes in my record collection with the second and third Buffalo Springfield albums - "Again" and "Last Time Around", and Neil's own “American Stars and Bars”.
I was tempted big time to get the Buffalo Springfield boxed set, which was put together by Neil Young, until I found out that Neil left off some tracks from “Last Time Around”.Yo,Neil, wtf?!(a phrase, I might add, that could apply to several episodes in this infuriating genius’s life).But it all worked out for the best at the bargain bin of my favorite record store, which is my equivalent of the McDonalds plastic ball pit.
Buffalo Springfield is sometimes called the polar opposite of the Byrds - a band that was great on record and a bit rickety live.Legend has it that the Springfield was monstrous live, but that their records never captured it.Their first record is quite good when you get past the anemic production.They hated it."Again" has several all-time classics (“Bluebird”, “Expecting to Fly”, “Broken Arrow”) and a couple of forgettable songs (uh, I forget.See?)."Last Time Around" doesn't have as many peaks, but it's excellent throughout, and it’s the one I played a lot more.Of course, I’d heard those classics a thousand times already. ---------------- Now playing: Neil Young - I Am a Childvia FoxyTunes
“American Stars and Bars” is half pretty good country rock with Linda Rondstadt singing backup, the highlight of which is the more rocking “Bite the Bullet”, and half bits of genius from the vault, like “Star of Bethlehem”, “Will to Love” and “Like a Hurricane”.
Before an adult came to tell me it was time to go, I also found “The Best of Love”.Theywere a California band from the sixties best known for that obscure FM cut "You Set the Scene" from their classic album “Forever Changes”.This CD pulls four songs from that record, along with a bunch from the albums that came before and after it.It's a very good, varied collection, with the brilliant "She Comes in Colors", reportedly the inspiration for the Stones' "She's a Rainbow". ---------------- Now playing: Love - She Comes in Colorsvia FoxyTunes
Summer:
"The Sky is Crying: The History of Elmore James" contains the originals of “I Can't Hold Out”, “It Hurts Me Too”, “Madison Blues” and “Done Somebody Wrong” and others, each of which beats the cover by way of raw guitar, pounding piano or stronger vocal. ---------------- Now playing: Elmore James - Done Somebody Wrongvia FoxyTunes
Ah, have music and life ever melded together as intimately as they did that summer?Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois"was the only possible soundtrack to our numerous grim trips to the hospital that summer. No one asked me to turn off "Casimir Pulaski Day", which, as great as it is, would have been understandable under the circumstances.Best of the Year, hands down.One of the best of the decade, too.I think I would have loved it even if everything was okay.
Maya Arulpragasam was born in England but has lived in Sri Lanka, India and elsewhere.She makes a very potent mix of dance music and electronica under the name M.I.A.I play her first record, “Arular”, to impress my nieces.I’ll have to play it a lot more, I guess.She manages to keep your attention without letting things get too grating.She’s adds some smart lyrics, and doesn’t overstay her welcome.Highly recommended, especially if you want to know what those young folk are up to these days.
I file the soundtrack to the film "The Harder they Come" under Jimmy Cliff, but that's not quite right.If one person did all these songs I'd have to rate him above Bob Marley.Jah was smiling the day that BMG offered it as a special two disc edition containing a number of other Jamaican hits, like "The Israelite" and "I Can See Clearly Now". But even if it was just the original single disk, it would be great."Johnny Too Bad", "Pressure Drop", "Sitting Here in Limbo" - there's not a bad song here, and I enjoy it more now that times are better. But what's that I smell?Oh that’s right, nevermind…
Thelonious Monk Quartet, with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall combines two of my favorite jazz artists, and is one of those records you can play over and over again, and never reach the bottom.The fact that this record even exists is a miracle - someone found a fifty year old tape lying around.Treat yourself to the warm embrace of music that seems almost Easy Listening at moments, but that over time reveals its many layers and dark corners.
I decided that I’d been playing it too safe with Monk – only listening to his late ‘50s recordings, and so went for the circa 1947 “Genius of Modern Music”.This is his first record as a band leader and it immediately grabs you with its odd angles and structures.It must haveseemed like a space ship landing at the time.I wouldn’t start here to learn about Monk, but it's well worth the ride.
Sometimes I get over-sated, and feel bad that I've gotten a CD that I didn't absolutely need.It's compounded when it doesn't bowl me over.Such was the fate of Roxy Music's “Avalon” - a perfectly good, if a little slick sounding record.It just didn't have any surprises or brilliantly weird Roxy moments. Great music for company, though.
Who the hell are the Impressions, I wondered? Well, they’re more significant than Wolf Blitzer, I can tell you. I didn't know that Curtis Mayfield didn't spring out of the ether fully formed with "Move on Up" and "Superfly". He had a life and career before I became aware of it. This vocal trio started in the 50s doing light, airy doo wop-like tunes.Their arrangements got more varied during the 60s, and their lyrics became more socially relevant. Then they broke up and Curtis went solo. I never tire of "Superfly", which has some of the tightest drumming, and the best lyrics, ever."The Anthology" brings all of this together in one place, and while at first I resisted, I find myself coming back to this record more and more.
One morning after working all night, I put on Gogol Bordello's "Gypsy Punks" and The Hold Steady's "Separation Sunday", and I can't think of two records that are worse to put on when someone's trying to get some sleep.Ask my daughter."Gypsy Punks" is exactly how it sounds - accordions, violins, electric guitars, screams.It's been a while since I've been to the caravan so I don't listen to it often. But the energy is undeniable. "Separation Sunday" is the sound of "Blinded by the Light" Bruce Springsteen, but without the Big Man, and the guitars turned up. And he’s had a few.The characters are low lifes of varying degrees, and I don't always want to spend time with them, but they do make life interesting.
After the next all-nighter, I tried Mississippi John Hurt's “Rediscovered” (link) which worked a lot better.John's gentle voice and nimble guitar accompany tales of love, violence and, well, coffee. It’s so quiet, you could practicallyblast it and no one would complain.On the downside, you could easily miss it if the world intrudes.File under "don't play too softly". ---------------- Now playing: Mississippi John Hurt - Candy Manvia FoxyTunes
James Talley's "Got No Milk, No Bread, No Money, But Sure Got a Lot of Love" wins the best title award.This is laid back country music that doesn't even try to grab you.It assumes you're paying attention.James's voice isn't going to knock down any doors either.Although I appreciate the feeling, it's an acquired taste, and only for certain occasions.
Mozart’s Sonata/Fantasy/Rondo and Variations (played by Alfred Brendel), is the abbreviated title.(Jesus Christ, why can’t these guys name their tunes something sensible, like “Louie, Louie”?)Even so, James Talley’s still got them beat.Anyway, this is a fine collection of solo piano music.When it comes to classical music, for me, smaller is always better.Now I’m waiting for the kazoo version.
Good friend Mike had seen Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in Europe ages ago (which, by the way, used to mean hours, but now means decades) and raved about them.But which one to get, I wondered?I eventually choose their first, because of the nice cover (and price), and even the record store guy concurred. It's energetic, tuneful and certainly worthwhile, if not earth shaking for the non-jazz nut.
Sam Phillips was married to T-Bone Burnett, and before they broke up, he producedher "Martinis and Bikinis" which is more serious than it sounds. You may have heard “I Need Love” at your local drug store chain, between announcements for specials on toiletries.Sam's voice is less raspy than Kim Carnes’.She obviously loves the Beatles, and even covers John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth”.While it doesn’t all cohere into a great record, there are a number of excellent, accessible songs here.Not bad at all.
Joanna Newsom’s “The Milk-Eyed Mender” is my latest "the rest of the family gives me funny looks" CD. It's understandable, really. With her whoops, cackles and regressions into early childhood, she makes Bjork sound like Mary J. Normal. And yet, and yet, some of these songs are incredible.There is a fearless openness here that makes other such attempts pale in comparison. Oh, and she plays a harp. One of the quietest records ever, it slowly fades in from an utter silence.It'd still piss off someone trying to sleep, though.
