Lately Listening

1. Pierrot Lunaire/Sleeper, Lesser Invocation (Sic Sic CS): The Pierrot Lunaire piece reminds us that real life underpins music--easy to lose sight of that in consumer/collector culture. Especially when you live in an area where live music of this nature occurs with less frequency.
2. Keir Neuringer, Ceremonies on Air (New Atlantis LP): An incredible statement. This album has been getting a lot of play.
3. Deep Listening Band, Then &  Now Now & Then (Taiga 2LP): The wall shelf helps to bring out so much more detail from this release.
4. Sam Rivers, The Live Trio Sessions (Impulse 2LP): Sam Rivers killing it.
5. Steve Lacy, Stamps (HatHut 2LP): I don't mind Irene on this one. Lacy is in fine form on these sides.
6. Mengelberg/Lacy/Lewis/Gorter/Bennink, Change of Season (Soul Note LP): Jamming Herbie Nichols' tunes.
7. Anthony Braxton & Derek Bailey, Moment Precieux (Victo LP): I'll have to dust off the 4-disc box of Braxton duos with Joe Morris. I remember that leaving me a bit cold. This one blows mostly hot.
8. John Carter, Fields (Gramavision LP): Some of the synth work sounds dated, but this is still a very good album.
9. Rova Saxophone Quarter, Beat Kennel (Black Saint LP): Doing their thing
10. Sheldon Siegel, Midden (Sky Lantern CS): Free jazz on cassette.
11. Fushitsusha & Peter Brotzmann, Nothing Changes, No One Can Change Anything, I am Ever-Changing, Only You Can Change Yourself (Utech 3CD): Believe the hype.
12. Wolf Eyes, Six Arms and Sucks (Esquilo CD): Tough to follow a great Def Leopard joke, but the Wolf Eyes pulls it off. Brought me back to seeing them in Buffalo.
13. Art Ensemble of Chicago, Go Home (CD): Dubious reissue of ultra-rare LP on Galloway.
14. Frank Lowe, Black Beings (ESP Disk CD): Such a great album.
15. Bill Lews & Khan Jamal, The River (Philly Jazz LP): Getting out with vibraphone and marimba.
16. MAP, Fever Dream (Taiga 2LP): Lots of scratching, plinking and plunking. Great record.
17. Various Artists, Dynasty at Ghost Town (Bathetic 11 CS): Perfect listening for the dog days of the southern spring. Check it out.

Swans at the Black Cat, Washington DC on May 14, 2014

The notice at the door of the Swans show

April 2014 Listening

1.       “Heaven Up Here” Echo and the Bunnymen (Rhino 2564-61162-2) CD

2.       “Wrong Shape to be a Story Teller” Nate Wooley (Creative Sources) CD

3.       “Concentric” John Butcher and Paal Nilssen-Love (Clean Feed CF067CD) CD

4.       “Flower Head” The Wild Mans Band with Peter Brotzmann, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Peter Ole Jorgensen & Peter Fris Nielsen (Ninth World Music  NWM036) CD

5.       “For Adolphe Sax” Peter Brotzmann, Peter Kowald, Sven-Ake Johansson and Fred van Hove (Atavistic UMS/ALP230CD) CD

6.       “More Nipples” Peter Brotzmann, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey, Fred van Hove, Buschi Niebergall and Han Bennik (Atavistic UMS/ALP236CD) CD

7.       “Blue Train” John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones (Blue Note  CDP 7243 8 53428 0 6)  CD

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8.       “Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy and Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow” Sun Ra and his myth Science Arkestra (Evidence ECD 22036-2) CD

9.       “Bird Dies” The Ames Room with Jean-Luc Guionnet, Clayton Thomas & Will Guthrie (Clean Feed CF231) CD

10.   “Struggling in Public” The Ames Room with Jean-Luc Guionnet, Clayton Thomas & Will Guthrie (Norwegianism Records NOR 009) CD

11.   “Empriicism in the West” Vinny Golia & Urs Leimgruber (Relative Pitch  RPR 1016) CD

12.   “Kaitaitekikoukan” Kaoru Abe & Masayuki Takayanagi (DIW-415) CD

13.   “Bridges” Akira Sakata, Andrea Centazzo & Kiyoto Fujiwara (Ictus Records 162) CD

14.   “Zerfall” Bogan Ghost with Liz Allbee & Anthea Caddy (Relative Pitch RPR1021) CD

15.   “Fear of Music” Talking Heads (Sire 6076-2) CD

16.   “Soulstorm” Ivo Perelman with Daniel Levin and Torbjorn Zetterberg (Clean Feed CF184CD) CD

17.   “Rumbling - Globe Unity Special '75” Alexander von Schlippenbach (FMP CD 40) CD

18.   “Pakistani Pomade” Alexander von Schlippenbach, Evan Parker and Paul Lovens (Atavistic UMS/APLP240CD) CD

19.   “OOO” The Delta 72 (Touch & Go TG212CD) CD

20.   “Pale Horse” Jeremiah Cymerman with Christopher Hoffman and Brain Chase (5049 Records 5049-003) CD

Lately Listening

1. Art Ensemble of Chicago, People in Sorrow (Nessa LP): Probably my favorite Art Ensemble record. First thing I listened to after we built the wall shelf.

2. Various Artists, Traces Vol. 1 (Recollections GRM LP): Another phenomenal entry in this reissue series. I think you guys would really enjoy Traces 1 and Traces 2. Glad to see that this release received a second pressing.

3. Aaron Dilloway, Corpse on Horseback (Ergot LP): Solid album. Wonder if this was singled out for vinyl reissue in part because of the bitching cover art.

4. The Thing, Boot! (The Thing Records LP): The Coltrane cover is insane.

5. Joshua Dumas, Rough Matinals (Horror Fiction CS): Short piano pieces made all the more stark by the gauzy drones that wash in and out of the background.

6. Dan Svizeny, Dan Svizeny (Mirror Universe CS): The brains and brawn behind Cough Cool. More lo-fi goodness.

7. Wes Tirey, Home Recordings (Orange Milk CS): Opening droner is a killer track. Followed by American primitive guitar. There's something in the water in Asheville. Lots going on up there. Tony, you consider Asheville as a potential retirement spot?

8. Sun Ra & His Astro-Infinity Arkestra, Other Strange Worlds (Roaratorio LP): Whereas Strange Strings is one of my favorite Ra releases, the plinking and plunking on the A side didn't do much for me--nothing that grabbed my attention. The B side makes up for it.

9. Harry Partch, Bewitched (Cacophonic LP): It's 3:00 am. The spirits are out. You're drunk and sunburned at the Parthenon.

10. D/A/D, The Construct (Hausu Mountain CS): From out of left field. Could be the soundtrack to the imaginary movie, Mannequin 3: Lunar Department Store. We have been wearing this tape out.

11. Bill Orcutt, How the Thing Sings (Editions Mego LP): Orcutt has been on fire over the past several years. Getting psyched for the new LP on Vin du Select Qualitite.

12. Circuit Rider, Culprit (Tabs Out CS): Warble, Warble. Pop.

13. End of the World Championship, In Slow Motion (Umor Rex CS): Drone sounds so much better after having my speakers repaired.

14. Good Stuff House, Good Stuff House (Indian Queen Records LP): Scott Tuma and the dudes from Zelienople.

15. John Sandia, By Candlelight (Revolving Door CS): Blues drone.

16. Strange Mountain, Levitation Mist (Illuminated Paths CS): Damn, this is good.

17. Tony Conrad, Four Violins (Table of Elements LP): Blows my mind that this guy still lives in Buffalo. Saw him in Baltimore when I first moved to DC. A captivating performance.

18. John Fahey, Requia (Terra LP): Love the montage/special effects on the B-Side jammer.

Pairing # 2 - DuClaw Serum - Blue Train, Spiral Joy Band and Workbook

This music is not the desert island discs in my library but they have their place.  They deliver emotional and my investigation of why they touch me.  Coltrane's Blue Train starts with a theme that has wormed into my cranium since college.  Curtis Fuller, Lee Morgan and Coltrane start by reciting that them over the solid rhythms and then Trane takes off to show why in 1957 he was going to re-write Jazz history.  This is pure hard bop, it is straight forward but not straight forward.  Tone, texture, nuance of all the players really comes out in repeated listening. Spiral Joy Band is an off shoot of the folks from Virginia/Wisconsin's Pelt.  This record is less jam and more ambient strings, harmonium and percussion. Pelt smacks me right away but this is a work in complexity that I'm starting to dig but again I don't fully understand.  DuClaw Serum Double IPA is 9% ABV and has a big flavor.  It is kinda fruity & malty without over doing it.  I hate beers that taste like a raspberry has been jammed therein. There is an earthy and minerality that really is something my palate craves. It would really taste great with spicy Thai food. If you drink a six pack you will be still searching for description.  Workbook is the first solo album by Bob Mould post Husker.  Husker's catalog is brimming with must haves.  This album loses some of the punk energy for late 80s pop energy.  The guitar is twangy and cymbals are running hot throughout and tend to work against the lyrics, The last Husker Du album Warehouse: Songs and Stories was the White Album of the 80s.  The band was falling apart and the song output was amazing.  Something about not liking each other lends to more songs.  This is an uncomfortable record in a good way.   All these things don't completely reveal themselves upon immediate consumption and they keep on giving each time.

March 2014 Listening

1.       “Ironic Havoc” Paul Flaherty & Randall Colbourne (Relative Pitch  RPR 1019 CD)

2.       “The Beloved Music” Paul Flaherty & Chris Corsano (Family Vinyard  CD)

3.       “Regalia” Cecil Taylor & Paul Lovens (FMP CD3 CD)

4.       “Alms/Tiergarten (Spree)” Cecil Taylor (FMP CD 8/9 CD)

5.       “Garden” Cecil Taylor (Hatology  CRCJ-2007-8 CD)

6.       “Zurich”  Borbetomagus with Don Dietich, Jim Sauter, & Donald Miller (Agaric Records  CD)

7.       “Snuff Jazz” Borbetomagus with Don Dietich, Jim Sauter, & Donald Miller (Agaric Records  CD)

8.       “Zebulon” Joe McPhee & Michael Bisio (CIMP 179 CD)

9.       “Painting Breath, Stoking Fire” Avram Fefer & Michael Bisio (CIMP 324 CD)

10.   “A Monastic Trio” Alice Coltrane (Impluse! IMP-267 CD)

11.   “Fuzz”  Fuzz with Ty Segall (In the Red Recordings ITR 254 LP)

12.   “Bewitched” Luna (Gotta Grove Records  GGR2012-001 LP)

13.   “World Gone Wrong” Bob Dylan (Columbia  CK 57590 CD)

14.   “Station to Station” David Bowie (Virgin 7243 521906 0 7  CD)

15.   “Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series Vol. 10” Bob Dylan (Columbia  LP + CD)

16.   “Secessions 96” Magic Hour with Wayne Rogers, Kate Biggar, Damon Krukowski & Naomi Yang (Twisted Village TW1039 CD)

17.   “Rock Sounds Of People” Major Stars with Wayne Rogers (Twisted Village TW1042)

18.   “Speed the Parting Guest” Heathen Shame with Greg Kelley, Wayne Rogers and Kate Village (Twisted Village  CD)

19.   “Half Smiles of the Decomposed” Guided By Voices (Matador OLE 612-2 CD)

20.   “Compositions/Improvisations” Anthony Braxton & Scott Rosenberg (Barely Auditable Records bar222)

21.   “Right On Time”  The Brothers Johnson (A&M Records  LP)

22.   “V - Solo Improvisation” Scott Rosenberg (Umbrella  26 CD)

23.   “Tibet” Don Cherry (Piccadilly PIC 3515 LP)

24.   “Feels” Animal Collective (Fat Cat Records FAT-SP11 CD)

25.   “Live at DC9 in Washington DC - 2013-04-21” Acid Mother Temple

26.   “Safe as Milk” Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band (Buddah Records BDS 69005 Vinyl)

27.   “Metal Circus Husker Du” SST  Vinyl

28.   “For Your Pleasure” Roxy Music (Acto  SD 36-134 Vinyl)

29.   “Stranded”  Roxy Music

30.   “Roxy Music” Roxy Music (Acto  SD 36-133 Vinyl)

31.   “The Burning World”  Swans (Uni Records  UNI 601 Vinyl)

32.   “Marquee Moon” Television (Elektra  Vinyl)

33.   “King of Rock” Run-DMC (Profile Records Pro-1205 Viny)l

34.   “Lou Reed French Box” Lou Reed (RCA  Vinyl)

35.   “Nojima Plays Liszt " (Reference Recordings RR-25 Vinyl)

36.   “Spiderland” Slint (Touch and Go TG 64 Viny)l

37.   “The Shape of Jazz to Come” Ornette Coleman,  Don Cherry.  Billy Higgins & Charlie Haden (Atlantic  SD 1317 Vinyl)

38.   “Sound Grammar” Ornette Coleman with Denardo Coleman, Greg Cohen & Tony Falanga (Sound Grammar SG 11593 CD)

39.   “The 35th Anniversary Collection” Smokey Robinson  & the Miracles (Motown 3746506334-2 CD)

40.   “Fun House” The Stooges with Iggy Pop (Rhino R2 73175 CD)

R.I.P. Scott Asheton of the Stooges

41.   “The Bible According to Black Sabbath/Nativity in Black - A tribute to Black Sabbath” Black Sabbath & various artists (Columbia 2SK 6544 CD)

42.   “I Bet the Sky”  Dinosaur Jr

43.   “Has Anybody Seen Our Freedoms?” Peter Walker

44.   “Kaitaitekikoukan” Kaoru Abe & Masayuki Takayanagi  “DIW-415 CD”

45.   “Things Fall Apart” The Roots   (MCA  CD)

Happy 76th Birthday Alexander von Schlippenbach