Movies We've Just Watched discussion
LISTS, LISTS, AND MORE LISTS
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Stuff We've Just Listened To
oh yeah, devin - i have both of those discs. they were calling their duo something ... can't remember what. the russian notebooks band did a double bill with that duo once ... good times.vinny is an LA stalwart on the post-jazz, new music scene - a multiple reed player genius. he's done a lot of film scores, it's possible you've seen his name associated with one movie or another.
Phillip wrote: "oh yeah, devin - i have both of those discs. they were calling there duo something ... can't remember what. the russian notebooks band did a double bill with that duo once ... good times.vinny is..."
Man, what I wouldn't give for a bootleg of THAT show!
digging around the usual suspects on the web isn't giving me anything specific--it could just be that he seems ubiquitous, and so I've probably run into his work a number of times over the years. (Pity about getting roped into the gravitational pull of Weasel Walter, though...)
i've been on the road for 9 days on the west coast - having crazy good times with the new york pianist angelica sanchez and drummer sam ospovat (who seems the quintessential citizen of the planet at the moment) - we had some great hits and fun times!was listening to lots of fred frith solo in the car; last night i had a recording session with him and evelyn davis on church organ in the mills college chapel ... the concept was to make a drone record. i think it came out beautiful - damn, fred is a genius. we have a duo gig in oakland this saturday - if any of you are in the bay area and are interested in hearing of the very finest improvising guitarists on the planet playing duo with a quirky saxophonist with multiple (musical) personality issues, come check us out!
i've decided that my favorite fred frith solo records are:
live in japan (late 70's)
the clearing (on zorn's tzadik label)
Dunno if any of y'all are fans of The Gathering and their associated output, but Anneke van Giersebergen has just announced the N/S American leg of her Everything Is Changing world tour. Only two dates in the US, both in Chicago, on March 23-24. Everything Is Changing just missed my Best Albums of 2012 list. Thinking about roadtripping for the show on the 23rd (this would be a much easier decision were I not going to Buffalo on the 22nd to see Author and Punisher).
i've only heard of the gathering - don't really know them.
They describe their sound as "trip-rock"; I think of it as just straight-ahead rock and roll with that kinda fuzzy, soft edge to it. Their new album, Disclosure, is ridiculously good.Anneke has gone in more of an alt-rock direction with her new band, but this new album is "let's take the structures of the pop songs I grew up with and update them." When reviewing it I described it as what Soul-era Seal would sound like if Seal still bothered to write original songs. It's all original material, but as a fellow kid who grew up on seventies radio, I can definitely hear the Abba/KC and the Sunshine Band/etc. influence. I didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I do.
omfg Keiji Haino is performing in Oberlin next month.Phillip and Baxter, you know you wanna roadtrip.
Solo voice performance on Saturday night (the original post got the dates wrong, waiting for updates to show WHICH Saturday), and then doing a guitar duet with Chris Corsano on Sunday. I've never been a big Corsano fan, but I may have to catch both dates...[edit: 4-13 and 4-14.]
I can't even imagine. I'd get on the stage and see Keiji Haino and go into total brain lock. (When I met Diamanda Galas in 1992, I seriously didn't manage to make it through an entire sentence the entire time.)
she can be intimidating! a friend of mine slept with her (i'm not going to name names!) ... and i thought, whoa, i would just kneel in terror and never get up. on second thought, that might be fun.
Phillip wrote: "she can be intimidating! a friend of mine slept with her (i'm not going to name names!) ... and i thought, whoa, i would just kneel in terror and never get up. on second thought, that might be fun."I think that I would equate those two things, probably...
Robert wrote: "omfg Keiji Haino is performing in Oberlin next month.Phillip and Baxter, you know you wanna roadtrip."
I think I would literally stop functioning if I saw Keiji Haino. They'd have to feed me through a straw for the rest of my life.
nah, you'd just walk around with a smile on your face for the next few years ... i did.
Oh, Mr. Greenlief sir--http://factotumtapes.blogspot.com/
Lotta noise stuff you probably won't be interested in unless you're from Ohio, but about halfway down the most recent post is a "what the hell is this doing here?" release...
fact062 the ames room - "full illionois jacquet"" c60
energetic and brutal free jazz from this french trio. jean-luc guionnet - alto sax, will guthrie - drums, and clayton thomas - double bass. two scorching side long live tracks recorded in paris and lyons that seriously rip. self proclaimed minimal maximal terror jazz, and its for good reason. outside of the ames room these guys have covered everything from electro-acoustic composition and free improv to rock, and jazz composition. not to mention having worked with the likes of peter brotzmann, alex dorner, andy moor, keith rowe, philip samartzis, and jerome noetinger to name just a few.
sound sample link: https://soundcloud.com/developer-etc/...
New Jean-Luc Guionnet!
i've played with clayton thomas - great bass player! that's a nice trio ...and i'm an illinois jacquet fan from way back - but i realize they are not really writing about him.
i've been listening to a lot of buddy de franco lately ... a mostly unsung clarinet player from the los angeles scene in the 50's. a really great musician - i've been wanting to hear more and more clarinet players for a while and he did a few sides paying tribute to benny goodman and artie shaw - does things with that music that the originals never met - in terms of technique and ingenuity ... and still swinging like crazy. there are two CDs that compile four LPs of material - all great stuff, but my favorite release from mr de franco is a date called MR CLARINET, on the verve label, if you are interested in such things. great classic jazz sides!
Tom wrote: "I met Illinois Jacquet once..."nice! was he tall dark and handsome?
i was just listening to him in the car, actually - a side with kenny burrell ... so good!
I was working an apprentice editor gig on a documentary film about Jacquet, called TEXAS TENOR. Jacquet visited the editing room for a viewing, and was very upset about a certain scene being left out (he'd been honored by a European saxophone factory). He threatened to disavow the project unless the scene was restored, and as I remember it was.
wow ... i don't know about that doc ... i'll look for it.
Well, searching on Texas Tenor at Netflix did reveal Texas Terror, a Republic two-reeler I haven't seen yet...bang!
http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Tenor-Ill...
Looks as if it hasn't been released domestically on DVD. Barbarians...
indeed ... certainly affordable copies of VHS tapes ... but i don't even know if my player will still work.
Scott Miller, the wonderful warbly frontman of Game Theory and Loud Family, died on April 15. No cause of death has yet been released.Loud Family have released Game Theory's entire back catalogue for free:
http://www.loudfamily.com/
If you didn't cotton to Game Theory back in the early eighties (they were OF the Paisley Underground, but not IN it, if that makes any sense...), pick this stuff up. Pronto. Game Theory are one of the best pop bands you never heard.
Right about now Acid Mothers Temple is playing five minutes away from me at a bar. A bar that, despite my bribing and begging and crying, refuses to make just one little exception to the whole 'no people under 21' thing. This is why we still have wars.
Baxter wrote: "This is why we still have wars. "I bet new driver's licenses are way harder to fake compared to the ones from when I was a teenager. Sucks!
fuck the abc ... it's those bastards that insist that bars cannot allow younger listeners in to the venue to hear live music. we have had a lot of problems in the bay area with this - the abc is trying to shut down clubs like the great american music hall, bottom of the hill and cafe du nord (who sell food, so *minors* are allowed to attend shows even though they sell alcohol) because they don't sell enough food to balance the amount of alcohol that gets sold. these clubs rely on alcohol sales to fund the presentation of live music - the ticket sales go to the musicians, mostly - and the alcohol sales pay the rent and the staff ... those bastards at the abc don't think that charging $40,000 for an alcohol permit is enough graft - they have to mess with the whole equation and try to take even more live music away from young people.
if keystone korner and the great american music hall had not been open to folks under 21, i would never had had the chance to see dexter gordon, kenny burrell, the art ensemble of chicago, ornette coleman, anthony braxton, sam rivers, john abercrombie and ralph towner, oregon, old and new dreams, johnny griffin, joanne brackeen, carla bley, and an enormous squadron of other jazz masters ...
in short - greedy people continue to put art and live performance at risk in this country. i hate that shit and i refuse to temper my opinion.
... just sayin' - baxter has every right to start a war and if it isn't clear, i'm on his side and am ready to fight to the death.
Baxter wrote: "Right about now Acid Mothers Temple is playing five minutes away from me at a bar. A bar that, despite my bribing and begging and crying, refuses to make just one little exception to the whole 'no ..."is there no way to stand outside the back door or any other window where the music can waft your way???
Phillip wrote: "Baxter wrote: "Right about now Acid Mothers Temple is playing five minutes away from me at a bar. A bar that, despite my bribing and begging and crying, refuses to make just one little exception to..."I would have, but it's one of those weird connected buildings that's back leads to some other building. Believe me, I've spent the last few days trying to think up some way to get something out of this deal, but it's all going against me.
Excellent little tirade there, though. Did my heart good!
been on tour the past few days - here is a sonic glimpse of our travels ...the lost trio in the van playlist, day 1 - herbie hancock: inventions and dimensions - howlin' wolf: complete (early) sun recordings (memphis!) - lester young: complete aladdin recordings - ornette coleman: live at lenox school - jackie o. motherfucker: fig. 5
lost trio in the van playlist, day two - juana molina: rio seco - billie holliday: complete columbia recordings volume 8 (1939-1940) - belle & sebastian: tiger milk - suraiya: vintage bollywood (1950's) - andrew hill: black fire
lost trio in the van playlist day three - olivier messiaen, music for piano: preludes, vingt regards sur l'enfant jesus (1 - 8) - mary lou williams: the asch recordings - chuck johnson: a struggle not a thought (while driving through a dust storm on hwy 99) - john dowland: complete works for lute volume 4 - rufus with chaka khan: stompin' at the savoy - eccentric soul vol 27: smart's palace - paul gonsalvez: gettin' together
Geez, Phillip, try to get some variety in those playlists.
i know ... we tend to get stuck in a rut.
had a rehearsal in sacramento tonight (for a concert i am conducting on thursday), which is about an hour and 15 minutes away ... and listened to this stuff on the to and fro:on the way there
krs one - RETROSPECTIVE
melt banana - CHARLIE
on the way home
ramones - ROCKET TO RUSSIA
miles davis - COMPLETE JACK JOHNSON SESSIONS, disc 6
i have to say, that miles stuff is some of the very best improvised music coming from any of the post-jazz groups of the late 60's or 70's ... that first track on disc six, which is pretty long - maybe 11 minutes - kills me every time.
and the melt banana ... if you don't know them, they're kind of a punk/noise band from japan and my favorite of the genre - their singer is amazing - she sings over these punky grooves in such a totally unconventional way - they don't sound like anyone else, really ... because of her.
and the ramones vs krs one are an interesting juxtaposition - brooklyn in the late 70's meets the bronx in the late 80's ...
I've been listening to an odd band called Auktyon.
don't know them. say more?
Auktyon. In Russian,АукцЫон.Oh, so happy to turn you on. Lemme find a youtube clip...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxVpnY...
The above is my absolute favorite song of theirs--I for a while couldn't even listen to it because it went to too deep a place.
They are Russian--fronted by two guys, but obviously mixing in many other things : one named Leonid Federov, the other Oleg Garkusha (the "declaimer")..There is absolutely nothing
I can think of remotely like them.They have done things also in the US with Medeski, Ribot, and Co.
been listening to george crumb all morning: BLACK ANGELS, for string quartet; and ECHOES OF TIME AND THE RIVER ... crumb, an exceptional american composer.
Tell me more about Mr. Crumb. I know the name, but only the name.I'm in a Glass phase at the moment -- assorted recordings of EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH are playing on my ipod.
Been listening to Die Antwoord non-stop. They're a rap/rave group from South Africa. Not my usual type of music--at first I hated it--but it's just really catchy stuff.
claudia was just visiting and i picked up the kronos quartet plays philip glass for her .... one of my favorite recordings by both artists.george crumb ... american composer; a real iconoclast. he loved american folk songs and did a suite of them ... but he put his own spin on them. i don't know the recording so well. need to study up on it.
BLACK ANGELS is one that kronos recorded - it is for amplified string quartet - and crumb brings out all kinds of interesting sounds from the strings with unusual bowings and other extended techniques. the opening section is rather noisy, but it calms down and turns into something beautiful - and that element of surprise is one thing i like about his music.
here is his makrokosmos III (for piano and percussion), etc ... one of his works that i like quite a lot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4WiE0...
Went to see Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck last night and had a great time. My husband almost passed out when Wilson ever-so-nonchalantly asked his band if they felt like playing the entire PET SOUNDS album, which they did, and I've never seen Bob so happy -- he was having a religious experience.A great show all round. But even Bob said they could retire the obligatory encore of "Barbara Ann."
Sounds fun. Speaking of musical religious experiences, a friend and I caught the Chicago reunion show of The Replacements, unquestionably one of the great live music experiences of my life. They played all (or most of) the hits ("Can't Hardly Wait," "I.O.U.," "Hold My Life," etc., as well some of the early punk stuff from Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash) and had tons of energy and really seemed to be having a good time, which was great to see. There were some worries that given it's only Paul Westerberg and the surviving Stinson remaining from the original Mats lineup that there would be some inconsistencies or whatever, but really it was all seamless. I guess the guitarist played with Westerberg on his solo stuff, so he wasn't just a fill-in. At any rate, I and the other 20,000 people had a great time.Compare this to the Pixies, who played right before the Mats and had about as much as energy as the keyboard I'm typing this on. I think they really miss Kim Deal and Joey Santiago. I have to think Frank Black at this point just uses the Pixies to print money. At any rate, my friend and I left that stage after "Wave of Mutilation" to get a good spot for the Mats. Considering no one has a clue whether the Mats will play shows ever again, this was the right decision.
both great shows, from the sound of it.brian wilson ... with jeff beck! my god. i saw him a few times back in the day and loved every one of those shows (mr beck, that is). i've never seen brian wilson. i'm glad he's getting out of the house. the entire pet sounds album .... holy cow!
and the replacements! a reunion show - that's overdue.
glad you boys are getting out and hearing some great live music.
i've been on a soul endeavor lately ... picked up a few classics that i didn't have in the collection:ohio players - fire
roberta flack and donny hathaway - self titled
marvin gaye - live
martha and the vandellas - 5 CD box set of classics
curtis mayfield - 5 CD box set
Phillip wrote: "and the replacements! a reunion show - that's overdue." This was at Riot Fest. Three shows: Chicago, Toronto, and Denver. Saw a ton of other great bands too over the three days.
nice - but unfortunate i am not in any of those towns ... they aren't even playing their hometown (minneapolis)?
Those first two collabs he did with Devin Sarno in the late nineties were HUGE influences on the early XTerminal sound, right up there with Radiosonde... the third one came out after I'd already pretty much established my own voice, but that doesn't mean I appreciate it any less. Amazing records those.
Vinny Golia's name sound hugely familiar, but I can't quite place it...