Friday, December 30, 2005

Janet Jackson - Go Deep (single)

Dug this up from the vaults, and after hearing these again afetr a while having not done so, this still pretty much holds up the same way it did when I first heard it. There are 5 mixes here:

1. Album Version
2. T.R. Funk Mix
3. Roni Size Remix
4. Masters at Work Alternative Mix
5. Masters at Work Down Tempo Mix

None of the mixes are bad, but only one stands out as superior is the workover by Roni Size. It is clean, on point, and stands up well after 7 years. The Roni "call" segue in the middle is also a subtle touch of satire I think, and one probably not expected from the normally dour Mr. Size.

Marillion - Brave

Marillion, a band mostly known for neo-prog, turns a unique statement: an accessible concept album worthy of Pink Floyd or Radiohead landmark status.

[note" this was originally written for intune.org before they went defunct]

Marillion Brave
1994 IRS/EMI Records


Production: Dave Meegan and Marillion


Personnel:
Steve Hogarth - vocals, additional guitar and precussion
Steve Rothery - guitars
Mark Kelly - keyboards, vocals
Pete Trewavas - bass and vocals
Ian Mosely - drums & percussion

Lyrics by Steve Hogarth and John Helmer

additional personnel:
Tony Halligan - Uilleann pipes
Liverpool Philharmonic - Callos, and Flute
Darryl Way - orchestral arrangemment on 'Falling From The Moon'

Marillion is a cult band, having had only one major hit in the US in 1985, Kayleigh. Since then they have changed iconoclastic singers and changed their sound to be one of the few bands that I would argue are actually *progressive* rock, along with bands like King Crimson, Tool, Radiohead, and Gordian Knot. Their fans are so rabid as to having put a fund together (60K USD) to bring the band to tour in the US. Their website marillion.com actually has regular, new content from the band members that isnt just self-serving piffle. They asked fans to pre-pay for an unmade album so they wouldn't have to take an advance from a record company. Now that's not only ballsy, but it shows what happens when you really have resolve in what you are doing and have a real trust with your audience.

So a band like this makes generally damn good music, but once in a while you get a true opus that pales all others in the catalogue. For Marillion, this is Brave. A concept album that can be accessible, and that I would argue sits with the Who's Quadrophenia, Pink Floyd's The Wall, and the Genesis 3 album Lamb Lies Down on Broadway but sonically closer to Radiohead's more organic work and Peter Gabriel. These guys have it down on this album.

The liner notes make a small but important request: "Play it Loud with the lights off". Curl up with a favorite wine and tune in, because by the end of it, you will have consumed the rest of the bottle.

Starting with the sounds of waves and a deep repeating drone that carries into the first seconds of symphonics, the start is one that pans and takes you down a slow path until the singing begins and a small ripple of fear climbs up the back of your neck.

The opening lyric starts:

Staring out over the Bridge
A million photo flashes fom the water down below
Dawn light bouncing through the mist
Roar of traffic and police radios

Apparently Brave is a story extrapolated from a famous UK newscast where a runanway girl was found looking over a bridge with amnesia and apparently ready to commit suicide. Brave is Hogarths lyrical attempt to write a history and a story around it. While it is fictional, it feels real in its empathy and heavy in its anguish.

The album cuts no corners but doesn't come off as pretentious. Its a narrative with highs and lows, brief glimmers and dark abysses. The band is beyond solid, and the sound is so full as to almost bursting (apparently it was recorded in a large castle owned by IRS Records impresario Miles Copeland, with impeccable acoustics - certainly couldn't have hurt), with Hogarth pushing the limits particularly; he changes rapidly between full songs to sweeping segues and quiet interludes. Rothery has never sounded this good and into his sound; he can switch course on a dime, his solos are tasteful and dynamic - no unecessary wanking here. Mark Kelly fills the sound with his varied array of atmospherics and piano flourishes, but does shine in several spots on the ivories and particularly on hammond organ, where he takes some ballistic right hand runs during Hard As Love. He turns Hollow Man into almost hopeful dirge, with the title track into an eerie dream sequence coupled with near liquid basslines and H's ethereal vocals (worthy of any Enya album). The rhythm section of Trewavas and Mosley are far too underrated - Pete is a master of economy, no over the top slap antics, but completely solid, slinky, punchy bass. His sound is dense and precise, while Mosley compliments him by keeping impeccable time (be those times odd or not) and never cluttering the compositions. Of particular note would be the lead single from the album Alone Again in the Lap of Luxury and Runaway. The album is not without it's radio-friendly bits, with Paper Lies, Hard As Love and Alone Again being good to give your Top 40 friends a taste, and Made Again makes a great ballad (it starts with a vague flavour of the Beatles Blackbird and builds to a stunning ending to not only the song, but the entire album).

Now, being an ardent Marillion fan, I could be seen as patently biased, I would like to say that while I have pretty much completely enjoyed every album since H joined as vocalist (1988), Brave sits in its own space that had I place as worthy of special status. Few can pull off something of this scope, and to have done it once, it deserves some recognition and a wider audience. It is a nearly flawless album (a line of lyric here, a symphonic section that could have been lengthened there). It shows no signs yet of being dated after 7 years, it isn't condescending or pompous while it is grand and expansive, and it actually seems to offer something for almost everyone without seemingly trying to pander to anyone.

Making this album was its namesake, and I thank Ian, Pete, Mark and the 2 Steves for being so.

Keith Jarrett: Standards

It took me quite a while to get into Keith Jarret. I was pretty young when I heard Köln, and it would be years before I would try tackling it again. It is still a meaty album to digest. But often when he works in small ensembles (read: trios) he produces material that is often easier to fall into, but no less substantive. I was hoping in renting this concert from the 80s, with solid bassist Gary Peacock and powerhouse drummer Jack DeJohnette would be yet another enjoyable experience for me, in my quest to get deeper into the rather dense Jarrett corpus of releases.

I hit a snag.

Jarrett is a known oddity on stage; he gets up and down on his piano bench, contorts over and dances while playing his piano. Most of all, he mutters, whoops, tweets and emits strange noises from his cakehole that are often contra to whatever melodic line he is playing with his hands. In almost every other time I have observed this in recordings, it has mostly been in short bursts and mixed down and not too intrusive. This release it is a different story, as he appears to be constantly broadcasting impish twittering that is bound to confuse dolphin radar and make dogs howl. Not only is it constant in this video, but it is loud...and is magnififed with all the closeup footage of him doing it, with a face and body language that looks more like a man constipated and wearing underpants of poison ivy, than a pianist of his caliber.

Peacock and Dejohnette ar ebarely given attention, even when they are stretching out. We are stuck with Mr. Squeeky-Bobo sucking up all the camera time, and it does this DVD a general disservice.

Do not bother with this one.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

The Cars - Live!

I was never a huge Cars fan. I had liked their later material enough, since I grew up during the period when You Might Think, Drive, You Are The Girl, and Magic ruled the air and video waves. Their earlier stuff had never done it for me, but it had been years since I had really listened to any of those early tracks, and I had certainly never seen early Cars performance footage. Well, I decided to rent a DVD of an early (1978/79) concert they did for the Musikladen show --reissued by Rhino Records along with new interview footage in 2000-- to see what I might have missed.

I was not let down really. While I can't say I am a new fervent convert to the Church of Ocasek and Co., I do have a newfound appreciation for how good they were at simple, hooky songs, and their stripped down arrangements had more to do with good garage rock than new wave. Songs like Bye Bye Love and My Best Friends Girl sound better than they ever did on record, and it was pretty clear that the band was a rock solid stage entity long before they became studio twiddlers. It is all and all a really good performance, with really bad haircuts, particularly Ocasek, who looks like he has a follicle bell atop his skull. But I am willing to forgive fashion that makes everyone on stage look like a cross between the the Fonz and Nada Surf's parents, if the songs and the delivery are good.

The special interview footage shows apparently the only time the 5 members appeared together since their dissolution in 1988, and it was oddly touching and enlightening, as the band members really seemed to still all get along as people and did not suffer from the massive self-destructive tendencies of so many other outfits that sold a couple dozen platinum certifications worth of units. Sad to see was co-frontman and bassist Benjamin Orr, at the time suffering from panreatic cancer, looking so frail and thin. He would pass away before the year was out, and the video is actually dedicated to him. Of note, I never had any idea that drummer David Robinson used to be in Modern Lovers with Jerry Harrison (later to join Talking Heads) and Jonathan Richman.

She's Like The...WTF!?!

Patrick Swayze. Hip Hop. No, I am not making this up.

Kid Schmuck

There really is no substance to this, as it is just someone poking fun of the rather pathetic appearance of Kid Rock these days, but then again, there has never been much substance to Kid Rock.

Really. He's useless. His 15 minutes should have been trimmed to 3.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

History Lesson

Vanity Fair recently published a little screed on the early days of hip hop, including quite a bit about the Sugar Hill label. Give it a look over.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Long Ago and Far Away; A Tale of Hair and Art

A very long time ago I was in high school at a catholic academy. I had transferred there from another catholic school for senior year. My graduating class was a group of 30 absolutely pathetic dimwits, charlatans and vanity/hubris-laden dolts for the most part, but the junior class was stacked with interesting people, most notably the two Jennifers. Both bore the initials of JK, both were very bright, very good natured and interesting. One had a sister, Liz, who was singing in a local band called VOS (and who was a case of a very big voice in a little body)*. I ended up doing some preliminary sketches for a possible promo poster for VOS, but that never really took off.

VOS had also a firecracker guitarist barely larger than her Satch model Ibanez, and staggeringly attractive in a late Daisy-dukes-and-biker-boots-with-guitar-and-80s-big-curly-hair way. I ended up working for another band, Sandbox, of which the guitarist would eventually marry the other JK, and would eventually also sport Liz as the vocalist, replete with name change to Drivin Like Buddha. Both incarnations were big-fame worthy, and I never understood fully why some A&R monkey didn't jump at the chance to sign them.

They made one indie release of their own and dissolved.**

Liz was at the time, dating a Joe Satriani protege/student, Jeff Tyson. Jeff was a staggeringly good player, who had a whole Satch and Nugent listening to Holdsworth and channelling Ian Crichton thing going on, with his band T-Ride. As hair-metal bands go, they were superior in almost every way. They could write real songs, had multi-part harmonies that worked, technically proficient without constantly wanking notes everywhere, and knew how to exploit the burgeoning tech of the day to great effect.

They made one album and disappeared, I thought forever.

The only person who up until very recently I even knew had made a post TR career was drummer/programmer Eric Valentine, who had made quite a name for himself producing bands of various levels of quality: Smashmouth (really, really bad) to The Dwarves (not so much).

Well, recently I had been listening to my old cassette of T-Ride (replete with autograph from Mr. Tyson) and wondring what on earth happened to these folks. Well, you can't say no to the in-tar-web.

Jeff Tyson is now Geoff Tyson, and recording his own material as well as in a band called Stimulator, that recently opened up for Duran Duran, and who sounds petty good. Retro 80s trashy electro-pop. Very catchy and from the video footage, looks like a decent live act.

Liz Kok now does fashion. Good for her, but I hope she has not totally given up on singing. She shows up in some other spots, like on a demo by Paul Cordero.

Long ago and far away indeed.

* To this day I am not sure exactly what VOS stood for. I was under the impression it was Voices of Saturn, but there were always anecdotes about other possibles: Vibrators On Steroids, Very Obnoxious Sirens, etc. Liz had a great set of pipes and was an above par frontperson.

** there is a lot more hostory to the Sandox/DLB saga, and a lot of it is really interesting -- but not for here on this post.

David Gilmour, For a Limited Time Anyway...

So Pink Floydian 6 stringer, David Gilmour, is working on a new solo album; for a brief time, he has some streaming video of the sessions, and an audio download. Grab it while it lasts.

Monday, December 26, 2005

New Releases

Mary J. Blige - The Breakthrough is far from its namesake, but MJB does not have to make one. Hers is always well crafted and blessed with that great voice.

Goapele (surname Mohlabane) gives us her much needed sophomore effort, Change It All, and marks her major label debut on Sony. She is one of the most slept on soul singers in recent years, and far outstrips contemporaries like Ashanti or Mariah. She dos not necessarily have the vocal range of the latter or the big names behind both, but she has truly original sounding material and a real understanding of how to work a studio (not only is she a Berklee grad, but has built her own studio where she can work in relative isolation to experiment at her leisure, unfettered by external pressures -- an atmosphere that this record reflects). Some folks that pop up include Dwele and Linda Perry.

The Notorious B.I.G. Duets is the latest shameless milking of a catalog. While I can be hopeful that something good will rise out of this, I am wary.

The second DVD by Rush drummer Neil Peart is coming out. Anatomy of a Drum Solo is a dual disc how to on making a drum solo musical instead of just aimless bashing. While there are drummers with more chops in rock (albeit not many) there are almost none with as strong a musical sense as Peart, who over the decades has made a habit or constructing memorable and often inventive percussion pieces that qualify as one man ensemble works.

Bo Bice, that homunculus dork from American Id(iot)ol subjects us to The Real Thing. To prove he is worthy of perpetual hatred, he brings along guests from Evanescence, Nickleback and Bon Jovi. The only real thing about this album is how really dumb you have to be to record it.

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan team up to put out an EP of sorts, Ramblin' Man. I have no idea what this is going to sound like, but Lanegan's output over the past few years has been of superior quality, so here is to hoping.

Aeon Flux the movie is out, and reviews have ben mixed, but the score by Graeme Revell is also being released, and Revell is usually super solid, and can incorporate synthesizers with symphonics with relative aplomb, as evidenced on scores for The Craft and The Negotiator.

Live at Madison Square Garden is a 3 cd cluster of hippy-dippy noodling and vapid stoner ear-fuel by Phish. No, I don't like Phish and their spiritual predecessor, the Dead. I also like clean air, clean clothes, clean hair, and not smelling like patchouli. 3 cds? You'd have to be stoned to stomach it.



Not so New Release

So I really liked her debut, and her follow up was even stronger, but then she kind of disappeared. I had been following up on her exploits for a while and then lost track. A whim made me think about her again and here is what I found.

She = Alana Davis.

Robbers on High Street - Fine Lines

Robbers on High Street
Fine Lines
2004 New Line Records

I guess this is an EP of sorts (only 6 tracks, which I guess is EP length these days) of a band that mines the same territory as Interpol, Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand. In some ways this is just as enjoyable as anything by those groups, and it also suffers from the same weaknesses. It is well constructed, post-punkish and pop, accessible and hipster and at times unabashedly catchy.

They stick to the basics: keep it sweet, short, and to the point. The mix is clean but a bit thin in spots. There are some real pedestrian cuts, most notably A Night At Star Castle (which sounds as stupid as its title) but How It Falls Apart is a nice mid-tempo retro ride of crunchy guitar noise and a straightahead beat. Songs like Opal Ann and If You Let Me In sound like they are trying to emulate the aforementioned bands a little too much and a little watered down, but then again, hose aforementioned largely strike me as trying to sound like watered down versions of Television and the simpler side of Iggy Pop half the time, so its 3 of one, a triology of the other I suppose. Debonair has a hint of The Fall in there somewhere, and that works for me I suppose.

It is a decent release especially if you can find it for the price that I did: 1 Dollar.

News Bits

Ok ladies and gents:

1. I have broken down and gotten myself an account on last.fm. What does that mean? I am not sure. I have no idea if I will participate in their communty directly, or just use their data collection/indexing for its curiosity value.

2. I found another great Jazz and Soul related audioblog: Jazz Picante. You know what to do...(btw, the Rui Murka and DJ Junior mixes are particularly good this week).

3. Eliot Spitzer, the paron saint of beating the tar out of greedy entertainment companies, is back on the warpath. This time it is over price collusion among the big 4 to gouge consumers on downloads. Pummel them Spitzy.

Friday, December 23, 2005

Prong & Peel

Prong was one of those bands I recall first encountering on MTV during the occasional late night watching the tail end of Headbangers Ball. By the time I had heard of them they were sporting a fatter, grime-covered sound, and sporting Killing Joke bassist Paul Raven. I found them much tighter and interesting than other metal bands, including then-kings Metallica. They had some industrial influence, but had a definite penchant for thrash that was less sloppy and more concussive.

I finally got around to picking up The Peel Sessions, which covers a short 1989 session with the late and uncanny John Peel presiding. Four tracks, 12 minutes, no filler. Just Tommy Victors strained vocals, staccato guitar riffs, and a then new band going for theirs. It is a surprisingly crisp session, with the mix being about as good as can be expected. It gives a brief glimpse into the transition from their indie releases to their stint on Epic/Sony.

The band is still going these days (and Tommy Victor has also done duty with Danzig and Ministry alongside his former bassist Raven), with a rotating cast of bassists and drummers. They are still worth listening to.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Today's Timely Eevent Hipster Wear Award...

...goes to the tongue-in-cheek t-shirt about the Sony XCP Rootkit debacle.

Part of me of course enjoys such jabs, but for the past few years I have really started to get weary of the endless sarcastic hipster noise that pervades the current pan-retro styles.

Then again, I also think Sony should be fined until they bleed out of both ears in pain for such a mendacious series of acts.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Filtering News about the Army

So it would appear that Filter is either defunct or on hiatus, now that Richard Patrick is fronting Army of Anyone (which also sports the bass and guitar team of the Delio brothers, last seen in Stone Temple Pilots and Talk Show). The drummer is Ray Luzier (who seems to have a recording history in hair and wank-metal with Shrapnel Records, as well as such notables as post-megafame David lee Roth). Their debut is supposed to be produced by Bob Ezrin, whose accomplishmentes include Pink Floyd, Kiss, Trevor Rabin, Peter Gabriel, Berlin and Alice Cooper.

I'm thinking this might be really interesting. Of course it could also end up like an Asia for the new millenium. And by that I mean Asia circa the Silent Nation album, not their debut.

(No) Good?

Plan B is another contender in the UK whiteboy rap sweepstakes, and I don't know if I am fully impressed with this track (replete with acoustic figure and appropriation of the Prodigy track No Good from their Jilted Generation release), but the video is an immensely fun stop-motion video in the vein of Big Time by Peter Gabriel.

Give it a look here.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Mariah learns French

...and not very well I might add.

I do so love it when the perpetually self-absorbed make such idiots of themselves so publically.

iPod Playlist: 12.18.05

Blasted Mechanism - Avatara (album)
Ekova - Space Lullabies (album)
Nine Horses - Snow Borne Sorrow (album)
Julian Priester - Prologue/Love Love (from the Love Love album)
Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - a few tracks from Insen
several full podcasts from Bending Corners
DJ C - Bouncement session from Blentwell

Friday, December 16, 2005

Loose Ends

So apparently at the Blue Balls Festival in Switzerland (where is the Swiss Miss when you need her), Iggy Pop was fined for being too loud. What is Swiss for "huh?!?!" Folks, I can't make this stuff up.

The RIAA (Really Imbecilic Association of the Antiquated) has filed another rash of lawsuits on customers. Keep going boys. The more you push like this the more the backlash is going to hurt later. I love the photo in the article; stacks of cd's as some kind of prop..."Look at all the product that is being pirated!" Newsflash boys. There is no piracy on p2p networks. It's theft. Different crime, and I find conflating the two as a sign of trivializing the law for the sake of PR. It is garbage, much like the RIAA/MPAA, whose reasons for existence in the current marketplace is questionable at best. Maybe if they showed some sense of precision in who they went after I would not feel such animus, but they have built a record of slapdash quality throughout. You guys are past your freshness date.

And Google is jumping into having a music content feature to showcase certain content regarding searches that would appear music related. I could definately have fun testing the bounds of that.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

TF on Lars Ulrich of Metallica

Lars Ulrich is the wet whiny pet hamster of metal.

Monday, December 12, 2005

This Weeks iPod Shuffle Mix

'Til Tuesday - What About Love
Alien Ant Farm - Movies
Adrian Belew (w/ Les Claypool and Danny Carey) - Ampersand
Sussan Deyhim (w/Bill Laswell) - Shy Angels [album]
Chris Whitley - Narcotic Prayer
The Farm - Groovy Train
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (original mix)
Laurie Anderson - Language is a Virus
James Chance & The Contortions - Dish it Out
Nine Horses - Snow Borne Sorrow [album]
Jurassic 5 - Whats Golden
Mj Cole - Sincere (Wookie remix)
Nu Shooz - Lost Your Number
Nu Shooz - Point of No Return
Public Enemy - Rebel Without a Pause
Basement Jaxx (w/ Meshell Ndegeocello) - Feels Like Home
Basement Jaxx - Good Luck (Roni Size dancefloor mix)
Little Axe - Hammering
Little Axe - Storm is Rising (Herbalizer remix)
Maxwell - Luxury:Cococure (Cottonbelly mix)
Maxwell - Lifetime (Bn Watt Lazy Dog remix)
NIN - The Hand that Feeds
Wally Badarou - Cheif Inspector
Wally badarou - Novela Das Nove
Salif Keita - Yambo
Esthero - OG Bitch
Youssou N'Dour - Set
Youssou N'Dour (w/ Neneh Cherry) - 7 Seconds
Zero 7 - In the Waiting Line
Visage - Night Train
Roots Manuva - Witness The Swords
Roni Size (w/ Tali) - Lyric on My Lip
Roni Size - Share the Fall (Full Vocal Mix)
Richard X (f/ Kelis) - Finest Dreams
Moloko - Cannot Contain This (ATFC mix)
Prince & The Revolution - Live 1986 Soundboard recording (Paris)

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Chris Botti - Night Sessions

Chris Botti
Night Sessions
2001 Sony/Columbia

Producer: Kipper

Personnel:

Chris Botti - Trumpet
Kipper - Keyboards, Bass Synth, Drum programming
Dominic Miller - Acoustic and Electric Guitars
Jimmy Johnson - Bass
Vinnie Colaiuta - Drums
Abraham Laboriel Jr. - Drums
Shane Fontayne - Guitar
Jeff Young - Additional Keys
Jeff Lorber - Additional Keys
Bill Reichenbach - Trombone
Billy Childs - Keyboards
Luis Conte - Percussion
Christian McBride - Bass
Shawn Colvin - vocals
Lani Groves - Additional Vocals
Heitor Pereira - Guitar
Marc Shulman - Guitar
Camilla - Vocals
Kazu Matsui - Shakuhachi


So, I have a problem with Chris Botti...he is an extremely talented individual, and once in a long while he will let that talent really show - once with his very impressive score for the film Caught, and once as one-fourth of the BLUE Quartet (with David Torn, Bill Bruford, and Tony Levin). He has a tone that is beautifully clean and clear and pulls a lot of emotion from use of a Harmon mute (not as good as Miles, but as relative newcomers go, he can hold his own damn well).

So what is the problem? For whatever reasons, his own solo output is spent in a surround-sound limbo that is either of his own design or because he is being led down a path of personal mediocrity. He has recently been performing with Sting, and this album shows him working closely with another recent Sting sideman, the mono-monikered Kipper. He surrounds himself with topline session folks like Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Zappa), Christian McBride (solo, The Philadelphia Experiment), Dominic Miller (Sting, Level 42), and Heitor Pereira (Simply Red, Caetano Veloso), he has mostly decent material, he has more than ample chops - where is the missing bit? The sound. He spends the album having small glimmers of brilliance among a diluted mix that is equal parts poor attempts at mimicking Mark Isham tone poems, forgettable balladry that sounds ripped off from Stings circular file, and bad acid-jazz (read: the kind that the Instinct Label made after it castrated its stable into something barely discernable from quiet-storm fluff, something not helped by the presence of Jeff Lorber, even if it is for only one track).

Maybe its Sony trying to market him to the lowest common denominator with the stupid sticker on the front of the case that reads "The Sexiest Trumpeter Since Chet Baker, Featured Soloist with Sting, an inventive composer and player...with a tone from heaven". What the fuck does comparing his sexiness have to do with a damn thing? This is jazz, not bloody Britney Spears in full proto-porn bubblegum regalia.

Before I get to the few good bits, I would like to vent on the two remaining aspects that are wrong with this release - the throwaway song contributed by Sting and sung by Shawn Colvin....frankly, it drags the listener into a bossanova coma. Sting singing it might have made it palattable, but Shawn has neither the expressiveness or the capability to make it work, so it sounds like comfort-food-starbucks-background-music hell. Kill it now, or give the song some extra kick and get someone who can give it sincerity, like Jonatha Brooke or Chaka Khan.

And now, on to the good stuff. Damn, this little boy has some tone! He really captures the muted buoyance of Miles in a few spots (without getting lost in the technical dreck as is so common in say.....Wynton Marsalis), and when he goes into floating ambience, he can certainly evoke shades of Marc Isham. That is a bigger compliment than many would suspect. You Move Me is probably the closest is gets; slow, deliberate, and haunting, with Light The Stars veering closely in that same space. Through an Open Window sounds dangerously similar in parts to a fantastic Sting B-side, January Stars.* The album closes on a somber, but infinately elegant note, with Easter Parade.

If you can find this for the special 'discovery' price it is marketed as in certain outlets, it is possibly worth a grab (unless of course, you dont like your jazz too challenging, in which case by all means grab this little puppy). Otherwise, look for his more ambitious pieces, or get the real deals: Miles, Isham, Dizzy, et al.

* On the If I Ever Lose My Faith single, it is actually one song with 2 sets of lyrics - January Stars and Everybody Laughed (But You). If you can find it, grab it, as its a little known gem.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Nine Horses - Snow Borne Sorow

Nine Horses
Snow Borne Sorrow
Samadhi Sound 2005

performed by:
David Sylvian/Steve Jansen/Burnt Friedman

additional personnel:
Arve Henriksen, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Stina Nordenstam...

David Sylvian has had a rough past few years. His last solo release, Blemish, was a dark, discordant, minimalist ride through the mind of man whose marriage of over a decade had come undone (to singer and performance artist Ingrid Chavez), had severed the saftey net relationship with longtime major label Virgin, and who seemed to have had the proverbial rug just generally pulled form under him. It was a stark, bleak bleauty that seemed like a chapter of personal catharsis. It was also truly a solo record, with almost no collaborators or session players; an isolation that the music reflected unapologetically.

Now he returns with an album under the group name Nine Horses, a collaboration with regular cohort and sibling Steve Jansen (the two have played together since their first days as glam-rock wannabes and moving into art-rock scions Japan almost 3 decades ago), and electronic mixologist Burnt (Bernd) Friedman.

The album is still dark and melancholic for the most part, but it shows the first signs of hope and renewal, both lyrically and very much musically, hinting towards earlier works like his solo work Gone To Earth (which also featured Sakamoto and King Crimson overmind Robert Fripp) and to the Rain Tree Crow project. A lush, clean soundscape of synth washes, tapping percussions and flourishes of muted trumpet, piano and staccato guitar phrases slip in and out of the open arrangements. The cryptic additional female vocals on tracks like the slinky Wonderful World are well used to balance Sylvian. Jansen plays trap kit and pads with his typical aplomb; engaging but never distracting. Friedman helps ad his funky, fringe electronic science to cuts like Darkest Bird and Serotonin, adding a punchy quality that gives the album an overall bigger breadth. Sylvian has a velvet, warm croon, and it exudes an ambience on these tracks I can only describe as "nocturnal". The overall result has mixed minimalist electronica, post-rock, organic jazz, art-pop and avant-garde brilliance. This music is a sumptuous, thick collection of what would be dazzling, were it not for the fact its genius lies in its self-effacement, rather than any attempt to force you to understand its grandeur.

Something to soak up on a quiet winter night, you just feel it.

Their website, as well as the record label has one making of movie, some sound clips, and info about the group.

You might like this if you like:
Marc Hollis/later period Talk Talk
Massive Attacks more sparse matrial
Coldfinger's first EP
Peter Gabriel - Up
Flanger
Marc Isham - Blue Sun

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Random musings

So apparently Britney has finally kicked her whitetrash prince to the curb. Of course there is irony in me writing this question: Why is this news? The short answer is like watching imbecilic ingrates with no vestige of talent get their comeuppance with that evil foe...real life.

Apparently the chances of ABBA ever reforming are nil. I would like to say I find that deeply tragic, but I would be lying. This revelation comes on the heels of an ABBA retrospective...a NINE cd box set. Nine. Plus a pair of DVDs. Asked if this is the last release by ABBA, archival or not, Bjorn Ulvaeus replied: "Absolutely ... If you ask me, yes." Please let it be true.

In news I am not sure how to read into yet, apparently it has been revealed that Paul intended to reunite the Beatles in 1979. Given my less than stellar view of Macca these days, I'll just let it be.

This weeks hip hop Darwin award goes to the idiot who shot himself with a pen gun in the head to celebrate his impending record deal.

Monday, December 05, 2005

This weeks iPod mix

Imogen Heap - several cuts from Speak For Yourself
Fishbone - Question of Life
Me'Shell Ndegeocello - Forgiveness and Love (a rare b-side), and If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night) (Gentrified 9 Mix).
Kate Bush - King of the Mountain
Dalbello - several cuts from Whore
Brand New Heavies - Boogie (Eric Kupper Mix)
Lisa Scott Lee - Lately
Allan Holdsworth - several cuts from Metal Fatigue
Wendy & Lisa - Stones & Birth (rare b-side)
Litte Axe - Ride On (Pressure Drop Mix)
Wally Badarou - Mambo (12" Mix)
Jentina - French Kisses
Toni Halliday - Chemical Comedown
Chaka Khan - Pain
Coldfiger - entire Lefthand release and several from their debut EP.

Friday, December 02, 2005

The Angel - No Gravity

The Angel No Gravity
2001 Supa Crucial/New Line Records

Producer: The Angel (aka 60 Channels)

Personnel:
The Angel - production, mixing, arrangements, keyboards,
programming, engineering Tre Hardson - vox
Mystic - vox
The Beet Provider - scratches/turntablizm
DJ Drez - scratches/turntablizm
Navigator - vox
Divine Styler - vox
Cokni O'Dire - vox, beatbox
Kevin Herlihy - guitar samples
Louis Russell - guitar samples
Katisse Buckingham - horns

This was a delicious surprise what I first listened to it. It has become sweeter with each helping. When I first caught sight of the album, I noticed the fairly gorgeous woman on the cover (yes, The Angel is a hottie) and the slick packaging. Then I flipped it over and noticed it had some fairly interesting guests: Tre Hardson and Divine Styler noteably. I picked it up on the spot.

The Angel has been around for a few years, but I do believe this is her first full-length solo outing, and it is a solid slab of chilled hip-bop funk that never rushes; it just carries you along at a dark, seductive stroll for 71 minutes. The hazy-lazy opener with Tre Hardson of the Pharcyde is about as mainstream as it gets, and it falls into a space between classic Pharcyde and newer Massive Attack, with dry gummy beats and faint brass punches. From there The Angel cycles through a stable of vocalists/MCs (only 4 of 12 tracks are instrumentals) creating an urban noir soundscape that has zero bling-bling bullshit and high on quality beats and grooves...this would be the answer to "What if Alfred Hitchcock and John Singleton were making a movie and needed a wicked soundtrack?"

Divine Styler (one of the most abstract rappers I have heard...not known for accessibility at all) pulls the most fluid rhymes of his career on Act As If [Act II remix], and Mystic provides the sultry vocals to No Gravity's most hypnotic tracks, Baltimore and Destiny Complete [Bittersweet version], evoking shades of Me'shell N'degeocello and Bahamadia with a touch of dub to taste. The dub influences are even more prevalent on the tracks featuring Jamaican singer Cokni O'Dire, with heaps of bubbling bass and echoed loops, and helps add some variety to the mix.

If you are looking for Miami Bass or Gangsta Rap, you are shit out of luck with this album, but if what you seek is dreamy trip-hop with some acid jazz and dub logic thrown in, this is a must have. No Gravity is heavy and the Angel
takes us on an illbient course in tripped-out physics...