It has been many moons since I did anything with the music that has recently crossed my transom, and I have no idea how long it will take me to get to all in the queue. I will likely do most of the jazz stuff separately (though not all) since I know many of you are strictly L7 when it comes to the groove. Some will likely creep in, but I will try to keep the corners from getting too rounded daddy-o, but after the drought of music doin', I gots to clear the chute.
Anyway - even though I sadly haven't heard anything by this new band with the best name I have heard in a long, long time - I must get on with the musica gigante de los blancos...
Tapes -n Tapes - The Loon: I am not sure if this disc and this band will end up getting lost in the shuffle of similar sounding stuff, of which there is quite a bit. That isn't to say this is bad, because it isn't, and I listen to this one beginning to end quite often. I guess it lacks a either a killer single, or, a series of really tight songs on the disc. I would put their sound somewhere between Arcade Fire and Clap Yer Hands Say Yeah, yet they lack the songwriting chops of either. I would say that you could safely pick this one up if your current tastes run somewhere in that range, but the real thing to wait on is their next CD. Loads and loads of bands that end up being quite good start with a debut that is consistently good without ever being really great. This could well be one. (C+)
John Coltrane & Miles Davis - The Complete Prestige Sessions: To complement my acquisition of the best of Trane & Miles from their second go-around on Columbia, I picked this box set up. While the other box is preferable to my ear, there is no way around the fact that what is on this box set is nothing short of a human achievement. I bitch about Miles being a bit of a bitch (which he was), but at his best, he was amazing. He too made some giant steps forward for jazz/American Classical Music, and that is all over this box set. While this era precedes much of the kind of playin' and blowin' that made me love Coltrane as much as do, you can spot his talent here in an instant (That isn't to say the verdict is unanimous...on disc 4 they include this group's appearance on the early Tonight Show with Eternal Asshole Steve Allen. Steve Allen - for all his condescending tastemaker self-righteousness - doesn't even know who Coltrane is, and doesn't even get his name and instrument right. He has to be corrected. Just one more example of Steve Allen proving that he was one of America's Biggest Assholes Of The 20th Century. But I digress...) There is no way to miss with this box, or the Columbia one. If you buy it and don't like it, I am sorry to say, there is something wrong with you. It isn't the music, it is your lack of patience or taste. I am not saying this to be an asshole. Really. I am saying this because if I had bought this 5 years ago I would have said "That's nice", and then never listened to it again. That would have been very bad, and I now know that it would have happened because I lacked the patience needed to follow what is being done here. Thankfully, that patience came, and then turned into reverence. So so good. (A)
Six Organs Of Admittance - The Sun Awakens, Dust & Chimes: Sun Awakens is the new one, D&C is an older one. I must admit, I am not enjoying either anywhere near as much as I do stuff like For Octavio Paz, School of the Flower, and some of the other stuff I have from them. As I say whenever I discuss these albums, I generally use them as background music when I am reading, writing, and/or working. I am not sure how artists want their music used, but for me, S.O.O.A. is something that I like because it has long passages that are kinda just there (and I mean that in a good way), but then there are usually amazing flurries of guitar, or a little free drumming, or something else I dig, and this will jar me for just a little without distracting me. I love music that can do this. It is music that I can listen to for long stretches. On some dreary Sunday where I am sitting around the house doing an epic reading session, for example, I can put the best S.O.O.A. albums on back-to-back and have total media/art immersion. Time just goes by. I love that. These two new CDs I have added to the collection aren't really working that way for me. The new one has a little too much electric guitar on it for my taste, and too many singing songs. The old one is still a little early in the career for me. The Eastern religion feeling on it is too strong, and Mister Chasney was still feeling the need to sing what he sings in a slightly phony sounding devotee-patois. Later on, he was no less spiritual about it all, but he did his singing in a style that was much more natural for a NorCal Dood. Anyway, I am still big on Six Organs and still willing to give their music a shot anytime I can pick up a new one, but these two are ones I am either going to need to adapt to, or they are gonna end up at the back of the binder. We shall see. (The Sun Awakens - C, Dust & Chimes - C)
Johnny Cash - Personal File, American V - A Hundred Highways: I love Johnny Cash. I like pretty much anything he did solo or with June. It is hard to say anything bad about him or his music because the only real distinction is between what I like and what I love. His death made me very sad (especially since it was overshadowed by a no talent like John Ritter), but at the same time, I suspected he was ready to go ever since June died. In my heart of hearts, I hope they met on the farside banks of Jordan, just like they said they would on that last June Carter Cash solo album. That would be exactly what they deserve for being who they were. The flow of music from Johnny in the last 10 years or so has been fantastic. I love the American series, each in their own way. I will admit to my preference for the first of the series, but as time passes, each one grows on me in its own way. Even that huge, sprawling box set from a few years ago is starting to make some sense. I am sure that #5 will take its place. At first blush, it is kinda sad and depressing. It really is an album that feels like someone preparing for and celebrating their own death. Naturally, people are free to do this if they like, but I can't say it is something I want to be terribly voyeuristic about - at least not everyday. As I listen to it more, I do understand how one can sing of these things in this way without reveling in the bad part, but rather seeing joy in it. That is one of Johnny Cash's great gifts. I must also say (and for some weird reason I feel cosmically connected to Johnny Cash because of things like this) that I take great pleasure in the fact that his final recording of an original song is - in large part - about a train. Yes, it is about the train that will take his coffin away, but hey, IT IS ABOUT A TRAIN! I have always thought that his signature 'Boom-Chicka-Boom' sound was his musical representation of the sound of a train. One can easily find his deep love of trains throughout his career; he was quite open and celebratory about it. Lots of people like Johnny Cash, but this has always been my special thing with him. He likes trains. I like trains. WE BOTH LIKE TRAINS! That's my people! Orange Blossom Special, Hey Porter, Ballad Of John Henry's Hammer, Like The 309..."The Rail's Are Washed Out North Of Town", "Down There By The Train", "I hear the train a comin', it's rollin' round the bend!" It's there on his last work just like it was on the first. If you have ever liked Johnny Cash, American #5 is a pretty safe bet. He sounds old, the songs are sad, but it is still him. And frankly, it is him with his heart on his sleeve. You know that is something you will eventually warm to even if it doesn't grab you hard on the first listen. I know that is how things will go down for me. As for Personal File, I have to admit that I think it is as good as most of his American Recordings era stuff even though it is almost all cover songs recorded almost 30 years ago. If you are a hardcore fan of his acoustic stuff, Personal File is an absolute must. While he didn't originally record these for release (the tapes were found stashed in a safe of John's), it is only right that they were released. It showed the full range of what Johnny was always about. It is a great mix of the spiritual and the worldly. I lean towards the worldly, particularly the awesome covers of Jim, I Wore A Tie Today and Saginaw, Michigan. The songs are spread out over 2 discs, and they were issued within just a few weeks of the American #5, so I haven't had time to digest it all (it is a ton of music!), however, I have had it on at home, in the car, at work, and just about anywhere I could, and it totally works for me. In time, I am sure I will come to love it. Personal File (B+), American #5, A Hundred Highways (B+)
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere: I loved the Gorillaz album with Dangermouse on it, but I had zero interest in getting this disc because I had zero interest in Cee-Lo. Then I heard Crazy. That is probably going to end up being my song of the year. It is easily the best of the summer. It is absolutely amazing. I had no idea Cee-Lo had it in him (the subject matter of Crazy seems a recurring theme throughout, and his honesty about that stuff is admirable.) What an amazing (positive) surprise. My inner debate was whether to buy the single or the album. When I read that the album had a cover of The Violent Femmes' Gone Daddy Gone on it, I bit. I felt like that would be pretty good too. As it turned out, that was a bust. For the most part, the entire album is a bust. There is no equal to Crazy on it (then again, there is no equal to that song on any album out right now.) In fact, much of it sucks. It feels like someone had a brainstorm session in which they listed every genre of black music that made it onto AM radio in the 60s & 70s and they attempted to put together an album that has an homage to each on it. If they could do with the other genres what I think Crazy does with the Al Green thing, this would be a masterpiece. Again...it is nowhere near a masterpiece. In fact, some of the songs are downright embarrassing to listen to - i.e. Necromancer. I would say that if you must get a CD of theirs, get the single of Crazy. (Without Crazy, it is a D+. With Crazy, it is a C+)
Cat Power - Willie Deadwilder: I finally got the DVD concert thingie she did. I haven't watched it yet, which isn't to say that I won't, but in large part, I bought this to get the bonus CD of this song. I wanted it because M Ward plays the guitar, and I read on Amazon that it was about a Bob Dylan song. Well, as it turns out, it really isn't about Bob Dylan. It could have been. Miss Marshall has an incredible catalog of music in her melon, including what appears to be a significant interest in Dylan (as I always say, her version of Dylan's Path Of Victoryunseats Odetta's to my mind...she totally shows what a Woody Guthrie wannabe Dylan was at first - not that that's bad.) As it turns out, even though this one song is 18 minutes long, it really isn't even a talking blues. It kinda is, but not like the really good ones (of which I think Dylan's Highlands is one.) I am glad I have it since it is good (it made the "late period" mix CD I have of Madame Marshall), as it comes from the sessions of the You Are Free album, which is among my favorites. I can't say you need the song unless you are pretty heavily into Cat Power, which I am becoming more and more with time. If you are a huge Dylan fan, she does mention To Ramona, but it is just a singular verse more than being central to it - at least as far as I can tell. (C)
Karl Blau/D+ - Beneath Waves, Clothes Your I's, D+, Mistake, Dandelion Seeds, Deception Pass: I have no idea how I came across Karl Blau, but I did, and this has been mostly good. The stuff he does with D+ isn't that good (across the 4 CDs I got - from the bargin bin - there really is just a handful of stuff I wanted to listen to twice), but his solo stuff has some stellar moments, and even the stuff I don't like, I am finding is growing on me (within limits...there are a few moments that make me wince.) The real highlights are on Beneath Waves. The song Crashing Waves in particular has really stuck with me and made it into heavy rotation. If you are a K Records fan, this stuff does kinda fit the template of slacker folk a la The 1990s. What sets it apart for me is that there is a slight jazz sensibility to it. There is this sound he repeats using a slightly sour sounding clarinet and sax throughout, and for some reason it separates it from the overwhelming amount of slacker-ish folkie stuff that has been out there for the last few years. On the earlier album, there really isn't exactly that kind of thing to separate it, but the songs are generally strong, and if you get Beneath Waves and like it, you might like it (though you probably should get it used and/or from the cheap bin...doing so was easy for me.) At minimum, you might download the song Crashing Waves - who can't use a slightly sour, slacker sea shanty for the road? (Beneath Waves - B, Clothes Your I's - C, All D+ = D)
Black Keys - Chulahoma, Big Come Up, Thickfreakness: I bought the recent Junior Kimbrough tribute thingie they did, and liked it. Getting the others used and cheap was surprisingly easy, so I got them too. They also are a good listen. I guess this is pretty much as it is often described: a slightly more sincere (to the blues) White Stripes without the cute girl drummer or really any cuteness to speak of - in fact, as I will demonstrate, they are quite repulsive to look at. Anyway...) They do with Muddy Waters/Slim Harpo/Willie Dixon/Son House/etc. what countless white people have done, but without question, they are better than 99% of them. They make great driving songs, but I can't say they hold up as much more than driving music or background music. They are just too fawning to pay too much attention to. In order for whites to be reverential to the music, they have to play off of the "Devil Got My Woman & She Done Me Wrong" vibe, and it is almost never convincing. If I pay too much attention to what they are saying, I am reminded of this completely repulsive photo. To see it makes them all too clear - at least to someone with my bias. Affected Akron nerds as bluesmen is laughable. It is actual laughable first, and nauseating second (why must musicians continue that phony "looking off camera" pose anymore? It NEVER worked, and it is just keeps getting dopier and dopier.) If you wanna enjoy them, don't look at their picture at all. That may make it easier to take at face value. If you must look at an electric blues duo, get the White Stripes Blackpool DVD...it might be the best concert video I have ever seen. (Chulahoma - B-, Big Come Up - B-, Thickfreakness - C+)
Holly Golightly - In Blood: This is a disc she did with Billy Childish. Billy Childish's material has been in nearly every college town CD store's bargain bin for as long as I have had to do my music shopping in stores other than Target. I have seen the name over and over. It looked too British and too boring to me to ever look at twice. My instincts were correct. I love Holly Golightly and would gladly subvert any element of my own identity or feelings for even a chance to shack up with her for a long cold British winter. I have nothing but love for that woman. Since she was brought to the world by Billy Childish (he made a band out of the girlfriends of his fellow band members. His band was Thee Headcoats. The girlfriend group was Thee Headcoatees. He wrote their songs, including Come Into My Mouth - which is a song as vulgar as the name implies - which the lovely Holly Golightly sang.) That she went solo and has run rings around him is something I am sure is not lost on him. As similar as their influences are, Billy Childish really is a devotee to a One Chord ethic. Years after Holly started doing her own stuff, she paid him the favor (at least to my mind) of going back and doing an album with him in which they literally only use one chord's worth of notes for the whole thing. That isn't enough to sink the album actually. You can do enough with one chord's worth of notes to make it listenable. Listenable is different than good. And when the best you can do with a Holly Golightly album is make it tolerable, you have proven yourself to be a turd. On that basis, I must say that I don't see myself going back to this disc often, if at all. I might be able to find one or two songs to fill out a mix CD of Holly stuff, but even that isn't a sure thing. What a waste. (D+ - the + is for Holly. Otherwise, it is an F)
Grant Lee Phillips - Nineteeneighties: Ooh. This isn't good. This is the first thing he has done that I can't listen to. It is all covers of stuff I (for the most part) loved by a guy a like a lot, but it just doesn't work. In fact, some of it is embarrassing. I don't know why he thought one could do an Americana acoustic read of late period Joy Division - for example - but he did think this. To be fair, a few of these covers work, but for the most part, they are embarrassing. I hope he isn't out of good ideas for good. Sorry Grant. I still dig yer stuff...I am still rootin' fer ya...I just need ya not to do any more cover albums of alt.hits like Dylan of 1961 might have done.(D+)
Posted by rudayday at August 10, 2006 01:56 AM