Recent CD Purchases

[Jack of All Parades]

I tried it- first to admit I do not normally gravitate to hip-hop rhyme which is strange for me given my great love for poetry. Definitely different-canadian hip-hop- multi-lingual and folkish to boot. It might be time for me to get out of my comfort zone and gently dip the big toe into the pool. I will try to listen a few more times. A big problem for me has always been the plodding of the main verse beat in so many of this genre's songs. It just chuggs along resulting in too many forced rhymes[to my ears] just to stay within the beat. Thank you for giving these old ears something different to listen to - my daughter's consistently try to get me to listen to their favorite Urban artists.

[Poor Deportee]

I tried it- first to admit I do not normally gravitate to hip-hop rhyme which is strange for me given my great love for poetry. Definitely different-canadian hip-hop- multi-lingual and folkish to boot. It might be time for me to get out of my comfort zone and gently dip the big toe into the pool. I will try to listen a few more times. A big problem for me has always been the plodding of the main verse beat in so many of this genre's songs. It just chuggs along resulting in too many forced rhymes[to my ears] just to stay within the beat. Thank you for giving these old ears something different to listen to - my daughter's consistently try to get me to listen to their favorite Urban artists.

Hee hee, well, I'm hardly anybody's guide to hip hop! I think the idiom has a lot of potential, but hardly any of it appeals to me - least of all its commercially successful variants. Even some wildly praised figure like Kanye West seems grindingly mediocre to me. This Buck 65 guy is the exception because he is so far removed from the standard practices of the genre. He draws heavily from Tom Waits and old folk and blues albums, for instance; his influences are therefore the right ones to say something interesting. He's also from a tiny rural town in Nova Scotia and has clearly brought a radically distinct 'outsider' perspective light years removed from the often gruesomely vulgar 'urban' scene. Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1qa4Sjp ... re=related

Or, one of my favourites, 'Craftsmanship:'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TlzG4Rm ... re=related

Or this, which is close to being his signature song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8FlMdsJEmg

His body of work is somewhat uneven, but I can't recommend Talkin Honky Blues (from, I think, 2002) highly enough. Maybe I'm nuts, but I rate it as one of its decade's best albums. Totally unlike any hip hop I've heard before, full of strange outsider tales as well as sharply-observed slice-of-life moments.

[Jack of All Parades]

Thanks for this- will give them a try. The first one, Craftmanship, even has the feel of a Robert Frost poetic monologue , just think "The Hired Man", if such a thing can be. Between you and Otis, my ears are always primed for something worthwhile and they currently have plenty to contemplate.

[strangerinthehouse]

Fat Possum records was having $10 LP sale so I picked up Cape Dory by Tennis - dreamy guitar pop - and R.L. Burnside's An Ass Pocket of Whiskey - Blues album featuring an artist I've long been meaning to check out and Jon Spencer from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

Also picked up the rerelease, it's not really a reissue, of Arcade Fire's The Suburbs on CD. I listened to it in the car the last few days and still find it one of the best albums released in recent years. All the songs are great and it has a beautiful use of instruments throughout it. The two extra songs aren't very interesting though, Speaking in Tongues features David Byrne though you hardly know it by listening to the track.

The short film included is pretty cool, watching it and then listening to the album clears up some of the apocalyptic imagery throughout both.

[Otis Westinghouse]

New Wilco, though not out till late September, it's sure to be at least superb, and probably something more than that. Curiously Amazon here are charging £1.60 less for the 2 CD bonus version, cover above, than the differently covered single CD version:



Bonus CD includes a cover of Nick Lowe's 'I Love My Label', not a song I know, but I'm sure others do.

[Jack of All Parades]

Equally eager to hear the new Wilco.

John Hiatt- Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns. Strong character sketches of people existing in the backwaters of this country- of particular note for me "I Love That Girl" and "Damn This Town". I think he can do these things in his sleep now after all these years. They are sturdy constructions but rarely adventurous. There is a particularly fun addition to his string of car songs- "Detroit Made" that is most infectious. What makes this album fun for me after a few weeks of listening is the work of his road band. I really like the bass playing of Patrick O'Hearn. Just listen to "Adios to California" for a taste. The songs long for a yesterday that is past and that can start to sound too one note as a theme. One particular low point on the record is the gratuitous song to 9/11 "When New York Had Her Heart Broke- it is vapid and just plain innocuous in every bad way. A low point in his cannon for me.

Madeleine Peyroux- Standing On the Rooftop. A semi return to form following the lackluster Bare Bones of a few years ago. Her's is just one of those engaging voices that gets stronger with each subsequent album. She owns three covers on this record: "Martha MY Dear", "I Threw it All Away" and "Love in Vain". She has made them her own. I love what she did with an arrangement by Marc Ribot of WH Auden's "Lay Your Sleeping Head"- this is exciting to see an accomplished singer tackle a great poetic lyric. Working with Craig Street as producer the sound has been opened up[much like what he does for Cassandra Wilson] giving it a moodier, darker perspective[just listen to "Martha My Dear which gains substantially by loosing its jauntiness]. I applaud the musicians he brings on board like Ribot and Marshall Ndegeocello on bass. They add much needed texture to her sound. A final surprise for me was the collaboration she does with Bill Wyman on "The Kind You Can't Afford"- just a pure fun, bluesy romp relating to nighttime extra curricular activities.

[Jack of All Parades]

Otis, and any others, this might whet your interest as to the new Wilco album:

http://bit.ly/ncWotk

[Jack of All Parades]

"The Old Magic" Nick Lowe- what a pleasant creation which affirms the groundwork he laid with his last few records, particularly "At My Age". As I said on another thread, by pulling back he has so solidified his sound and he is now capable of putting out some of the most tastefully understated music coming from an aging pop act. These songs hum and burble, rather than stamping their feet for attention. They command your ear because of their understatement in arrangements, themes and instrumentation. It is the work of an older performer who understands that reflection and reverie are quite often more memorable than shouting and hollering and being boisterous. He has an almost Richard Hawley thing going on these days as his sound is filled with a lusher tone from the Fifties and early Sixties even going back to Tin Pan Alley sounds.

This album is filled with looking back, with contemplating the remaining days in one's life and with a sobering notion that what might be the best one can come to expect in the remaining time allotted to one is some companionship, that, even though it might not be one's true love, will definitely help to pass the time; that and reading as he delightfully croons in "I Read a Lot". Mortality hangs over many of these songs and Nick skewers it rightly with his "Checkout Time". There are two standouts for me on this record, the poignant "'Till the Real Thing Comes Along" with its port in the storm tone and his cover of "The Poisoned Rose". He now owns this song returning the favor to EC. His deftly understated and powerful reading of the anguish in the song is definitive.

It is an old man's record with a lightness and humor at its core. I enjoy it greatly and look forward to many more replays. I also love the album rear cover with an ebullient Nick laughing betopped with a generous mop of white hair and his horn rims, looking like a Cary Grant imposter and with a mouth full of straight, white teeth any self respecting Englishman would give a few euros to have, as well. I hope he is having as much fun in his life as that picture depicts and this album sounds like he is having.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Am awaiting the arrival of Wilco's The Whole Love. I enjoyed the streaming, but you need a good 5 plays to really get your head round a Wilco release. On immediate contact it sounded very good. Mellowish in places like Sky Blue Sky, but with the range and sheer songwriting quality heard on Wilco (The Album). Reviews I've seen are praiseful, especially of closing 12 minute, simple, beautiful 'One Sunday Morning'. Am also going to see them at London's restored and fabulous sounding Roundhouse (used for Shakespeare in the round, so should be like the revamped RSC theatre but bigger, with closer seating than a proscenium theatre and better acoustics). I wanted to stand but my diminutive missus won out over seats. Well maybe I'll see Glenn Kotche better that way, so I ain't complaining. Acoustics should be very good. On the basis of the Royal Festival Hall a year back, one of the best bands I've ever seen, even if my left-ear tinnitus seemed to be directly linked to Nels Cline's PA melting guitar antics.

Inv Pole: got the Waterboys' Yeats CD yet? Seen no reviews, but it's out, get 5 stars from the 9 on Amazon, and is sounding lovely on spotify. I got as far as 'White Birds' and just had to order it there and then (despite the supposed cutback on luxuries due to the unaccustomed financial demands of having a son at university). Fisherman's Blues was always a favourite on the car cassette player back in our Spain days, and the wonderful 'Stolen Child' one of the standouts. More of that Waterboys/Yeats combination has to be a good thing.

We're also going to see the Royal Philharmonic perform Elgar's Cello Concerto in December. One of my all-time favourite pieces of music, and not one I had on CD, so I had to replace my old vinyl copy of the legendary Du Pre/Barbirolli recording. It's just sublime.

[Jack of All Parades]

"The Whole Love"- Wilco. Only have had since Tuesday to listen but it has been playing consistently on my player at home and work. First impressions are important here and I am excited. This album comes closest for me of their recent efforts to the heights they reached with "Yankee, Hotel, Foxtrot" and its dynamic exploration of sounds and textures. They have seemingly managed to meld its bold sounds with the softer, more reflective pieces found on "Sky Blue Sky". What I can definitely hear is six superb musicians who have learned to come together as a formidable unit.

What stands out in my initial listens is the percussion work of Glenn Kotche. He makes the opening track, "Art of Almost" a formidable listening experience. His rhythms build in unpredictable patterns that allow the notes to burble in and out of the melody. It is just fun to listen to as a harmony pattern. I really love his work throughout this record as well as the piano playing of keyboardist, Mikael Jorgensen, particularly on the track, "Capital City". Nels Cline is his usual inventive playing self but he seems to play a lesser role on this record than in the past, a more supportive one to his fellow musicians in the band. The song, "Almost", is a stand out for me where all the band members just seen to have fun playing off one another, trying to outdo, what has just been played with each new chord. I also like the bonus track "Speak Into the Rose".

The initial highlight for me is the closing song- the near epic "One Sunday Morning". It is near 12 minutes of sonic bliss which tackles the topic of depression and death in a literate and enticing melange of piano and rhythm with invigoratingly elliptical lyrics. If I have one qualm with the record it is the often unfocused lyrics. I am sensitive to their randomness but overlook that because of the sheer virtuosity of the playing exhibited in song after song. This album is a keeper for me. There are now five bands working for me with a real intelligence- Radiohead, Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Elbow and Arcade Fire. What they all share is a mastery of dynamics and rhythms. That seems to be where the interesting modern pop music is going for me.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Good stuff! Mine arrived yesterday, but I've been working in the evenings and haven't played yet. Roll on the weekend. All reviews focus on 'One Sunday Morning' as being outstanding. Glad Glenn is doing it for you - was immediately struck by that on 'Art of Almost' when the streamed it. I can't wait to see him again live as he's so interesting to watch. Technically amazing but also so inventive. They really are a band whose music grows and grows in appeal. Right, going to add to iPod and fall asleep with it on the iPod...

[Jack of All Parades]

Otis- hope you blissfully drift off to it tonight. Mr. Kotche is the real revelation for me on this record. He builds sturdy and expansive platforms upon which the others can foray from in each song. This should be a record with your sensitivity to rhythm that will keep your ears active and I have to believe you will be trying to replicate them on your own 'kit'. Enjoy.

[Otis Westinghouse]

[Emotional Toothpaste]

Got the new Wilco deluxe edition yesterday and really enjoying it. Looking forward to seeing them in St. Louis on Tuesday, and of course especially looking forward to Nick opening.

Wilco is a great band. They are starting to remind me a lot of Pink Floyd though, and I mean that in a good way. Anyone else hear it? Recently I watched the video Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii, and what an acid trip that is, but can't help but wonder of Wilco is influenced by them. But they're much better than Floyd ever was, better melodies, better songwriting, and Nels Cline is much more versatile and skilled than David Gilmour ever was. And the whole band for that matter.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Do give us an account of the show. I've got a month to wait.

I'd more than smile if the setlist is anything like this one from a week ago, with several of my favourites in there:

01 Art Of Almost
02 I Might
03 Ashes Of American Flags
04 I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
05 One Wing
06 Bull Black Nova
07 At Least Thats What You Said
08 One Sunday Morning
09 Shouldnt Be Ashamed
10 [banter]
11 Born Alone
12 She’s A Jar
13 Handshake Drugs
14 Standing O
15 Rising Red Lung
16 Impossible Germany
17 Dawned On Me
18 A Shot In The Arm
19 Hummingbird
20 [encore break]
21 Via Chicago
22 Whole Love
23 [banter - Town Hall Sept 2001]
24 War On War
25 Jesus Etc
26 Im The Man Who Loves You
27 Monday
28 Outtasite

Don't really get Floyd comparisons. Two very different bands for me.

Typically positive review:

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2 ... -love.html

[Jack of All Parades]

Otis- I would only add one more to your excellent wish list- their new cover of Nick Lowe's "I Love My Label"- tart sarcasm and an equally nice nod to their opening act.

I, too, fail to hear any Pink Floyd connection. I think Wilco's electronic and rhythmic experimentation is 'sui generis'.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Was thinking that doing their Lowe cover with him as opening act would be fun. It wasn't a wishlist, though, it was a setlist from Sept 22 copied from dimeadozen. A few shows from the tour are cropping up there, hope someone tapes the second night at the Roundhouse. Its celebrated acoustics should lend themselves to a good audience recording.

Have listened to the whole thing + bonus now and am loving it. 'One Sunday Morning' is interesting, very low-key melodically/vocally, but hypnotic. Yep, the songwriting and musicianship shine throughout, and they do sound incredibly gelled as a unit.

[Otis Westinghouse]

If anyone here likes Wilco even a little, make sure you get it. It works superbly as a whole (love).

'Dawned On Me', as one critic observed, has a big slice of Supergrass's classic first hit 'Alright' running through it, but it's a fabulous song overall. 'One Sunday Morning' was a great soundtrack to this Sunday morning.

Couldn't have asked for more.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Finally got a chance to buy the new Wilco - should arrive soon, along with St. Vincent's latest. Got my eye on Nick Lowe's new album too, but it will have to wait.

[Otis Westinghouse]

I'm keen to hear St Vincent too (I was very impressed indeed by her two song contribution to the 'Rain Dogs Revisited' show I saw this summer, Steve Nieve et al). She was a bit like current hot UK ticket Anna Calvi, slashing at her Fender and coming over as scary but engaging. Loved it.

The other record exciting me right now (to read about) is the new Feist one Metals. Only heard clips so far and they sound great. Didn't get The Remainder, but clearly she has an awful lot to offer beyond '1, 2, 3, 4', pretty though that was.

Turning into a pretty good year for music. Suspect Wilco will be my favourite. There's something very rounded and satisfying about it all. Loving the title track right now.

[Otis Westinghouse]

http://wilcoworld.net/#!/henry-wilco-an ... hole-love/

[invisible Pole]

Inv Pole: got the Waterboys' Yeats CD yet? Seen no reviews, but it's out, get 5 stars from the 9 on Amazon, and is sounding lovely on spotify. I got as far as 'White Birds' and just had to order it there and then (despite the supposed cutback on luxuries due to the unaccustomed financial demands of having a son at university). Fisherman's Blues was always a favourite on the car cassette player back in our Spain days, and the wonderful 'Stolen Child' one of the standouts. More of that Waterboys/Yeats combination has to be a good thing.

Yes, I got it a couple of days ago.
Not everything on the album equals the brilliance of White Birds, but there are a few instant Waterboys classics like the wonderful, breezy Sweet Dancer, September 1913 or poignant song of remembrance and protest, Let The Earth Bear Witness.
All in all, Mike Scott and his friends in great form.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Glad you're enjoying it. Me too. There's something odd about poems you've known and loved for decades suddenly appearing set to music. I like the way it contains some of his most well known poems like 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree', 'September 1913' or 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death' and then some I'd never heard of at all (but I do have a nice complete Yeats, bought in the bookshop by the church where he's buried in Sligo, the same Gill & MacMillan edition Scott cites in the booklet, so they're all there in context). I do think 'White Birds' is the standout, but there's much to admire there, and the sound and feel of it works so well.

[Jack of All Parades]

Miles Davis Quintet Live in Europe 1967- classic second lineup featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. First go through of this Best of Bootlegs Vol.1 and I cannot be more content. I do not think there was a more harmonically sound unit anchored by Hancock and his strong rhythmic platforms on the piano and the sheer propulsion provide by the very young Tony Williams on drums. I really like what they do with Shorter's "Footprints" live and "Gingerbreadboy" by Jimmy Heath. Otis, this is some drumming to take note of!

Here is a taste from that time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkUULYE-LAA

[Otis Westinghouse]

Lovely clip. Williams was amazing. Very out there. The whole band is incredible. The Shorter and Hancock solos here would make you weep in their perfection. Is this one of the actual recordings from the CD, do you know? Four CD set - so does it repeat tracks from different shows?

This took me to this, with memories of seeing Miles in 87/88/89. Don't think I realised how lucky and privileged I was at the time.