Chasing The Spirit of The Dead

Dead Can Dance combine elements of European folk music -- particularly music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance -- with ambient pop and worldbeat flourishes. Their songs are of lost beauty, regret and sorrow, inspiration and nobility, and of the everlasting human goal of attaining a meaningful existence. It is some of the most unique music to come out of the 80's and 90's. It is some of the most interesting music I have in my collection. I never thought I would like it, but once in a while it's world fusion and explorations are something that is quite interesting to listen to.

It all started when I was working at the local library. I had this regular patron who came in who loved music like I did. He had a bit more music maturity on me, but he was a big fan of female vocalist. He was a fan of people like Sandy Denny, Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and so many others. He was the same person who introduced me to Kate Bush and as they say the rest is history. What my friend did which was clever was introduce me to music I would never thought I would listen to. The introductions to female vocalist were just the wide range of music he turned me on to. He had friends who also loved great music. They too listen to music that was not even mainstream. People like Michael Hedges, David Lindley, Steeleye Span among others were some music his friends explained to me how important some of these artist were just what I should be hearing and appreciate.



One day my friend met me after work. I saw his car when I was going to the parking lot. I came over to him and he was playing this world type fusion music. I had no idea what to think. It was a bit different of what I had previously exposed to, but the female vocals were present. I did not know what to think, I liked it, but it was not full of what I would call Rock N' Roll. It was different and something if I closed my eyes I would be taken to some far away land that was peaceful and beyond words beautiful. I listened to the music coming out of his car for at least twenty minutes. It put me in a trance and I could not listen to normal music for the rest of the day. It was really hypnotic.

This music from Dead Can Dance was a great sound to me. I needed something beside the Jazz I was listening to at the time. As you read in early blog posts I listened to a lot of different music other then popular music at this time. I fell in love with King Crimson again and I was sick of the MTV overplay and overkill of just about everything. When I was handed a copy of Dead Can Dance I knew that there was something good out of this. I mean twenty minutes of greatness that has you hooked right away takes some great push. What they did was pure magic in more ways and words then I could ever describe.



What Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard made was unique and wonderful. Dead Can Dance's Spiritchaser has a feel like no other and the music they do is very good. I am not sure how to tell you more about this music, but I just suggest that you listen to it and decide for yourself. With another combination and arrangement of multiple influences coming to bear, this music is great at first listen and many listens afterwords. It was also the end of Dead Can Dance's career. It is is a fitting bookend to a great career. The music is new and great and something that I suggest you try out for yourself. Listen and enjoy, it's a great break from hearing guitar, bass, drums and vocals. It is quite unique and something that might just give you an idea why I am drawn to world music. Enjoy!

"Nusrat, He's My Elvis"

The quote on the title of this post is from Jeff Buckley. He mentions this on the re-issue of his first EP, Live at Sin-e. He mentions to the small crowd that Nusrat is one of his inspirations. It is still a long list of influences that Jeff Buckley credits for being a musician. It is one reason you can hear some of this all over the music he put's out. It was not the first time I heard someone mention Nusrat as a person who should be heard. There are other people who also feel the same way. I heard Nusrat again back when I was not listening to Rock. I found his music soothing and really in some ways inspirational.

The music is called Qawwali or Sufi religious music. It is credited with leading Pakistani youth to discover and getting these youths to listen. The genre features dreamy, atmospheric keyboards and guitars, simple, mid-tempo rhythms, and a kind of low-key understatement that, depending on your point of view, sounds either profoundly mystical or else tedious and bland. I really don't find it bland, but I do find it a great eye opener as far as new musical worlds to explore. Nusrat is very hypnotic to the ears and I know it might take a bit to listen to him, but believe me it will be worth it in the end.



I did not listen to much international music when I was younger and the experimental year of 1996 changed my perspective. Working with a variety of music projects personally I got exposed to many of these world influences. Even the soundtrack to Dead Man Walking which featured a song with Nusrat and Eddie Vedder gave me more reason to listen to his music. I had a few world music albums in my collection, but I really did not look to them as something that was a needed listen. I wish I heard this music sooner then later, because I am sure I would have been better prepared.

I do regret that I never saw him when I was alive, but if I did I think I would feel the same way Jeff Buckley felt about him. Somewhere above I bet they are sitting together thinking on making the best album in the world. They would get a little help from Nina Simone and the rest would be history. I know I would be going wherever they would be up there and sitting in begging them to work together. The genre features dreamy, atmospheric keyboards and guitars, simple, mid-tempo rhythms, and a kind of low-key understatement that, depending on your point of view, sounds either profoundly mystical or else tedious and bland. With West African kora and electronic backing. It is really great music. Good music to zone out to, that is for sure.


"Sweet Pain" might be the strongest track, beginning deep in dream space with a wandering bassline and a simple backbeat, and then heating up to powerful close with Nusrat delivering spitfire scat. My still favorite is "My Comfort Remains" the wonderful skill of Michael Brook on guitar with the odd electronic loop and Nusrat's singing is pretty much magic for me. This stuff is great and the album Night Song is one of the best. Nusrat has a few out there. That too is just the tip of the iceberg. Check out Night Song. It's a good leap into the unknown and I am sure you will listen like I do and go "wow." Enjoy and don't forget to share with your friends.

Smokin' With Wes

The first time I heard Wes Montgomery was on a CD sampler my uncle owned. It was not anything flashy, but the guitar playing was a bit more out of this world. Hearing that one song got me to think I should check him out. I guess the sampler served it's purpose and it did a good job of letting a naive kid who knew nothing about Jazz or Jazz guitar into a fan for life. The song was simple, but it was the solo that kinda caught me off guard. I loved guitar as a kid and now hearing this I wanted to learn how to play. I knew I was not going to be good as that, but hey I had to dream right??

What was great about Wes Montgomery was the fact he was smooth as silk and even better was the fact that my uncle told me that everything he does is great. There is nothing bad in his repertoire. I understood that and thought about how a man like this is not talked about with my friends. We all liked music, we even liked guitar type music weather it was Rock or Jazz. This is something I needed to hear more of. My uncle was kind enough to let me borrow a simple greatest hits retrospective of Wes's work. It was a good introduction and also a good launching pad on what to listen to and what to look for in future buys if I was going to find some of his work. Little did I know that his music would stick with me for a long time.



Everything on the compilation was a masterpiece of music. I could not believe that Wes's music escaped me for a while. When I was reading the liner notes to the tape it kept on referring to him in past tense. You mean he was no longer living. I could not hear a fresh new music by him? When I gave back the tape to my uncle he told me about his untimely death in the late 60's. My uncle did tell me that some of his best music was from the 60's, so all the stuff I needed to hear was in his collection. The notes in the tape even told me what albums to get. One of these was Smokin' At The Half Note. Two of the tracks were featured on the tape I borrowed. Those two were also the ones with the lasting impressions on me. The solos of Wes were crisp and most of all amazing. I never heard such great playing. Everyone including Wes were in fine form.

I was able to borrow Smokin' At The Half Note from my uncle and after just one listen I was convinced that Wes was the best guitar player in the world. Well, he in my opinion is one of my top fifteen. His solo's are great and the rest of the band was really on fire. They too were great musicians. Each person in the band was playing out of their mind. It was wonderful stuff to hear as a first time Jazz guitar listener. It must have been awful for people who are learning Jazz guitar because of the so little effort and so much ease Wes was playing these tunes. The one that was my favorite called "Unit 7" just blows my mind on how great it is. The solo by Wes has my jaw drop every time I hear it. It really is something. Pat Metheny even say's it's one of his favorites and I could see why. Classic all the way.



The album is great and really shows what a live performance can do to a musician. Wes, plays better then anyone here and I suggest that you pick it up as well. The guitar is wonderful and the he knows were to put those wonderful notes. I will tell you this, it's a great Jazz album that should not be missed and should be listened to closely and I am sure it will great to your ears as well. Check this out and I know you will be telling me "how come I missed this great album." Enjoy! Classic among classic's here. Enjoy!

This What??

The first time I heard This Heat, I did not know what to make of them. I really thought that this was a joke. This band, was one of the biggest influences of the seventies Post-Punk movement. I did not see any of that at first listen. It took a lot of convincing of that. I always give something a listen, but this at one point was a stretch for me. I decided one more time to give it a listen. My friend made me a tape copy of the album simply called This Heat. What did it for me is the draw of ideas that started with Can and Faust and from there they added more then that. Their genius was the fact they were ahead of their time. They did things on this album that did not show up in some music circles till the 1990's post rock ideas. Talk about the future, here it was and I did not get it. It took me about three years to understand just one album.

Their angular juxtapositions of abrasive guitar, driving rhythms, and noise loops on the opening cut, "Horizontal Hold," preempt much later activity in the electronica and drum'n'bass scenes. The outstanding "24 Track Loop" is based around a circular drum pattern that could have been a late-'90s jungle cut were it not recorded in late-'70s London, long before such strategies were even dreamed of in breakbeat music.(AM) It was more then what is described in allmusic.com, it is something that takes the mind a while to dissect and really truly understand. Its abrasive, warped rhythm, sounding like King Crimson's Larks Tongue in Aspic. The music of the bands I mentioned above and also Neu! make this music in someway essential.



Their self-titled debut is a radical conglomeration of progressive rock, musique concrète, free improvisation, and even -- in a bizarre distillation -- aspects of British folk can be heard in Charles Hayward's singing.(AM) Every genre that I listen to with better intent is on this album. The music here was not yet created yet, but somehow This Heat did create it and the people that I listen too, like me finally figured out what was all the great fuss. For me it was a tougher sell not being a true musician. It was the music geek's pot of gold. The music even sounds like a machine. It might be not so good at first, but in due time it finally hit you on the back of the head like it should. Not much music can do that to me. Modest Mouse did it with lyrics, This Heat does it with it's shear unique and odd ways that really are hard to talk about or describe.

My hearing This Heat for first time happened in a Wire magazine sampler. They gave this wonderful description of how important they were and that they are near as an essential listen as some of the other stuff they talked about. I took a listen to the song in this sampler and I really at first thought it was Wire trying to be funny. When I dived into the article about them I realized where they were coming from. Some of the music I did listen to is really the because of the result of This Heat. The music may be odd and really not the simple, but it maybe the complex that makes the difference. I was so involved in the music or the genre the band I was listening to; I did not know what was the origin of it's beginnings. This Heat was the beginning of all the stuff I needed to hear.



There are very few records that can be considered truly important, landmark works of art that produce blueprints for an entire genre. In the case of this album, it's clear that this seminal work was integral in shaping the genres of post-punk, avant rock, and post-rock and like all great influential albums it seemed it had to wait two decades before its contents could truly be fathomed. (AM)

Don't take Allmusic's word for it. This Heat is very essential. It may take some time to figure out, but the reward will be there for you. I like This Heat and when I first got my own copy, it was liking going down a whole new area of music I never discovered. Take a listen and enjoy! I am sure you will thank me later. Rock on!!

Hot Zappa Rats

Today on December 21st would have been Frank Vincent Zappa's 70th birthday. Kinda sad to see him gone. His music has always been a favorite of mine. I grew up listening to his music with my best friend and had the chance to even see him play once. He was a life changer. The music was so complex I still trying to figure out what he was doing. I really thought his early stuff was the best. I would listen to most of that early stuff and just try to understand what he was trying to do. It was just awesome the power he could do. What was more amazing was how he put it together all so well. What was hard for me was to pick an album not only for this blog as my favorite, which I did, but to find another one to write about that is just as good because truth be known, they are all great pieces of work.

I wanted to post an album that was part of his solo work. I did Freak Out and really liked talked about in a previous blog. I wanted to do a early solo album. I chose Hot Rats because that is the album once I first bought, I would not get it out of either my stereo or my CD player in the car. I loved it so much I think I overplayed the cassette. Every time I look at the cassette it looks a little worse for wear. It only had six songs, but those six songs had more music in them then anyone could do. Not only that, his backup musicians on this album were a who's who of people who intern would go on to other great things. These people include; Lowell George, Jean-Luc Ponty, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, and non other the Shuggie Otis.



From the drum opening on "Peaches En Regalia" to the cameo by Captain Beefheart this album truly shines. It really does have a working for a classic. Well, it actually is one. Someone asked me one day about my top five Zappa albums and this one and the other one I talked about in my blog are in my top five. Zappa's music from the late sixties was something that I have appreciated after more and more listens. The songs are full of so much that is going on. No one in there right mind could create this other then Zappa. Even better still is the music on this album is mostly instrumental. The only song that is not features the cameo of Captain Beefheart called "Willie The Pimp." It is to me one of the mot unique of all the Zappa albums.

While Zappa's music is mostly scene at something as humor, this album with it's instrumentals shows that Zappa can actually create really great music. The band is truly on and everyone put's in a very good performance. It's an album if I had friends who were talented enough to play, ( I actually do have some really great friends who are musicians) I would create such an album. The music is timeless and does not feel dated at all. I love every song on the album.



Zappa composed, arranged and produced the album himself. His primary instrument on the album is lead guitar. "Willie the Pimp", "Son of Mr. Green Genes", and "The Gumbo Variations" are showcases for his powerful and unconventional solo guitar performances. Four of the tracks have intricately arranged charts featuring multiple overdubs by Ian Underwood. Underwood plays the parts of approximately eight to ten musicians, often simultaneously. His work includes complicated sections of piano and organ, as well as multiple flutes, clarinets and saxophones.

Few albums originating on the rock side of jazz-rock fusion flowed so freely between both sides of the equation, or achieved such unwavering excitement and energy. With that being said, I do really think this is a no brainer. I would pick this up as soon as you can. Check out what happens when you have wonderful talent matched with the great Frank Zappa. There is enough to digest with the six songs and I know I will be thanked afterwords. Enjoy!

4th Faust!

Faust made (er, makes) pretty, catchy, slightly disturbing noise. In their early 1970s heyday, they recorded versions of pop, psychedelia, tape, and electronic music-- but really, they just played Faust music, alienating their record labels, each other, and generally being impossible to either classify or market. By 1974, categorization threatened to ruin the reception of their fourth LP-- long considered their "sell out" record by die-hard fans due to an alleged concession to more palatable songs and mixes-- but as the concept of pretty/catchy noise isn't necessarily as wtf now as it would have been then, the record's rep has mostly recouped. And I guess that's the lesson of Faust: Make the music you want to make, take the drugs you want to take, escape from the outside world when you can, and for god's sake, BE PRETTY/CATCHY/DISTURBING.

IV was Faust's second release for Richard Branson's fledgling Virgin Records. The band had recently been dropped by Polydor, and though Branson wasn't willing to pay them the huge advance sum manager/svengali/credit-taker Uwe Nettelbeck had nabbed from their previous label, he would let the band use Virgin's state-of-74 recording studios at the Manor in Oxfordshire to cut a new album. Faust left Germany for England, played a few shows, and even managed to compile the super-classic The Faust Tapes for Virgin-- with which they promptly guerilla attacked the UK charts by selling it for half a pound-- all before starting work on what would become IV. They even shared studio space with a young Mike Oldfield, whose Tubular Bells would soon help bankroll Virgin into Really Important Label status.



Of course, before the album was done, things got messy: Nettelbeck stepped in to compile the record from Faust's sessions at the Manor (and previous ones in Wümme, Germany) without consulting the band, in turn prompting founding members Hans-Joachim Irmler and Rudolf Sosna to quit. This then forced those who remained-- Jean-Herve Peron, Zappi Diermaier, and Gunter Wüstoff-- to recruit members of Slapp Happy and Guru Guru to fill out their touring band in order to promote IV. By 1975, the band cut (or were relieved of) its ties with Branson and Virgin, reconvened to record a few tracks at Giorgio Moroder's Munich studios for an album that was never completed, and eventually, unceremoniously dissolved. Not much was heard from the Faust camp before the band reunited (sans a couple of members) in 1990, and released Rien in 1994.

So, do you know Faust yet? As an album, IV matches the band's trajectory: Jumbled, fragmented, with random data integrity issues, but seeming more the brainchild of inspired pop anarchists than calculating avant-gardists. Yes, the record sounds more "professional" than any of their others, but somehow that doesn't actually equate to slick sounds: Opener "Krautrock" (which Irmler says was inspired by the band's perception of the British still fearing the "krauts") is on the noisiest end of Faust's spectrum, using distortion and feedback as springboards for tripping into galactic clouds. For better than seven minutes, minute gradients of angelic, overdriven major-chord-sheets are exploited by who knows what devices before the drums come in and the track moves from milky, third-ear noise into MINDFUCKING KRAUTROCK. And before you can explode from the sonic congestion, "The Sad Skinhead" starts, replete with ridiculous 60s go-go beat and skank guitar. They sing, "Apart from all the bad times you gave me, I always felt good with you," "Going places, smashing faces-- what else could have happened to us?" I say needlessly: it's a jam. And then they keep going.



The gorgeous psych-ballad "Jennifer" provides a suitably jarring transition from the previous song, and is further proof that the band (Sosna in this case) were capable of writing actual "songs," with melodies and chords that in some other, non-acid-baked circumstance, might already have been attached to a Volkswagen ad by now. The pulsating bass drone, backed by eerily distant organ and guitar arpeggios, provides the perfect, glowing backdrop for lines like "Jennifer, your red hair is burning," but this song is a good example of how dissecting individual Faustian innards often yields much less than the whole-- it's the sum shine that matters.

"Just a Second (Starts Like That!)" begins as a relatively conventional guitar jam, but soon devolves into electro-noise that reminds me of some of the space-tropical music on Hosono & Yokoo's Cochin Moon-- but the fractured nature of the piece is pure Faust. They go one better on the next track. Right down to the fucked-up tracklisting (which double-confusingly appends names of forthcoming tracks to the previous one), the medley of "Giggy Smile" and "Picnic on a Frozen River" may be the ultimate Faust moment, crossing strains of rock otherwise totally, transitionally opposed-- in this case, fake blues-rock and synthy surf-pop-- in the name of "why the fuck not?" And to no fan's surprise, it is also a magic song.



So is "Läuft...Heißt Das Es Läuft Oder Es Kommt Bald...Läuft". Appearing later on the 71 Minutes compilation as "Psalter", it fits in perfectly on IV: the first half of the song is based on a finger-picked acoustic guitar figure (playing what sounds like 6/4 + 7/4, or hey, maybe 13/4), but adds layers of drums, handclaps, flutes and what sounds like a bowed string (?) of some kind. In any case, what sounds complicated actually comes out pretty lovely, and certainly the most hummable song in 13 that I know. The song ends on a solemn, almost distractingly plain-faced organ postlude. Even with distortion cranked up in the final minute, this is the kind of thing they should be playing in church to fool me into going.

IV ends perfectly with Peron's "It's A Bit of a Pain". This is essentially a strange take on pleasantly psychedelic, 70s So Cal country-rock, but its true awesomeness can only be appreciated by following the lyrical narrative:

It's a bit of a pain
To be where I am.
It's a bit of a pain
To be where I am.
But it's all ri-- BBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

courtesy of Pitchfork Media, god knows how I would have written about an album that is really hard to understand. It's a classic, and well worth the effort to listen. Track it down and pick it up. Might be one of the oddest things in your collection. Enjoy!!

"Once you've heard Beefheart," he said, "it's hard to wash him out of your clothes."

Dear Don Van Vliet,

I first heard you back when I was in High School. I heard you on some radio station that I loved hearing odd musical selections. It was a radio program that introduced me to people like CAN, Love, Blue Cheer, early Frank Zappa, The Fall, This Heat, The Feelies, and of course you and your wonderful poetry and music. I did not know what to think of your music at first, but after a few listens I realized that I liked what you were doing. The music was complete different in what I was listening to at the time. I learned that your music had deeper meaning then at first listen. The music and the musicians you had playing this stuff was pure genius. I learned that you really did see everything a bit differently then most. I had deep respect for that because you see I was different too. My world of being a geek and getting laughed at withdrew me from normal things. Yea, I know it's part of a High School thing, but I really thought your uniqueness made me feel better that I was also different.

I wish I had the chance to see you play. I bet you and the band kicked ass and took no names. After high school I listened to more and more of your stuff and each album grew me more and more interested in your stuff. Your poetry was a gift that I never have seen since. I kept on loving what you did and as a young adult I tried my best to tell people about you, but most people wanted to hear the latest crap that was out. They were not interested in your way of seeing the world. If you continued with music I am sure you would have had some great stuff to say. I wonder what you would have thought! God, only knows!

Over the years your music has so much meaning to me and it really expresses so much to this really messed up world. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and thanks for the great memories that you brought to me. You will be one of my true favorites and thanks for everything.

Peace and Love,
Matthew

ECM Records

Hey everybody!

Just to let everybody know I will be doing a radio show this Sunday coming December 19th 2010 on radio station WRSI. This show is going to feature the music of the man in the below photo. That man is Manfred Eicher. He is the man responsible for founding the record label ECM records. ECM (Editions of Contemporary Music) is one of the really most important labels that featured music in a new light. The music that is on ECM is Jazz, Classical, and some of the most interesting music you will hear. The music might be challenging, but it is fun to hear the sounds of the early years which I am doing part one of. The music on this show will feature the acts that defined ECM as a label. These artist included here are people who I have featured on my blog like; Terje Rypdal, John Abercrombie Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Gateway, Pat Metheny, Egberto Gismonti and Collin Walcott. There are songs on this show that don't really fall in the Jazz or Classical spectrum. They are worldly and quite interesting. I really cannot explain the sound, but listen to the show and I am sure you will love it.

The reason I did this show is because of my love of ECM records. Back in the early years of my listening I came across these "budget tapes" of ECM albums. They were not that expensive, but they were different. The artwork or the people playing it was new to me and I wanted to try something new. I first started getting the cassettes. These were easy to find every store I went to. Not that they were cut out for a reason, but ECM changed hands in distribution from major labels four times. First, was Warner Brothers, then Polygram and then BMG or RCA. Now they are part of Universal music group. I got these tapes and after a while I started buying the LP's. In my collection I have about 300 released LP's and about 100 cassettes and CD's about 300. I also have a bunch of ECM stuff I have downloaded. I have a bunch of albums that way too. The music is something you don't think at first would make an impact, but to me the label is more forward thinking then most. While some labels want money and profit, ECM is different. They want the artist to be themselves and make the music they want. Early years you could get an ECM of music that had cello and guitar or music that was just solo piano. Whatever it was it was something that Manfred Eicher understood.



Well, enough about the mini education. I just want you to listen and enjoy! Any questions?? let me know. The web address is www.wrsi.com. Click the listen live feature and I will be on from 9pm-11pm EST. Sunday night. Enjoy and be prepared to get a little cerebral with your music. It's one of my passions is to explain to people why ECM is so important. Enjoy!!

My Bloody Love

Okay there are moments in my musical listening that I completely missed, even though I had the tape in my hand growing up I really did not want to know about a band called My Bloody Valentine. I remember taking off the plastic that covered it and just putting it away. Why did I buy then to let it collect dust you ask, well because I guess. I sure wanted to know what it was, but at my age I did not want to know, this tape I had in my had was being listened to and I am not sure liked by some people that I hung around with. These are the same people who got me into what was called back in my day college rock. Yes that was the term for Green R.E.M, Cure, Smiths, Lush, Pixies, and other stuff that I kinda got into at the time. The My Bloody Valentine more then likely was above the college rock friends that I had. I just got the tape because the artwork of the guitar was cool. I did not listen to that tape until 1995 when my friend handed me a mix tape with one of the songs on it.

On this wonderful was my first listens of Blur, Pixies, Yo La Tengo, Flaming Lips, some other Radiohead beside "Creep," and others. It was a full 100 minute cassette with all kinds of cool things. The song by MBV was called "Loomer" it was a piece of music that sounded out of tune, but it had a interesting quality to it that I somehow missed all together. The music on this tape was a good tactic for my friend who had all these used at his CD store. I came in one day telling him how much I loved this or that and he have a CD stack with most of the music just waiting for me to grab something. Looking back, I think I would bought them all. This pile had some interesting stuff that I know now that I listen pretty religiously. Some of these bands I still see in concert. Examples, would include Radiohead, Primal Scream, Spiritualized and others. It was an interesting era for me to listen to a group of bands and really love and play them all the time in my car.



For about maybe three years I listened to this music because it was something that was a bit better then classic rock. It was about in 1996 (late) early 1997 that I rejected all this music for Downtown scene in New York City. I had about two years where I listened to the Downtown NYC Jazz scene. The music of the the early 1990's for me was so much better then hearing "Stairway to Heaven" for the 200th time. It was for me the time I really faithfully watched MTV 120 Minutes. I would see videos of this show or acts who played on stage and I would come to see my friend armed with music to listen to. I remember hearing Jesus and Mary Chain and loved the songs. It was different time where once in a while a alternative song would seep into the music that 120 minutes played into the mainstream. That is how Weezer got started. Really!!!

I really did enjoy that music that was part of my daily listen. It kind of took over what I was doing. I got into so much it became a blur. I grabbed that tape of MBV and put it on for the first time. The music engulfed me like the ocean current would take away the tide. I think I finally got that music. I understood it for the first time and at this point I really loved what I was listening to. The music was awesome and the lush guitar work was wonderful. The music even created a new genre of music called Shoegaze and with that a new world opened up for other artists to try and attempt to replicate.



Now that Kevin Shields is in better health and is slowly returning to the scene, he's explained that Loveless was something of an albatross for him, that he never could find a proper way to follow it. He should be comforted by the fact that no one else has been able to follow it, either. I've long dreamt of an album that was "Like Loveless , but more ," but I haven't found it. And so many hundreds of albums have tried. Perhaps this is the sound of a single idea perfected. We should move on and continue to explore the vast spectrum of sound and feeling music provides, but we'll always return to Loveless for what it alone can deliver. (pitchfork)

The album is considered a classic; it it worth it? Yea, I would say so, It's an album I don't play enough of it now, but once in a while I love to put it on and just really go and put myself in another place. The music is surely different then what was out there and what is out there now. I am not sure the magic could be created again. The album is unique and for me I love that. It might be the reason I like Jeff Buckley. If you ever hear or research his album Grace and the time it came out; who in their right mind would list Nina Simone as an inspiration. Same goes for MBV Loveless listen to this and really scratch your head and go "wow." Take a listen for yourself and maybe you can understand what it is to be unique. Enjoy!!

Who Are The Move???

Remember that box set of Sixties music I got one day at the record store I have told you about a few times where I found music on their that I should listen to? Well that box set introduced me to another great lost treasure, The Move. Yes, this band is maybe on of the most underrated bands of it's era. The Move were distinctly British, but they were one of the best bands to come out of the 60's. It's too band that they never made it here. Like the band Pretty Things these two bands are some of the reason I love British Psychedelia. The music of The Move has me scratching my head every time I listen to them. The music sounds like a opus of three bands playing on a mix of everything from late 60's music to well crafted pop songs to whatever they could do and they did it very well.

Such ever-changing leads can lend excitement but it can also lend confusion, especially when the group enthusiastically mixes up Who-inspired art pop with three-chord rock & roll oldies and more than a hint of British eccentricity. Add to that, the album had a long, convoluted birth of 14 months, a long span of time in pop music, but it was an eternity in the mid-'60s, when styles and sounds were changing monthly. The Move were releasing singles during this time so they weren't absent from the scene, but they did happen to be set upon a course of cutting singles when their peers were crafting album-length epics, something that separated them from the pack, making them seem eccentric...and The Move needed no help in seeming eccentric. (AM)



The Move sounded so new that their 1968 debut still sounds unusual, ping-ponging between restless, kaleidoscopic pop and almost campy salutes to early rock & roll, punctuated by the occasional foray into the English countryside and, with the closing "Cherry Blossom Clinic," psychic nightmare. When I heard them on my box set I asked my friend about them and he handed me a 100 minute cassette tape full of curios and wonderful songs that I never knew about. Their music to me was and still is very fresh. They even covered the Moby Grape song "Hey Grandma" and even that sounded very like their own. Each song on the first Move have a unique quality about them that I have never heard in other bands. The music has a sound that would be like if you took all the bands of the Psych era and put them in a blender and you got The Move.

I even think their singles were something of a work of art. Songs like "Flowers in the Rain" and "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" are works of art. "Flowers in the Rain" was the first song I heard and that is what got me hooked. Even songs like "(Here We Go Around) The Lemon Tree" is totally a work of pop magic. Look at this brief lyrics for "I Can Hear The Grass Grow"

My heads attracted to
Magnetic wave of sound
With streams of coloured circles
Makin' their way around

I can hear the grass grow
I can hear the grass grow
I see rainbows in the evening

The music that goes with this is quite addicting to listen to. This is vivid, imaginative music -- almost too vivid. It to me works really well.


Unique? Yes! This music is fun and one of my favorites. I suggest you try this music too. It might be a band to tell your friends. While your friends point out The Kinks, Spencer Davis, The Animals and maybe The Who, you should say with authority The Move. Give them a listen and you will be glad you did. The Move is one band that is one of the great unsung bands of it's era. Try them and I know you will love them. Enjoy!

John Mayall in Laurel Canyon

When I was in High School I really wanted to hear a lot of music. I had this book, which I have told you about before where it discussed most of the music that was out during the 60's. It talked about certain periods of music to certain styles as well. It even devoted it's chapter to some genres of music. In the 60's the British Blues scene was something that I wish was around to watch. I wish I was seeing the Yardbirds in 1963, or John Mayall with Eric Clapton or even seeing Savoy Brown or even early Fleetwood Mac tear up Blues scene. The book explained how vibrant this scene was. It gave me the reason to find that time machine.

In the book they talked about the famous album John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers Featuring Eric Clapton. They talked about how great that album was. Yea, it was great I bought it under that recommendation. I liked the Eric Clapton and John Mayall collaboration, but I wanted to hear more. According to the book I was reading it told me that some of his other albums were just as good. I needed to look for more of his material. I was also told that beside Clapton playing guitar he had other worthy greats over the years. Some of these people include Peter Green and Mick Taylor.



I was excited to find more of his material. For the longest time it took me a while to find some of these albums. If I did find them they were expensive. I really did want to hear more of his music. About the time I was a senior in High School I had a friend who's father was a John Mayall fan. He told me that he could make me copies of the two he had. I was excited to hear these. He had the album Hard Road and he had one called Blues From Laurel Canyon. When he made me tape copies he told me that they both are two completely different listening. He too said he wanted hear more John Mayall after Bluesbreakers and these to him where the best. I got home and quickly put these in my tape player. I could now understand his reason.

The music on both were amazing. I really wanted to find these for myself. I knew if I played these tapes too many times the tape would break. It did not take me long to find one of them. Blues From Laurel Canyon was a cheap find at a Tag Sale. The record was in great shape. Hard Road album is one I am actually still looking for. I have digital copy but I am still looking for a great physical vinyl copy. The music here is not overplayed, but it's better then that. It keeps on wanting you more. The music is really well done. As a young adult I really enjoyed learning about new guitar heroes and who to listen for. It was the reason Peter Green was in Hard Road that I got into early Fleetwood Mac. When I bought that greatest hits of Fleetwood Mac and seeing his name on inside of the album. Blues From Laurel Canyon was different. They had some young guitar player (merely a teenager) named Mick Taylor. It did not take me long to get into where he went after his quick stint with John Mayall.



Well, in the world of recommendations. I suggest Blues From Laurel Canyon. I know everyone has Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton. Blues... has a feeling of one continuous song and it is really great. Each person in Mayall's band is awesome and plays like it's there last moment on earth. It is also one of Mayall's best. Try this album and I am sure you will like it as much as I do. If you have a great stereo, the remastered edition is amazing. So go out and get this great album and afterwords you will understand why the Rolling Stones grabbed Mick Taylor to join the Rolling Stones. Enjoy!

Further Out Dave

When Bill Bruford was asked the question about his favorite Jazz albums on some show he was quick to point out two important albums that changed his life. The first one was My Song by Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen and the other was Time Further Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. He mentioned to the interviewer that this was the Jazz he wanted to play. He was already in a variety of Progressive Rock groups when My Song came out and Bill mentioned that He wish he got the call from Keith Jarrett to play with him. He mentioned how these albums struck a perpendicular chord like no other albums.

On Monday Dave Brubeck turned 90 years young. The man who more then likely has scene it all in his lifetime. The music of Jazz has taken some unique and some really interesting turns and a man who not only can play a great piano had some young Anthony Braxton play Saxophones on an album. The music of Dave Brubeck is discussed in all those Jazz classes we take in High School or College. There is one exception to this rule. Who talks about the album called Time Further Out? It's a classic example of using different time signatures to keep you guessing that music does not have to be always in 4/4 time. I am guilty of listening to some great music that is not in the normal 4/4. I mean listen to Eric Dolphy Out To Lunch. There some crazy ones in that masterpiece.



When my History of Jazz professor mentioned how popular Dave Brubeck was in the each household of the late 50's early 60's I had to test this theory. I know my dad loved him so I turned around and asked him the question. How popular was he dad? My father responded by telling me how hip at one point was to own Time Out. He told me how great the music was and how cool it was to own at least one Dave Brubeck album in the collection. My father showed me seven in his. It will be something I always remember that my father's Jazz collection was not eclectic but it had some substance to it.

I asked him about Further Time Out and he told me he never had a chance to get that when he was younger. He told me he moved on to listening to the music of Chuck Berry and Ray Charles by then. I do give my father credit for introducing me some great music, but his choices were a bit odd. The oddness of Dave Brubeck was just the start. The music alone did not follow conventional form like other music of the day. I think that is what appealed to so many fans. He was hip and not square like the musicians of the time. I mean hearing Time Out or even Further Time Out was different is some way. I liked it and it was catchy.



The music of Dave Brubeck is timeless and what he has done for Jazz is some of the best music out there. His "Take Five" from Time Out is one classic. If you really want to hear some of his greatest music then listen Further Time Out. Even the song "Unsquare Dance" will have trying to bop along to his music. Take a different path in Jazz and try this album out. I am sure it will be a welcome addition the Miles Davis and the John Coltrane. Enjoy! Have a blast from the past with this one. Then when done with this album explore more Dave Brubeck and even at 90 he still amazes us with his music. Seeing him live is another story. Check him out and you know why he is on the high mountain of Jazz people.

BLOODCOUNT Tim Berne Style

When I graduated High School I told myself that I would set out by getting my degree and meeting new people and also listening to something new once a month. I was getting sick of the music I was listening to and I really wanted to explore new stuff. I started getting into some really unusual stuff. As I mentioned in some of my early blogs I was a frequent visitor of the Borders in the next town over from me. In their infancy they had very creative control of what was out there for the wondering eye like myself. The music department was filled with smart people who I became friends with and they would lead me in all kinds of musical genres and spectrum of what to listen to. From the 60's unknown Psychedelic music that I listen to more then ever now to 20th Century Classical. I had all types of music in my hand. There was a person who told me about Fela Kuti, to a person who explained the importance of Tori Takemitsu.

With this knowledge my music collection grew with it as well. There was a unwritten rule when I was there that I would get a discount on something that one of the music staff recommended to me. This discount always came in handy. When I came to the store (which was three times a week) There was always something on hold for me to listen to. If it was a promotional CD It was for me to keep. Once in a blue moon I would get that. I would come in and one of my friend would hand me a CD and tell me to listen to this. I would look down and scratch my head. I would agree to and really take the time to explore what they were telling me to hear.



One day I saw someone in their who had the same music that I had in my hand go up to the register and buy it. They would know his name and they would mention how both were familiar with that person's work and were excited to hear the new release. This happened way to much for me. One day I approached that person while looking at CD's. He told me that he worked at the record store across town and I should come visit. I asked the stupid question about all the stuff they were recommending was actually worth listening to. He laughed and told me that I had a lot to learn and that this is more than an education.

Over the course of the years we became friends. Beside Borders, I would go to his store. He mostly had common stuff, but once in a while he would have something different. He also had a used section and a cheap bin. This is where I got all my King Crimson and ECM tapes. I also found some great used CD's. 1996 he and I went to New York City for a Jazz Festival. This was the Jazz Festival sponsored by my new favorite venue at the time, The Knitting Factory. Over the course of the week were there we could see all the live music we wanted. The price was cheap, the hotel was not. We made a list of music we wanted to see. One that struck my eye was a free show at a place called Biblo's Tim Berne Bloodcount it said on the booklet of the festival My friend told me about how they are great and he never saw them live. We did a late night 10pm performance of them. It was one of the best shows I have ever seen. It was the Jazz I have never heard before.





The lineup was not to unique, but what they did with it was more then what I expected. Even the songs were very long by jazz standards. Some songs were twenty minutes others were twelve or more. The show was about two hours, but it was wonderful stuff. At the end of the show he told the crowd that he was a poor Jazz musician and wanted people to buy his stuff. I went to the table and picked up a shirt (which I still own) and a CD. That whole week was an education on what to listen to and what I should pick up next time I do my music shopping.

When I got back home my friend I went with handed me three CD's of Bloodcount. He told me he asked the record label to send him some stuff and they handed him two copies of Tim Berne's Bloodcount: The Paris Concert. These were all three volumes of of this Paris Concert from May of 1994. He told me what I will hear is almost the same stuff that I heard that night. It was really great stuff too. When I looked at the tracks I noticed that the songs were even longer then I heard. I mean there is one song that lasts over fifty minutes. The Jazz is not your typical Jazz, its a bit Avant-Garde., but trust me it's great stuff.



The music of Tim Berne is quite unique, but it is really worth some listen. You can get these as separate discs but who would want that. All three of these parts are great and really show what a wonderful Jazz ensemble can do. Don't take my word for it try these and I am sure you will understand why my passion of music is so strong. Enjoy and I am sure you will be thanking me later. Rock on!!!

No Other But Gene Clark

I was a fan of Classic Rock all through High School. I would listen to the radio stations all the time hear what new stuff I could listen to and eventually buy to add to my music collection. I would hear things that sounded great and then I would go to the store and go find them and buy them. I would then pick and choose certain artists to listen to more closely and buy more of their material from what they had out. I sometimes would have mental or physical lists of what I should listen too. Over the years I would revisit some of these artist to hear maybe a solo album if their was one to listen to. I would listen even to some bands other projects or just other bands that would from.

One of the bands I listened to religiously was the Byrds. The Byrds had a bit more history then a lot of the bands I was listening to at the time. The Byrds had Roger McGuinn who himself was a great musician and wonderful songwriter. They also had David Crosby who would (after he left) form Crosby, Stills and Nash. Both of them had some pretty good stuff after while in the Byrds or after they left the Byrds (Like David Crosby did). I liked a lot of the Byrds material enough even to buy the Box Set. When I got the box set I noticed that some of the songs were written by another member of the band. I kept on seeing Gene Clark. Three songs I liked by the Byrds were written by Gene Clark. I did not think much of it until I asked a teacher about this. This teacher was a man who loved the Byrds more then I did. He did not know much about what some of them did when they were not in the Byrds, but he followed them enough to give me some ideas. I asked him about Gene Clark. He told me how much he knew. It was enough to go inquire at the record store.



When I went to the record store I asked about solo Gene Clark albums. Even back when I first started collecting they were hard to come by. I was told that his music and song writing were some of the best they ever saw. Then he faded into obscurity and died. He did die a year before I finished High School, but I did not know much about him then. I did not get what I wanted by Gene Clark so I put it in the back of my head for another day. These albums he put out were expensive and I did not want to dive into something that I was not sure I was going to like.

Over the course of a few years I kept his music in my head, just in case I found it at some used record store. I did not see much until I was back in college. I found this compilation of his music. It was called American Dreamer 1964-1974. This retrospective did a great job of covering is wonderful music. The music on here helped me understand how much of a talent he was. I played a lot of that CD in my car and also while doing my homework. The music to me was way better then some of the stuff I was listening to at the time. When I got home I showed a friend this CD and he quickly showed me a CD that was one I should own. His copy was only a burned one, but he said this one was really great. This album was called No Other. He quickly pointed out that he would make me a copy of his burned edition, but told me to hold off till the remastered copy came out.



The time I waited for the remastered copy, I was on Limewire. I found a Gene Clark album called Echoes. With Echoes and American Dreamer I thought I heard everything. It was when I placed No Other in my CD player I realized what a talent Gene Clark was. It took me a few years to get a copy of the No Other re-issue, but it was worth the wait. In the meantime I read his biography that is called Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds' Gene Clark. The book has a great story of a lost soul that should have been recognized for his wonderful talent.

The music on No Other is great. It should be one of the top 50 albums of all time. The music I am sure influenced people like Ryan Adams, The Jayhawks, Wilco among others. Even the bonus tracks of each song were keepers. The music is wonderful, the words are extraordinary and the life of and pain of Gene Clark is reveled. If you think the Byrds are a band that was a bit to much, and I am sorry if you think they are, maybe No Other is your speed. The music is not Byrds like at all, it is wonderful music from a truly gifted man. Enjoy!!

Sky of Kate Bush

The first time I heard Kate Bush was on a Peter Gabriel album called So. The album gave Peter Gabriel his megastar status. I liked the album. I also liked his female guest vocalist. I thought in the brief time he used her, he used her effectively. I wish I knew more about her then as I do now. The voice is utterly amazing. She has been copied many times before being talked about in woman's music since 1975. My love of female artists would have not been quite to my liking if it was not for Kate Bush. I remember my friend who always introduced me to all types of cool music and of really nice and peaceful type music would always show me something new. He one day handed me Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. He told me to take my time and listening to the tape and really soak in the vocals and the great sounds of what she has to offer.

I drove to meet up with him for dinner and in the five minute drive to where we had to go, I was already in love with her voice and music. I could not figure out how the hell I missed this in the first place. I sat in my car and my friend came over to me and asked what I thought in that five minute drive. I was speechless. I like what I heard. Her music was not punkish or in your face from the time that she put this stuff out. It was light and atmospheric and her voice was beautiful. It was not at all what expected. When I got to sit down with him I told him how much of a quick impression Kate Bush made on me. I really liked what I heard. It was very good.



After I gave back my friend the tape I graduated to Kate Bush's other stuff. I listened to early albums but I wanted new stuff. I had heard only one thing from her in 1993, but that was all she put out. I was eager to hear new fresh stuff. I am sure she had something to say. It seemed like forever that I would hear her voice again. I picked up most of her early work and re-listened to what she was singing. The album from 1993 did not make much of an impression. Even when I went back to school in 2000 I still was waiting and heard nothing. The friend who introduced me to her music

After a long break she came back in 2005 she put out a new CD. I did not buy it at first, but I waited for my friend to tell me how great it was. He told me he did not even know about a new CD until I told him. I finally did pick it up and it's full of lush vocals and wonderful great sounds. It has great guests like Eberhard Weber and Peter Erskine and Gary Brooker. The music is a welcome sound to the ears. This is a two-CD set of a finely constructed set of songs that engage without regard for anything else happening in the world of pop music. There's no pushing of the envelope because there doesn't need to be. The music is fun to the ears.



Listen to this and you too will be just as impressed as I am. Take some time and listen closely to what she has to say. Her music is wonderful and full of little treats along the way. What gets created for the listener is an ordinary world, full of magic; it lies inside one's dwelling in overlooked and inhabited spaces, and outside, from the backyard and out through the gate into wonder. Enjoy this music and I am sure you will be a lover her music forever. This is what makes good musicians even better. Have fun on your 80 minute Kate Bush journey. Enjoy!!