Dropping in..

[mad rhetorik]

Spent my winter break working and shoveling all this friggin' snow. Oh, and filling gaps in my collection. Here are the albums I've bought and digging in on o'er the past month:

The Mahavishnu Orchestra: <b>Birds Of Fire</b>
This is the coolest fusion I've ever listened to. If Hendrix were still alive, John McLaughlin would be giving him sleepless nights.

Miles Davis: <b>In A Silent Way</b>
Had it in vinyl format, just bought it on CD. Brilliant cool jazz/early fusion. (BTW Jay, if you still want to hear it, we'll try to work somethin' out)

Ornette Coleman: <b>The Shape Of Jazz To Come</b>
My dad (who is a jazz buff) hates Coleman, but I have no regrets about this album. It's beautiful.

Opeth: <b>Morningrise</b>
Ah. Where have you been all my life? IMO, I think this is way better than either <b>Blackwater Park</b> or <b>Still Life</b>.

King Crimson: <b>Vroom Vroom</b>
Awesome live album from the <b>THRAK</b> era.

Meshuggah: <b>Nothing</b>
Yikes. This is heavy, complex, uber-challenging technical metal. Would make a calculus major sh-t his pants.

Beastie Boys: <b>Paul's Boutique</b>
Groundbreaking hip-hop. Definitely a favorite.

King's X: <b>Gretchen Goes To Nebraska</b>
It's absolutely criminal that this unique trio gets ignored by the mainstream music press.

Mr. Bungle: <b>California</b>
Insane genre-jumping mayhem. Think Faith No More's <b>Angel Dust</b> on crack.

Death: <b>Human</b>
Awesome death/thrash metal record. Now to get <b>The Sound Of Perseverence</b>!

Cave-In: <b>Antenna</b>
Hmmm. Still not entirely sure I like this yet. Way more mainstream-sounding than <b>Jupiter</b>. I'm warming up to it, though.

The Cure: <b>Disintegration</b>
Beautifully depressing shoegazer-pop. I love the title track.

The Velvet Underground: <b>White Light/White Heat</b>
I used to absolutely hate this record (my dad has it on vinyl). Fortunately, it's grown on me and I think it's definitely a worthy V.U. album alongside <b>VU & Nico</b> and <b>The Velvet Underground</b>.

Other albums:

John Coltrane: <b>Blue Train</b> (had it on vinyl)
Bad Brains: <b>I Against I</b>
Snapcase: <b>Designs For Automotion</b>
REM: <b>Fables Of The Reconstruction</b>
Joy Division: <b>Substance</b>
John Spencer Blues Explosion: <b>Orange</b>
Echo & The Bunnymen: <b>Ocean Rain</b>
Public Enemy: <b>It Takes A Nation....</b>

[DarrenH]

Hey, welcome back.

Where ya been hiding?

Excellent music you've been listening too.

Particularly like that Vroom Vroom disc myself. You should check out B'Boom. Another excellent live set from the makers of Krim.

Been getting into Miles Davis too. Tribute To Jack Johnson is a must. In A Silent Way ain't to bad either but B!tches Brew blew me away. Great stuff.

Yeah, that King's X CD is another must have. Great power trio stuff.

I've heard a track or two from Meshuggah. Waaaaay to heavy for me. Insane technical metal. My head exploded in less than a minute.

Take care Mad man.

Don't stay away so long.

Darren

[-Jar-]

Cave-In: <b>Antenna</b>
Hmmm. Still not entirely sure I like this yet. Way more mainstream-sounding than <b>Jupiter</b>. I'm warming up to it, though.



I've warmed to it a little, but.. after JUPITER I'm pretty disappointed. Definately mersh.. I miss the prog tendencies that were starting to show themselves with JUPITER. There's certainly some well-crafted music on there, but, if they're going to go that route the tunes need to be catchier. The best song on there is an old song they've already released ("Lost in the Air") - and of course, I like the original version better. Anyway.. they're still pretty kicking live if you get a chance to see them.

-jar

[MindGoneHaywire]

Definitely interested in that Miles! Glad to see you back, I thought I might've scared you off with my threats to send you Beach Boys stuff. Don't be afraid! PM me, it'd be great to work something out.