Back from the dead(?) Tuesday Rotation Thread

[Slosh]

It's been a while so here goes . . .

Jim Clark's 2006 Year End Comp
This is one of the very best comps I've ever received from this little community, and that's saying something. This is made all the more amazing being the song selection is obviously limited to a single year. I don't know whether my tastes have changed over the last several years or Jim's has, probably a bit of both I suppose, but I find we're on the same page for almost the entire ride. I really only don't care for the last three tracks, and even that Somnabulants track I can listen to without hitting the track skip button, but The Grates are grating and Sparks is just awful. However the remaining seventeen tracks are all good-to-excellent. Many of the bands represented here I have older albums by (Woven Hand, Califone, Pretty Girls Make Graves, The Appleseed Cast, Silversun Pickups) but didn't get around to buying their latest. I definitely need to pick up Peregrine at the very least. Funny, I had that album in hand on more than one occasion and for whatever reason always ended up walking out of the store with something else. I'm also gonna be grabbing Dark Light Daybreak and Violence Is Golden while I'm at it. Thanks again, Jim.

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (advance)
Yet another solid effort by Mr. Bird. This is his most rock-centric album yet but still has all the usual elements. You know, interesting subject matter, clever word play, and of course, violin and whistling. I'll be picking this up on release day for sure.

Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City (advance)
A big disappointment if you ask me. The energetic, punky songs that made Silent Alarm such a fun listen are entirely absent here. Replaced by mid-tempo songs that are, well, bland and me-too-ish. A shame since Bloc Party has one the the best rhythm sections to come along in a while and they never get the chance to shine with this material. I'll give it a couple of more chances to see if it's a grower but my gut's telling me to pass on this one.

Rob Crow - Living Well
This could be another Pinback album. That's not criticism from my point of view. Pinback is kind of a one trick pony but I really like their one trick a lot, and if you do as well you'll be happy with this album.

The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
Stupid title but a pretty decent album all the same. I can't say it's a surprise that this doesn't sound much like their other albums because those two don't sound a whole lot alike themselves. I think this will be a grower but I've been spinning that Andrew Bird album so much I haven't given this its due just yet.

The rest:
Stephen Malkmus - Face The Truth
Elliott Smith - Either/Or
Sixteen Horsepower - Sackcloth 'n' Ashes and Folklore
Espers - s/t
Doves - Some Cities
Radiohead - Kid A
Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Source Tags & Codes

Plus a bunch of amateur taper shows (Iron & Wine, Calexico, Spoon, Built To Spill, etc.)

[ForeverAutumn]

I'll play...

I just grabbed a stack of stuff that I've spun in the last week. It included:

Snow Patrol - Eyes Open - After loving Final Straw so much, I wasn't expecting to really like their second release as much. I find that, for so many bands who's debut albums are so great, the follow-up CD just doesn't do it for me (recent examples include Jet and The Killers). But I think that I enjoy Eyes Open just as much as Final Straw.

Mobile - Tomorrow Starts Today - Canadian band originally from Montreal that I think some here might enjoy. I would say that if you enjoy bands like Jet, The Killers, The Trews, this is a band worth checking out.

Justin Rutledge - The Devil On A Bench In Stanley Park - I've mentioned this one before. Nice singer songwriter material. The first few listens left me a little bored with the song structure, but the melodies were so pretty that I stuck with it and it's grown to be a favourite.

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife - I think that yesterday was the first day that I didn't spin this since I bought it just over two weeks ago. I'm definately going to have to check out their back catalogue.

Matt Mays - When The Angels Make Contact - Matt Mays is another Canadian boy better known for his work with El Torpedo. This CD is a bit of a stray from his usual singer/songwriter sound with an eclectic mix of music that he wrote for a move soundtrack (not clear yet if the movie was ever actually made). I've only spun it once and it had some hits and misses. I need more time with this one.

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha - I agree with Slosh's assessment (thanks for the link) on this one. I've only spun it 1.5 times but it's enough to realize that this is a solid CD. Can I love it as much as Eggs? Time will tell.

Elbow - Leaders of the Free World - This one's become an old standard for me. I really should check out some of their earlier work.

[nobody]

Had a great music listening time on Friday night...bunch of friends over to just hang around and spin a bunch of records...here's a list of most of what I remember...

<b>Getz/Gilberto
Agent Orange: Living in Darkness
Bob Marley: Soul Rebel
Eek-A-Mouse: Wa Do Dem
Boards of Canada: In A Beautiful Place in the Country
Judas Priest: British Steel
Willie Nelson: Shotgun Willie
John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman
The Delphonics: La La Means I Love You
The Impressions: Greatest Hits
Repo Man Soundtrack
Wanda Jackson: Heart Trouble
Jackie Mittoo: The Keyboard King of Studio One
Run DMC: Greatest Hits
Kurtis Blow
KC & the Sunshine Band
Oscar Peterson: Night Train
Willie Dixon & Memphis Slim: WIllie's Blues</b>

and plenty more....too much to give details about, but any questions and I can fill ya in on any of 'em.

Consensus favorite of the night was <b>Jackie Mittoo: The Keyboard King of Studio One</b>. The guy's an amazing organ player from Jamaica that everyone was really groovin' on, even though their were a variety of musical tastes present.

Also been listening a lot to <b>Chet Baker with Art Pepper: The Route</b>. Jazz fans take a listen to this one. If you like the West Coast jazz sound, this is something to grab.

Also picked up <b>The Good, The Bad, and The Queen</b>, a supergroup of sorts with the guy fronm Blur, some people from the verve and Paul Simonon from the Clash. If you liked the Gorillaz, this may be right up your alley. A bit more downtempo and meandering, but very similar.

Oh...and I wanna listen to that Jim Clark CD, but I started the filed downloading before I went to speel the other night and they stalled before I got them. Gonna have to try again this weekend when I can keep an eye on 'em.

That's enough rambling for now.

[Mr MidFi]

I've been having some problems with my intar-web download speeds ever since I added a third 'puter to my home network...so I haven't even attempted to grab JC's tasty-looking comp. But after reading his 2006 Top 10 thread, I was intrigued by the Now It's Overhead album.

After listening to a few bits o' songs online, I picked it up. I like it plenty, but I feel like Slosh would dig it even more. It has elements of Rogue Wave, Radiohead and even dash of Neutral Milk Hotel and Toad the Wet Sprocket here and there. Immediately likeable and listenable, not yet sure if it will have legs.

Other than that, I grabbed a 4-song EP by The Fratellis that is tons of punkish pop (poppish punk?) fun.

And I shuffled dozens and dozens of albums on the pod while I worked, as usual.

NP: Bowie, Alladin Sane

[bobsticks]

Whattup characters? Late as usual, but in my defence the new job has been taking up many hours. I'm pleased thus far as it is not nearly the disaster area that I would normally walk into, but lots of time nonetheless.

Today is devoted to the tunes, however, and I'm already midway through the setlist.

Norah Jones~not too late (the new one)
The Shins~Wincing the Night Away (when will I realise that not all one-word named bands sound like "The Damned". Exceeds expectations.)
Freddie Hubbard~Open Sesame (Classic 24/96 DAD)
Earl Hines and Jimmy Rushing~blues and things (24/96 DAD)
The Raconteurs~Broken Boy Soldiers
Oscar Peterson,Ray Brown&Milt Jackson~The Very Tall Band Live at the Blue Note (Telarc DSD)
The Decemberists~The Crane Wife
Paquito D'Rivera~Portraits of Cuba (Chesky SACD; kinda like "Sketches" with big band and alot of mojitos)

Hey nobody, nice playlist for the Friday night shindig, Getz/Gilberto and The Repo Man Soundtrack. What didya do, segue from "The Girl From Ipanema" straight to "Institutionalized"? Thanks for the tip on the Chet Baker, I'll follow up. I have been enjoying Baker's Holiday SACD.

Sloshy's Andrew Bird~Armchair Apocrypha has been getting alot of play around these parts.

Peace Out

NP: Beck~Guero

[nobody]

It was a pretty random night...wanted to play a little something everyone liked and a little something to make everyone groan. Mostly the more high tempo stuff came first and just grabbed a couple songs off whatever...later on, the tunes got mellow and I'd let 'em play for a while. Lots more stuff than listed actually got at least a track or two played. I still haven't finished putting 'em all away.

Tell me about that Earl Hines Jimmy Rushing disc...looks like something I may be interested in.

[bobsticks]

Hey Dave,

I have been delving into the Classic 24/96 catalog of late and can think of at least three titles that would be right up your alley. To answer your question specifically, Blues and Things has that dirty blues bar vibe with some heavy Earl Hines jazz comping. Great standards with alot of quality improv. If a single word description were possible that word would be "smokey". Very analog sounding, which leads me to further believe that you will likey. I'm guessin' three recs from the folks at Classic that would float your boat would be:
Earl Hines&Jimmy Rushing~Blues and Things
Jimmy Rushing~Gee, Baby Ain't I Good To You
and
Zoot Sims&Al Cohn~Either Way

I don't think you can go wrong with any of 'em.

Peace

PS. I haven't forgotten about the thing. With all my troubles with this POS lately, I'm thinking it may be time to bite the bullet and go comp shopping.

[nobody]

Sounds good. I'll have to grab a copy. My local shop's web site tells me they've got a couple copies on vinyl for under 10 bucks. (love that place...it's incredibly rare that I want a jazz album they don't have) Gotta wait a bit though...wife's been askin' questions lately about my vinyl shopping habits. Thought grabing her that Paybacks CD and a replacement for her lost copy of Meat Is Murder would help...but that just raised the total.

And, no hurries.

[Mike]

Well it maybe Friday and not Tuesday but considering I’ve just been listening to the best album of 2007 namely The Shins – Wincing The Night Away I though I would chuck my listens in.

Shins – Wincing…liked it immediately, great songs/lyrics, nice change of tempo throughout the album, interesting sounds, what more can I say, it’s going to take a pretty good album to beat this.

Other listens include

White Rose Movement – Kick
The Earlies – Enemy Chorus
Unkle Bob – Sugar & Spite
Alexi Murdoch – Time Without Consequence
Built To Spill – You In Reverse
Midlake – Trials of Van Occupanther

Cheers
Mike

[Pat D]

I'm glad to see the revival!

Mozart's Jupiter Symphony (No. 41). On another site, someone asked about it, so I listened to Leibowitz on Chesky, and for HIP versions dipped into Hogwood and Pinnock.

Mendelssohn's Scottish and Italian Symphonies (Nos. 3 and 4) and the Fingal's Cave Overture with Dohnanyi conducting.

Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). I took it into my head to try to understand what this work is about. I rather like the music but I have difficulty figuring out how to fit the texts together. I have three excellent verions. On LP I have recordings by Bruno Walter and Karl Boehm, and on CD one with Karajan on DG Galleria 419 058-2 with excellent performances by mezzo soprano Christa Ludwig and tenor Rene Kollo. The texts are based on some Chinese poetry translated into French and then into German--and on the LP jacket for the Boehm recording, into English.

Toshiro Mayuzumi, Nirvana Symphony, conducted by Hiroyuki Iwaki on Denon CO-78839. I figured I might as well try to get into another work with oriental elements. Besides, my wife, who has been sick for a while, went out for coffee with a friend so I could turn the system up! The choral portions of the work include some Japanese Buddhist texts but unfortunately neither of the recordings I have has translations and Japanese is a complete mystery to me. The music has some unusual sonorities based on temple bells and the recording itself is very impressive, to say the least! You can get a really big sound with this. I still don't really understand the work, but I'm getting to like it better.

Mayuzumi, Samsara tone poem conducted by Yoshikazu Fukumura. I rather like this work but most people don't seem to--it often sounds dark and percussive to them.