Tunesday (Aug 31) Musical Confessions of the Week

[audiobill]

I've trie to listen to tons more drum'n'bass, since getting back. A footnote I made to myself this summer.

Old School vs. New School
Bass Headz
Dj Dan -- Beats 4 Freaks
Ultar-obscene
And various Euro-mixes I picked up in Zurich.

Also,
Davey's "Half-gone 2004" -- thanks-a-ton dave. Highlights for me are Blonde Redhead, Modest Mouse, Lali Puna and Devendra Banhard. Elecrelane and Animal Collective did not strike a chord with me. Nevertheless, I have a growing list of music I'd like to get:

The Fiery Furnaces, Of Montreal, Modest Mouse, The Golden Dogs, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, Mooney Suzuki, Bjork and Comets on Fire (all recent releases).

[-Jar-]

Mainly FREE MARS by the one-off indie supa-group Lusk. I thought the cd lost, for at least 2 years now.. so I go through my cds looking for other lost thingies (I swear our house is the Bermuda Triangle).. and lo and behold inside Pat Metheney's FIRST CIRCLE case resides FREE MARS. I'm thinking, It hasn't been that long since I listened to FIRST CIRCLE, then I remember that I had FIRST CIRCLE ridin' free in my cd holder-magazine for a long time.. so it was probably then that things got all mixed up.. actually I found FIRST CIRCLE inside Medeski Martin & Wood's SHACK MAN. Go figure!

Anyway, it's been fun listening to FREE MARS again. You got Paul D'Amour, who was a former Tool bassist, and Chris Pitman mainly.. then there's Greg Edwards (Ken Andrew's other half in Failure) and Brad Laner (main man of Medicine, Electric Company and other bands..) adding their stuff. Lots of cool sounds here.. guitars of various sorts, horns, harps, keys.. they evoke a weird mix of 70's pop-psychedelia crossed with the big wall-of-distortion sound of the early 90's shoegazers. Always been one of my favorite albums of the 90's (1997 to be exact). They were supposedly working on a 2nd album but it never came together. *shrug* it's fun to find lost treasure. Now, I'm also missing two of my recent comps that I deleted off my hard drive. THAT pisses me off.
(Slosh.. you may be getting an email from me soon regarding this situation )

Also been listening to my special edition version of Mercury Rev's DESERTER'S SONGS (comes in a cool cardboard envelope kind of thing (postmarked even) with 2 Mercury Rev post cards inside) No. 1488.... ooooooooo!

-jar

[Pat D]

Or maybe that should read "Musical Confessions of the Weak".



Don't be shy. Step right up and tell us what music you've been enjoying the last week or so. Or what's next on your list to buy. Or what you'd like to buy if you could find it for a reasonable price. Or something you heard that really stunk. Or something you've picked up and really like (or hate ) based on a post at Rave Recs. Or whatever..........

Schumann, Manfred. Text by Lord Byron. Sir Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Chorus. 2 LP set. Columbia M2L-245. This includes spoken voices, singers, chorus, and orchestra. Hah! How many of you have ever heard this one! I'm not sure what I think of it. Byron's poetry is very highly charged with existential Angst and Romanticism. I'm not sure yet quite what I think of it.

Mozart, Les petits riens, German Dances, Marches, Minuets. Georg Tintner, Symphony Nova Scotia. Tintner Memorial Edition Vol. 11. Naxos 8.557243. Really delightful little works and an excellent recording.

Delius, Orchestral Works. David Lloyd-Jones, English Northern Philharmonia. Naxos 8.553535.

Sir Arthur Sullivan, The Gilbert and Sullivan Overtures. Andrew Penny, Royal Ballet Sinfonia. Naxos 8.554165.
Mozart, Les petits riens, German Dances, Marches, Minuets. Georg Tintner, Symphony Nova Scotia. Tintner Memorial Edition Vol. 11. Naxos 8.557243. Really delightful little works and an excellent recording.

Beethoven, Violin Sonatas Nos. 5 (Spring) and 9 (Kreutzer). Takako Nishizaki, violin; Jeno Jando, piano. Naxos 8.550283.

Syncopated Clock and other favorites by Leroy Anderson. Erich Kunzel, Rochester Pops. Pro Arte CD 264.

I got out some LPs of operatic selections by two bassos, Ezio Pinza, a basso profondo, and Cesare Siepi, a basso cantante (not as low a voice), mostly with Mozart arias. Two wonderful artists with fabulous techniques and great interpretative skills.

[Dusty Chalk]

Einstürzende Neubauten, Silence is Sexy -- don't ask, the answer is 'yes'. I really need to find my copy of Ende Neu.

Some Middle Pillar stuff -- Hexentanz, Mephisto Waltz (sounds delightfully like Curve) -- GitS:SAC soundtrack, Bark Psychosis...alright, get this, the correct name of this album is ///Codename: Dustsucker. It's weird -- there's femme vox all over it. It caught me off guard, but I'm okay now. It's a "deep" record (going to take a few listens to "get"), and that's a good thing.

Oh, and Natalie MacMaster (mentioned in another thread, "...new crush").

Oh, and Soul Whirling Somewhere. Do you remember me reviewing that 2CD set as LOTW a couple of years ago, the one that was so ultimately depressing (the guy was obviously not getting over a chick very well)? Well, he re-released that as a single CD. Didn't know that when I bought it, but it does have one new track on it. He also made my favourite track on it the opener, "The Last Time I Left". Excellent choice, if I may say so, but I think it would also make an awesome closer. It works quite well as a single CD, too. And I think he remixed it, too.

One more: Fish, Field of Crows -- not his best, yeah, but tolerable. I thought Raingods With Zippos™ was much better.

[Whooptee]

This is how the past week shaped up for me. A mix of old and new with lots and lots of really great music. Just for kicks, I'm including a descriptive blurb from the first review that happened to come up in a Google search for some of the newer ones:

Audio Karate - Lady Melody

http://www.aversion.com/bands/reviews.cfm?f_id=1583
Taking pop punk and layering it with two very distinct guitar riffs, a flowing bass line, a vocal track full of emotion and a mighty backbeat to boot, Audio Karate delivers a style of music caught halfway between pop punk and emo. To put it more simply, Audio Karate picks up right where the late great Jawbreaker left off with their groundbreaking album 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (1993, Tupelo).

KVLR - Self-Titled

http://www.splendidezine.com/review....08850417330329
KVLR erupts with a rollicking melodic dissonance reminiscent of Mission Of Burma, Sonic Youth and Swervedriver, immediately betraying the band's '80s/'90s American indie-rock influences. Layered guitars screech and wail, and distorted basslines rumble, all anchored by Magnus Oberg's steadily upbeat drumming. It's not unusual to see Scandinavian artists reinventing the American rock canon, but it's rare to see their work extend beyond mere homage. Thus, even though KVLR's intentions are far from innovative, their Absolut-fueled melodic noise explosions are genuinely inspired.

The Ed Kemper Trio - How To Win A Sword Fight

http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewid=1197
In sound and style, The Ed Kemper Trio have seemingly embraced the noisy post-punk canon of Chicago's Touch and Go label, particularly edgier acts like Tar and Shellac. Their writhing, winding riffs and manic energy also suggest an affinity with similarly minded outfits like Unwound and At the Drive-In. Kenny Johnson's loud buzz saw guitars are placed front and center as are his impassioned vocals that lurk somewhere between spoken word poetics and screamo fury. Bassist Vonda McLeod's thick, groove-oriented bass riffs are bouncy and buoyant, providing the perfect antithesis to Johnson's scathing pyrotechnics. Not to be outdone, drummer Glenn Grant assaults every beat and fill with terrific chops and a focused intensity. The musicianship here is strong and the songwriting is unique and inventive.

Red Animal War - Black Phantom Crusades

http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewid=2883
Their music is aggressive and mathy, powerful and sometimes jarring. At those moments, you get the sense of how strongly this band can rock, with stellar guitars, forceful vocals, and powerful rhythm. But the band's best moments are when they pull back from that sound, allowing their music to flow a bit more, keeping it intense while not as all-out. It's then that their strongly written lyrics are more clear and the impeccable production of Ed Rose (Appleseed Cast, Get Up Kids, etc) shines through.

The rest of these probably don't need any description for most of you:

Rye Coalition - The Lipstick Game
Unwound - Repetition
Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime
Rocket From the Crypt - Scream, Dracula, Scream! and RFTC
Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart
Shellac - At Action Park
Burning Airlines - Mission: Control!
Chavez - Ride the Fader
Hot Snakes - Suicide Invoice

John

[Mike]

Only a bit of new music for me including The Earlies, Ella Guru and Jesse Sykes.

But lots of live music in the shape of the 3 day Carling Festival. Me and the missus and a bunch of friends had an excellent time and saw some great bands. Basically it was a main stage and 2 smaller stages which were like huge circus tents and a case of a short walk to each. Simply far too many bands to mention but here are some:-
Morrissey – The old fart still has it
White Stripes – Intense stuff
Super Furry Animals – Absolutely bloody brilliant
Ash – Great
Razorlight – Outstanding
Franz Ferdinand - I’m not a huge fan but they were very good and had the crowd with them all the way
Modest Mouse – Sounded a bit shaky at first but soon warmed up
Graham Coxon (ex Blur) – might have to check his album out
The Stills – Exceptional
The Darkness – No doubt about it they are good live and a fantastic firework show too
New York Dolls – I was a little sceptical at first but they blew quite a few acts off the stage. They looked knackered but sounded great.

Also saw The Wildhearts, Libertines, 5678’s, The Ordinary Boys, The Roots, Reel Big Fish (ska still lives!) The Hives (barking mad) Soulwax,

All in all a pretty outstanding weekend,

Cheers
Mike

[audiobill]

Wow, Mike!! Sounds like quite the show. I can only dream that some day a show like yours will come to Toronto. At best 2 of these bands might be featured together on the same billing at a concert festival, here -- the rest, unfortunately would be filler.

Is this Carling Festival an annual thing??
Bill

But lots of live music in the shape of the 3 day Carling Festival. Me and the missus and a bunch of friends had an excellent time and saw some great bands. Basically it was a main stage and 2 smaller stages which were like huge circus tents and a case of a short walk to each. Simply far too many bands to mention but here are some:-
Morrissey – The old fart still has it
White Stripes – Intense stuff
Super Furry Animals – Absolutely bloody brilliant
Ash – Great
Razorlight – Outstanding
Franz Ferdinand - I’m not a huge fan but they were very good and had the crowd with them all the way
Modest Mouse – Sounded a bit shaky at first but soon warmed up
Graham Coxon (ex Blur) – might have to check his album out
The Stills – Exceptional
The Darkness – No doubt about it they are good live and a fantastic firework show too
New York Dolls – I was a little sceptical at first but they blew quite a few acts off the stage. They looked knackered but sounded great.

Also saw The Wildhearts, Libertines, 5678’s, The Ordinary Boys, The Roots, Reel Big Fish (ska still lives!) The Hives (barking mad) Soulwax,

All in all a pretty outstanding weekend,

Cheers
Mike[/QUOTE]

[audiobill]

Schumann, Manfred. Text by Lord Byron. Sir Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Chorus. 2 LP set. Columbia M2L-245. This includes spoken voices, singers, chorus, and orchestra. Hah! How many of you have ever heard this one! I'm not sure what I think of it. Byron's poetry is very highly charged with existential Angst and Romanticism. I'm not sure yet quite what I think of it.

Mozart, Les petits riens, German Dances, Marches, Minuets. Georg Tintner, Symphony Nova Scotia. Tintner Memorial Edition Vol. 11. Naxos 8.557243. Really delightful little works and an excellent recording.

Delius, Orchestral Works. David Lloyd-Jones, English Northern Philharmonia. Naxos 8.553535.

Sir Arthur Sullivan, The Gilbert and Sullivan Overtures. Andrew Penny, Royal Ballet Sinfonia. Naxos 8.554165.
Mozart, Les petits riens, German Dances, Marches, Minuets. Georg Tintner, Symphony Nova Scotia. Tintner Memorial Edition Vol. 11. Naxos 8.557243. Really delightful little works and an excellent recording.

Beethoven, Violin Sonatas Nos. 5 (Spring) and 9 (Kreutzer). Takako Nishizaki, violin; Jeno Jando, piano. Naxos 8.550283.

Syncopated Clock and other favorites by Leroy Anderson. Erich Kunzel, Rochester Pops. Pro Arte CD 264.

I got out some LPs of operatic selections by two bassos, Ezio Pinza, a basso profondo, and Cesare Siepi, a basso cantante (not as low a voice), mostly with Mozart arias. Two wonderful artists with fabulous techniques and great interpretative skills.

Hey, Pat. Thanks to you, my classical music collection is getting larger and larger.
Do you have 2 or 3 other "basso" or "very low male" voices singing opera that you would highly recd.. I'm very picky about "clean" recordings, when it comes to voices.

Any suggestions, are greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Bill

[audiobill]

Raingods With Zipposâ„¢ -- too cool a name -- absolutely love it (nt)

Is it any good, Peter?? What's it like?? audiobill

[Mike]

Is this Carling Festival an annual thing??

Yeah Bill it's an annual event over the bank holiday weekend in about its 4th year, it used to be held about 20 miles from where I live but they had a bit of trouble one year so now it's found a new venue even better about 12 miles from home.

It's a hassle free, friendly family type atmosphere from what I can tell, and being so close to home means I get a proper bed for the night.

Cheers
Mike

[Pat D]

Hey, Pat. Thanks to you, my classical music collection is getting larger and larger.
Do you have 2 or 3 other "basso" or "very low male" voices singing opera that you would highly recd.. I'm very picky about "clean" recordings, when it comes to voices.

Any suggestions, are greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Bill

You're welcome! It's always nice to share good music. I am not an opera expert by any means but I can suggest some names. Older recordings often are fairly clear for voices, even though not hi-fi, and I am not so particular about the sound. Old Gigli is one of favorite tenors and most of his recordings are monos.

Most Ezio Pinza recordings are pretty old--he died in 1957, while Cesare Siepi was about 30 years younger (born 1923) and may well still be alive as far as I know. Most Pinza recordings are quite old, but I know Siepi made some in the stereo age.

George London (1920-1985) was a great bass baritone, and he did Wotan in Solti's recording of Wagner's "Das Rheingold" in his Ring Cycle. Unfortunately, he suffered paralysis of his vocal chords and stopped performing in 1965.

Jerome Hines was a wonderful basso. The only recording of his I have is Handel's Messiah with Klemperer. Others that come to mind are Nikolai Ghiaurov, Boris Christoff, Theo Adam, and Donald McIntyre.

[mad rhetorik]

I am probably in the wrong place to be even mentioning things like this...but I love heavy metal..

Absolutely nothing wrong with loving metal--granted that you're not talking about the spandex-and-hairspray glam shit, and judging by your list you don't seem to be into that. Metal is one of my favorite genres. It also seems to be one of the last remaining genres where innovative music is still being produced. A few more metal bands recommended for your headbanging pleasure are Meshuggah, Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, Botch, Burnt By The Sun, In Flames, Opeth, Death, and (if you want something that will give the bass on your sound system a workout and totally bludgeon you in the process--I mean this is REALLY, REALLY HEAVY) Cryptopsy. A lot more stuff than that out there, of course--just wanted to throw a few names at ya.

A few people here (aside from myself) enjoy metal--Jar, Toady (where's that guy at?), Slosh, and Dusty being a handful. You won't find as many metalheads as proggers here, though. Don't be disappointed if somebody's Jethro Tull thread gets twice the number of hits a metal thread does.

Oh, and welcome! ; )

Mastodon - Leviathan

Wow! A stunning follow-up to what is IMO the best metal debut album ever! It's a bit more melodic and tuneful than the brutal Remission, with early Iron Maiden-ish guitar fills at times and, get this, actual singing here and there. There are also guest vocals on two songs by Neil Fallon (Clutch) and Scott Kelly (Neurosis). Way recommended if you like thrash metal. Whatever it is, Mastodon definitely has.

As I expected the bonus "DVD Audio" disc that comes with the CD is really merely a DVD without video, but for $12.98 I'm not complaining. All eight of the songs are mixed in Dolby Digital 5.1. I think DD discards too much information to be a decent music carrier and wish they would have used DTS instead but hey, whatcha gonna do? Three of the songs are album tracks and the rest are live (this band sounds great live, BTW). Two of the live tracks are from Remission. The other three I never heard of before but they rawk!

I still don't own Remission yet (hangs head in shame). It's been on my critical purchases list for a long time. Have heard a few tracks from it--"Crusher Destroyer," "Old Nessie," and "March Of The Fire Ants" (Jar comped it). Would you say Leviathon is better than Remission? I mean, should I buy Leviathon first? Oh, and just to be nitpicky, Mastodon actually had a debut EP out before Remission called Lifesblood. Supposedly sounds very similar to Remission.

Lately I've been listening to the new D.E.P. Miss Machine back-to-back with Calculating Infinity to see how the new one stacks up. I'll post my findings after some more listens.

Also bought Big Star's #1 Record/Radio City due to Jay's recommendation. Overall I think it's great "power pop." Some really brilliant songs ("Ballad Of El Goodo," "Feel," "When My Baby's Beside Me"). Of the two albums bundled I prefer #1 Record more so far, though Radio City is no slouch by any means (and also rocks more). I really need to give this more listens before I can draw a firm conclusion over which album I think is better, but overall this was a brilliant purchase. Thanks Jay!

Also been listening to:
Sonic Youth: Dirty
Black Flag: Damaged
White Stripes Elephant
A Tribe Called Quest: The Low-End Theory

The avatar is from Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material.

Funny, that was my first guess. Looks like my indie cred has remained intact. ; )

[KEXPMF]

hello from Seattle..

I've been hearing West Indian Girl on the radio here and liking it.
Also heard on the radio here in Seattle: Mountain Con "I Woke Up and the Morning was Grey" from an album called Dusty Zeros Dusty Ones. I think it's not out yet but WOW it's great.

Still loving Von Bondies "Cmon Cmon". I can't seem to get tired of that one.

I'll be seeing the Pixies and MUCH, MUCH more at the Bumbershoot Festival this weekend! This one ranks HIGH among the better music festivals!
www.bumbershoot.org

[Davey]

Looks like my indie cred has remained intact. ; )

Sorry, but anyone who's only just now finding out about Big Star hardly had any indie cred to lose

[Dusty Chalk]

Raingods With Zippos™ -- too cool a name -- absolutely love it (nt)

Is it any good, Peter?? What's it like?? audiobill

I like it. Fish used to be the lead singer with Marillion, a prog group from the 80's that sounded a certain amount like Genesis. He has since gone solo, and his solo work has drifted into crooner/AOR territory. His lyrics are always excellent -- very introspective -- although nothing of late matches his heavy drinking period (peaking at Clutching at Straws, I think). I see analogies to the careers of Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, David Bowie, Ian Anderson -- not as cool as their heyday, but still cool (PG notwithstanding -- he just gets cooler).

Oh, and he manages to sing the title track with a straight face -- I have no idea if that means he takes himself too seriously, or if he's just very good at keeping a straight face (Ian Anderson comes to mind).

[Slosh]

I still don't own Remission yet (hangs head in shame). It's been on my critical purchases list for a long time. Have heard a few tracks from it--"Crusher Destroyer," "Old Nessie," and "March Of The Fire Ants" (Jar comped it). Would you say Leviathon is better than Remission? I mean, should I buy Leviathon first? Oh, and just to be nitpicky, Mastodon actually had a debut EP out before Remission called Lifesblood. Supposedly sounds very similar to Remission.

Flip a coin.

They're both essential IMO. Of want I know of your tastes I'd guess you'd like Leviathan a bit more but you can't go wrong with either. In fact, just get both. You won't regret it.

I haven't heard (or was aware of) Lifesblood but I suspect a couple of the tracks on the bonus DVD are culled from it and they're very good.

NP: Oxes - Oxxxes

[Dusty Chalk]

I am probably in the wrong place to be even mentioning things like this...but I love heavy metal..

Not at all. As a matter of fact...

Sonata Arctica - Winterhearts Guild

...could you expound a little bit more on this one? I have to admit to being intrigued by the information on the sticker, but I've been burned before by that, so wanted to learn more before I pursued them further.

PS Just got the new Lamb Of God today. Would have gotten The Crown, but they didn't have it.

[audiobill]

You're welcome! It's always nice to share good music. I am not an opera expert by any means but I can suggest some names. Older recordings often are fairly clear for voices, even though not hi-fi, and I am not so particular about the sound. Old Gigli is one of favorite tenors and most of his recordings are monos.

Most Ezio Pinza recordings are pretty old--he died in 1957, while Cesare Siepi was about 30 years younger (born 1923) and may well still be alive as far as I know. Most Pinza recordings are quite old, but I know Siepi made some in the stereo age.

George London (1920-1985) was a great bass baritone, and he did Wotan in Solti's recording of Wagner's "Das Rheingold" in his Ring Cycle. Unfortunately, he suffered paralysis of his vocal chords and stopped performing in 1965.

Jerome Hines was a wonderful basso. The only recording of his I have is Handel's Messiah with Klemperer. Others that come to mind are Nikolai Ghiaurov, Boris Christoff, Theo Adam, and Donald McIntyre.

I'll have to check some of these out. It's very interesting what you say about older recordings i.e., that they have clearer voices. Pinza and Siepi look like starting points for me.

Cheers,
audiobill

[Dusty Chalk]

Do you have 2 or 3 other "basso" or "very low male" voices singing opera that you would highly recd.. I'm very picky about "clean" recordings, when it comes to voices.

Any suggestions, are greatly appreciated.

I know I'm not Pat, but I have to chime in: get the Jungle Book soundtrack. Sher-Khan (?sp) has the greatest voice ever.

Shere Khan -- okay, apparently it's George Sanders. He's done a lot of narration work...he's been in A Shot in the Dark...he was in the 1947 version of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir...oooh, he played Simon Templar aka The Saint in the 30's and 40's...okay, not that you care about any of that...