What's in your CDP tonight? the minority report

Hey Loomis...I will look for the video. I like Ginger as a rock drummer a ton and though I know he (and Jack) came out of jazz backgrounds I don’t know enough to say how good a jazz drummer he was. I watched a concert (on YouTube) of him with Charlie Haden and (Bill Frissell?) on guitar. Pretty straight up jazz. He seemed okay to me - certainly not overplaying in that context but there’s more to it than that. Glad to hear you like Ginger too...means your assessment vis a vis Art B. is more likely to be an accurate one (no axe to grind).

Starting to look for that video you mention, came across this discussion on the Steve Hoffman forum. Makes for some interesting reading re what Elvin Jones thought about Ginger (vs Keith Moon of all people!).
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/elvin-jones-feelings-about-ginger-bakers-playing-style.238445/

Sure, Bonham, Moon & Baker were the "trinity" of rock drummers in my day but I’d put Baker (way) ahead of either of them. Leastways, that’s my O-pinion. Again, not talking Baker's jazz talent.

Hello Loomis...OK.  Well, I watched the Baker/Blakey "drum battle".  With all due respect, I couldn't pick a clear cut "winner" there.  Not to my mind anyway.  Even if Blakey gets the edge overall, I didn't think Baker got humiliated.  I'm not a drummer though so I'll defer to those that know more...just expressing my opinion.  I was impressed by Art.  I knew the name but that's it.  Some of the rolls he did were outright ferocious.  Lot of sound from a smallish kit too, I thought.  He used an awful lot of cymbal though...not my preference.  Maybe give him a bit of an edge on variety.  Rhythmically, I found Baker's playing a little more complex but also thought he was more repetitious than Blakey.  Differences in styles for sure...seemed like Art had the lighter hands.  Baker more of a rock feel.  (If I were blindfolded, can't swear I'd say that - but that's how it seemed).    BTW - wish the video quality were better.  Hard to make out facial expressions clearly.  Found it interesting how intently AB and GB watched one another...esp.GB on Art.  Couldn't tell if AB's look was boredom, disdain or what...video quality was just not that great.  It WAS interesting stuff.  Thanks for bringing it up.  I will check out the Elvin Jones/Ginger Baker video too.

Loomis - I enjoy reading other viewpoints...especially articulate, well-presented ones like yours, that don't take on a condescending, pissy tone (yours don't).  

"baker tends to default to that same sorta tribal/african rhythm"...I think I agree with you on this.  It's like a trademark or something of his and what I was getting at when I said "repetitious".  

Have to say I give points to Blakey for having stayed (and, I assume, made his fortune) in jazz...rather than bailing to pursue (easier?) commercial success in rock.  

What would be really great in those videos is have some knowledgeable commentator break it all down...e.g., from 0:52-0:75 Art is using this and this to do that and that.  He's playing in double X time until 0:67 when he changes to XYZ, etc., etc..  Not a critique so much as a musical analysis.  
Spawn of satan...hmm.  Certainly a wee bit of a misanthrope!  He and Jack could make the sparks fly.

OK.  Later.  

Hey Nutty...I will check her out. Also, saw your mention of "Tin Machine" over on your "What’s Playing....". Believe it or not, never heard that - ever. Will have to check it out on Spotify.

For me right now, listening to Crowded House (been a long time fan of them/Neil Finn). The CD is Time on Earth. Excellent, excellent. He has quite a gift for melody.

Bersarin Quartett III.  Call it Modern Composition or Dark Ambient...it has elements of both.  Moody and engaging with interesting sound textures. Melodic at times but not melody driven.  Highly atmospheric.  Works as background but rewards attentive listening as well.  A nice addition to his I & II.  From the excellent Denovali label.

Hey Nutty - 
Never been a big AC/DC fan myself but have to say, "Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap" has some pretty funny lyrics if you are into that sort of black humor.  

Howdy N...Pleased to read you checked out Bersarin Quartett.  A LOT of his stuff is brooding. If you are willing to give more of that "genre" (modern composition, as it is sometimes called) another go, consider Acoustic Tales by Field Rotation (aka Christoph Berg).  Also a bit dark and brooding but possibly with a little more movement than Bersarin Quartett.  Another musician/composer working in that mode is Rachel Grimes.  Check out her, "The Clearing".  This definitely has more energy than Bersarin or Christoph.  Hope you like it.

A rough day.  "Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline" is helping.  

@nutty 

Did not know Rick Braun but found Full Stride on Spotify.  The sound quality seems excellent and I like the sound of his horn.  Definitely preferring instrumentals these days (with some exceptions).  Full Stride is smooth jazz I guess but doesn't seem to be mindless noodling.  Nice recording.  Thanks for posting.   

Started out listening to some A.A. Bondy "American Hearts". Decided to check out Verbena from whence Bondy came. Gave a listen to Souls For Sale. Pretty different than Bondy’s solo stuff...it rocks.  Liked it.

Last night...A.A. Bondy's "American Heats".

Today, Arbouretum's "The Gathering".

Make that, "American Hearts" for last night.  

Tonight it's "Atomos" by A Winged Victory for the Sullen (Adam Wiltzie & Dustin O'Halloran).  

@dpatterson 

"One of my Pandora channels is called Zero 7!"

Why doesn't that surprise me?  :-)

I'm not the world's biggest Robin Trower fan BUT, for whatever reason, been listening to him a good deal yesterday and today.  Going through some of his older discography that I'm less familiar with (i.e., NOT Bridge of Sighs that I know too well), e.g., Long Misty Days, Twice Removed & City Dreams, I was really struck by James Dewar's vocal on Bluebird from City Dreams.  What a beautiful voice.  

Also pulled up two of Trower's more recent releases:  2016's Where Are You Going To & 2015's Something's About to Change.  Gosh, even on Spotify, the sonics on these recordings are superb.  The song writing is strong and Trower sounds excellent.  Very economical and tasteful guitar playing.  Thanks to all who've posted earlier about RT.  Might just have to buy WAYG & SATC.  

@dpatterson

Hello Don - Found the Bob Moses/Days Gone By on Spotify. Like the mood and the sonics seem pretty good too. Thanks.  Reminds me a little bit of Zero 7. On the remote chance you haven’t heard "them", worth a listen.

All power pop this evening...

Chris Stamey "Euphoria"

The Grays "RoShamBo"

Landon Pigg "LP"

Owsley "The Hard Way"

@bdp24 
@pokey77 
bdp - You are like a like a walking music encyclopedia!...guess they call them "musicologists"!  

I have to give credit to pokey77 for turning me onto The Grays and Jason Faulkner.  From those I found out about JellyFish.  For some reason tho' I found JellyFish's stuff inconsistent and occasionally annoying.  By contrast (IMO) Ro Sham Bo is a strong album all the way through.  JF's Author Unknown (not quite as consistent but still very good) could have been on the playlist last night but I ran out of time.  Apart from Pokey's recommendations, I'm pretty ignorant about that whole (SoCal?) late 80s/90s pop music scene.  Don't think those bands were getting much airplay on the east coast back then...leastways not the station I was mostly listening to then (WXPN out of Phila).  

Anyway - NO.  I don't know Great Buildings.  Did find Apart From the Crowd on the Spot and will listen more later today.  Brief sampling I did sounds promising.  Funny, heard of The Rembrandts but I couldn't name you a tune by them, so something else to explore.  

FWIW, much of my taste in pop music can be explained by this hit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypv1lZlW1WY
"Formative" as they say.




  

Hey 2psyop - welcome to the thread. Van is certainly one of the greats. Have loved Into The Mystic for a lot of years now; also, It Stoned Me, from the same album. Do you know Beautiful Vision? Cleaning Windows and Dweller On The Threshold are standout tracks for me.   Hard to name a favorite album with VM.  He's one of the few where I own almost all their studio output.  

BTW - What Schiit DAC do you have?

The Boats - "Sleepy Insect Music"

One thing that JJ Grey band has is a really good rhythm section.  Check out Track 6 Florabama.  Drum and bass player playing tight makes for a solid foundation.  

@nutty 
Let me know if any of the other Nines titles are similar to that S/T download-only-one.  I'll be interested in hearing more along those lines but I'm thinking the other stuff I sampled was pretty different.  Let me know if otherwise.  

I don't know how much "fixing" JJ & Mofro did to those Brighter Days live tracks.  Fixin' things can't fake energy tho' and those boys got that in spades.  Thanks for another great recommendation.  

Got a "like new" The Way It Is CD ordered for under $15 shipped from an eBay seller w/100% rating,  Glad to find it.  
 

@nutty

Hey Nutty - I had not but thanks for the reminder. I have the YouTube clip running now and found the whole thing on Spotify. They reminded me of J. Geils on that first track; on Track 2 sounding like Al Green...well the arrangement a bit, if not the vocal. Thanks for the suggestion. Going to listen to this some more. It’s got that old R&B vibe for sure.

You get a chance, check out The Nines. Pretty hard hitting and bears up to repeated listening. BTW - tracked down a copy of Glenn Hughes’ The Way It Is. Making an offer. That one is starting to get a little bit scarce and pricey. Another one that bears up to repeated listening.

Street Legal
Hard Rain

Real Live
Dylan and band are smokin’. In particular, Mick Taylor sounds fantastic. Check out his work on "I & I", e.g., his solo after the last verse...
"Someone else is speaking with my mouth, but I’m listening only to my heart
I’ve made shoes for everyone, even you, while I still go barefoot"

Hey adg, I’ve not yet tried Fallen Angels. Thought it was going to be another curious collection of covers (how’s that for alliteration) like Shadows. Not my cuppa. Guess I’ll give it a try.

Well, it is more covers. Found "Melancholy Mood" on Spotify. Dylan’s band is great (as usual). The arrangement and recording sonics are excellent and, surprise, surprise, Dylan’s voice sounds (almost) smooth and polished crooning this one. While I don’t "get it" like Reviewer Erlewine in the All Music Guide apparently does, I respect Dylan for going down this unexpected path in Shadows and, now, Angels.

Helios - "Unleft"

Siavash Amini - "What Wind Whispered to the Trees"; "Subsiding"

School of Seven Bells - "SVIIB"

@jafant - Who/What is RHCP?  TIA

@nutty - Thanks for your various interesting music suggestions.  Don't know Budgie but will look them up.  

aolmrd - DOH!  of course!!  Thanks.  

Listening regularly, just not posting about it regularly.  Last couple of evenings been spending time w/George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass".  Surprising to me how well most of the music on this triple album has held up over time.  Not familiar with much of GH's other solo stuff (Did listen to Wonderwall a good bit way back.  Always liked "When We Was Fab") but based solely on ATMP, the man was gifted with some wonderful melodies.  Shouldn't be a surprise, I guess, given his contributions to the Abbey Road album.  

Welcome, jo1.  I blow hot & cold on Wilco.  Jeff can get on my nerves sometimes...he gets a little whiny for me.  AGIB never really grabbed me for whatever reason; Sky Blue Sky and, distantly, Summerteeth if I had to pick Wilco favs.

Tonight, however, anyone bothering to read this...do yourself a favor, give some New Mastersounds a listen.  Live in San Francisco (2009) is not a bad place to start.  You got a cold?  Might even cure it.

New Mastersounds, "Therapy"
Paul Butterfield, "The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw"
Orange Peels, "Sun Moon"

@nutty ... Nels Cline might be THE single best thing about Wilco.  A very good and largely overlooked guitarist (at least that's how it seems to me).  

School of Seven Bells - "Ghostory"

@dpatterson - I got a strong feeling this is one you will like...though maybe you already know SVIIB.

Loomis - I know what you mean.  At the risk of insulting Wilco fans, Nels is kind of "slummin'" there.  He does bring some amazing solos to their tracks though.  His stuff as "Nels Cline Singers" is a real stretch for me, however.  I have a hard time listening to it.  Do check out his work with Alan Pasqua on the album, "The Antisocial Club".  That's a lot more accessible for me but definitely non-commercial.  Also on Cryptogramophone Records.

Tony Williams Lifetime:  The Collection

Did Allan Holdsworth influence Jeff Beck or the reverse?
Or simply fortuitous?

Neil Finn - Dizzy Heights

Allan Holdsworth - Wardenclyffe Tower 

All the above, as is often the case listening at night, courtesy Spotify. 

stevecham - Thanks for the insights.  Maybe I should have had a 4th option..."Or am I simply delusional".   I'm not a guitarist and all I know of Holdsworth is what I heard on this Tony William Lifetime compilation (as lamentable as that might be).  I had picked up on the difference of "long runs vs short phrases" but I did think I heard a similar tone or sound.  Haven't looked into the kinds of guitars they use but maybe it's just a case of Wired & Blow By Blow being from the same fusion genre as the music on the Tony Williams albums included in the compilation: "Believe It" & "Million Dollar Legs". Thanks again.

Thanks for the further comments comparing Beck vs Holdsworth, Steve.  

I tried AH's "Wardenclyffe Tower" last night.  Maybe it just gets off to a slow start...really didn't do much for me though I didn't get through more than the first three tracks.  I will try Metal Fatigue.  I have collected several Jeff Beck LPs including Blow by Blow & Wired.   I like BbyB very much - prefer it to Wired by a large margin.

   

@loomisjohnson 

The music is pretty conventional though not without some interesting solos (often from NC). Great lineup, for sure.

Try this Spotify URL link.  
The "composer(s)" is: Broadbent/A.Cline/N.Cline/Erskine/Pasqua

spotify:album:4qWljHqQQaCpxLywXAab56

Please let me know if you have any further difficulties locating it.

Last night was The Music of Eric Von Essen Vol. I & II.  An interesting Nels Cline connection here, for anyone interested ( @jafant , @loomisjohnson ).  Pretty much "standard" jazz with a little twist.  There is a 3rd volume as well, didn't get to it.  

For a change of pace, switched off to All Tiny Creatures, "Harbors".  

A great album tonight, musically and sonically, by Spanish bass player, Carles Benavent: "Quartet".  Definitely worth a listen.  

Also, for a change of pace:  Arbouretum, "Song of the Pearl".

jafant - you are welcome, of course.

The Well Wishers - "A Shattering Sky"

Hey dp - Good to see you posting.  I generally check out your titles if they are new to me.  Imitation the sincerest form of flattery, as they say.   

"Is Nutty going by Woobie as well??"

Looks that way...noting the 'N' beneath his post and the fact that I had recently shot him an email after sampling Blind Ego/Liquid that you had posted about.  He's a big Dream Theater and Spock's Beard fan so it seemed like it might work for him.

I wish Spotify would step up their game.  They have a great library.  I like their GUI & uncluttered desktop.  Most of all, their new music recommendation (Browse/Discover) function works like a charm.  Have discovered a lot of new music based on recommendations from Spotify.     

Hi @milpai - 

Hard to go wrong with a Steely Dan album but for me Royal Scam is probably the one I listen to the most.  The vinyl I had was so-so...kinda flat. Not much "air".  The remastered CD I got recently (it's not a new release, however) - as much as I'm not typically a big fan of remasters - sounds pretty good.  Better detail than the vinyl and not excessively harsh.  I'd like to find an SACD version of TRS if one exists.  Thanks for contributing.

@milpai - just curious...when you say, "I do not own a single LP....".  Do you mean by the Dan or across the board?  You won't get any criticism from me...just curious.   Around here, "No LPs" would certainly be a minority position...though we often like the minority viewpoint.  Most of the vinyl I have is stuff I've been carting around for 40 years or so.  Buy vinyl only rarely nowadays...sometimes old stuff as the spirit moves; hardly anything at all of the new, so-called audiophile vinyl reissues.  I take a pretty cynical view of most of that activity (along with the so-called vinyl resurgence) - just another way to shake $ out of people's pockets and rejuvenate back catalog sales (in my O-pinion, of course).

milpai - we share some similar points of view. Low cost and easy maintenance are factors that contribute to my enjoyment of records via the KAB mod’d. Technics table I have. It’s not a fussy set up. Plus I do get a certain satisfaction holding an LP that was produced almost 50 years ago...like some kind of historical artifact that is still functionally viable. Regarding cynicism about the vinyl resurgence, I see it as a trendy, "hip" fad that (I hope) will soon run it’s course. Shaking more $ out of people’s pockets is what I associate with the flurry of audiophile reissues. FWIW - I too have the SACD version of Gaucho. Just got done listening to Moody Blues "Question of Balance" in SACD. Not the greatest recording ever but I enjoy the music. Going to put on Gaucho next, thanks to you bringing it up.

jafant - as much as I appreciate your succinct contributions to this thread, I'd argue that 5:49 PM US-DST does not qualify as "night"!...as in "What's in your CDP TONIGHT?!"

BTW - Seriously, is that GnR tour to be honored or lamented?  Never was a big fan.  What they got lately??

Huh..."universally praised tour"  Shows you what I know.  Still don't care for 'em (much).   :-)

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/axl-rose-guns-n-roses-model-citizen/

https://www.youtube.com/user/hoodooskidoo

nutty, aol - You might enjoy a series of videos put up on YouTube by hoodooskidoo.  See link above.  These are conversations between Fagen and Warren Bernhardt.  WB is said  to have been the sometime Steely Dan tour music director.  The conversations get into details on composition and structure of a number of Steely Dan tunes.    

Hi dp - looking forward to it.  Bring some music, of course.  I'll put together a play list.  Really happy with how things sound right now.  It's my own version of audio nirvana (with a lower case 'n'  :-).   

Helios - "Unleft"

Indigolab - "The Last Cartographer of Dreams"