Record Geek Nightmare

Doesn't this sound great, jazzheads? A collaboration between onetime Joe McPhee guitarist Raymond Boni, and former President of the Czech Republic Václav Havel? It's on Hat Hut records, called Intermediary and has a cool yellow abstract cover. The chemistry between the two is unbelievable: Boni makes magnificent noises from his six-string, and I never knew the Prez could play clarinet so sweetly.

Alas.

You know you've been collecting records for too long when you dream about ones that don't exist.

Happy John Coltrane's Birthday!

Some might say, pop on your copy of Giant Steps or A Love Supreme, but I love Interstellar Space, so I'm sticking with it.

If you want a loving variation on Space, there's Nels Cline and Gregg Bendian's marvelous Interstellar Space Revisited. Or if you want to keep it theoretically local, check out the gorgeous version of "Seraphic Light" from Eyvind Kang and Michael Bisio's MBEK, released on MPLS' own Meniscus Records.

Or, if you're in San Francisco, visit the Church of Saint John Coltrane. Or in LA, go see Mike Watt, as devoted an acolyte as there ever was. A love supreme, indeed.

Bangeth Thine Head

2nd Non-Blogger sent me a copy of the (now unavailable for free, unfortunately) NY Times article on the heavy metal. Two main points are discussed - how metal's both punkier and smarter than it was. Well.

The punk rock sensibility is absolutely nothing new to metal - it is what wrought thrash/speed metal in the 80s - the big four bands (Metallica/Megadeth/Anthrax/Slayer) and their childrens were completely influenced by the DIY 'n' dirty sensibility of the Sex Pistols, Black Flag, the Clash, Discharge, etc.

And, Prog-metal has always had a literary edge, albeit sometimes more toward HP Lovecraft and Anne Rice than I'd like. Ulver, whose latest has been mentioned as something noteworthy, has been doing literarily inspired stuff for years. As for high-minded, Amorphis did a concept album on Finland's national poem-cycle the Kalevala, oh, about eight years ago.

The Slate article I posted earlier still has the edge. But now I gotta hear Sunn O))) - people seem to either loathe them or worship them. Always a sign of some kind of quality.

Here's my record review on metal historians and brainiacs Opeth.

Still More Top 10 for you

3rd Non-blogger checks in:

"Um...I'd happily give you a list, except I really don't have one at the moment. I can sing the theme songs of a million kids' shows to you, and I can kinda-sorta listen to The Current (and sometimes even catch the backannounce!), but the kids are keeping me out of my records. And I don't have an iPod...*sniff*.

Here's a substitute list. One song that really speaks to me at the moment, and the track list of an album I am devoted to completely (and have actually been listening to).

"Leonard Cohen's Never Gonna Bring My Groceries In" by Nancy White, off MOMNIPOTENT -- Songs for Weary Parents (brilliant album, actually)

And the collection of delicious covers by The Church, off of their album A Box Of Birds

1 -- The Faith Healer
2 -- It's All Too Much
3 -- Hiroshima Mon Amour
4 -- The Porpoise Song
5 -- Decadence
6 -- The Endless Sea
7 -- Friction
8 -- All The Young Dudes
9 -- Silver Machine
10 -- Cortez the Killer"

Life Under A Rock

I'm buried in a mountain of writing for CP and the ATU newsletter, so posting will continue to be light for a while.

Here's a show I would go to if I could:

Venue: Acadia Theater
Date: Tuesday, September 13
Time: 8:00

=========================
3rd set - idee fixe

- Philip Mann (cello, moog)
- Ryan Reber (electronics, vocals)
- Joel Longtine (percussion)
- Greg Schaefer (kalimba, trumpet)

from earlier this year:
http://www.breakevenrecords.com/mp3/idee.mp3

=========================
2nd set - Michael Yonkers

ALL guitar, no vocals

=========================
1st set - a starr egg

- Taras Ostroushko (guitar)
- Greg Schaefer (guitar)

And, hey, Survivor starts Thursday. Already?!?! Thank goodness I have TiVo....

More Top 10 for you

On Mark's suggestion, I and one of my non-blogger buds posted our selections last week. Now 2nd Non-Blogger comes in with his choices:

"...not really "obsessed over" but in the last week or so these have
stopped me in my tracks.

Willie Parker I Live The Life I Love
Morton Subotnick Silver Apples of The Moon
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum SPQR (This Heat cover)
Ray Charles I'm Movin' On
Okan Lost
Laurie Anderson Born, Never Asked
The Carter Family Winding Stream
Professor Alex Bradford and the Bradford Singers Leak In The Building ..."

Weird Coincidence...

... that two of my favorite albums in the last two years or so have the same title.

Opeth - Deliverance
and
Bubba Sparxxx - Deliverance

Fortunately, the only common thread the two albums have is that they are made by pale-complected, carbon -based lifeforms on Planet Earth. That thought is somehow very comforting to me.

Watch, though. Knowing my luck, Bubba will hire on Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson to produce his next disc, and over in Scandinavia we hear:

"Sweden! Take your shirt off and swing it 'round your head like a helicopter!"