Here's the late-1997 installment of the tedious, yet eternally popular, item for reporting on the music you are listening to *now*. Feel free to add a comment or three about this music.502 responses total.
Since I can't resist being #1 (unless someone sneaks a response in..) I'm listening to Mad Professor vs. Massive Attack's "No Protection" It's a dub master's (Mad Professor) remix of a trip-hop bands album and mixes the better parts of both genres pretty well (or so I think..) A good introduction to the dub sound for someone who's not familiar with it..
Right now, Carmen, by Paula Cole, I think. Off of another one of my friend's mix tapes, just like all the rest of my music.
Old, by Bush. It's the best song they've made since, well, since Sixteen Stone came out. Pity it wasn't on the album.
"space time contiuum," by 2 pro1, from the ambient collection _From Here to Tranquility_. I had been listening to Jeff Danna's soundtrack to _Kung Fu: The Legend Continues_, but got tired of listening after the second time.
Rolling Stones -- "Let it Bleed"
Breathe, Prodigy--selected as a single, I suspect, because it actually has lyrics for radio people to listen to. Not many, but they're there.
The Sailor Mars single, I've forgotten what it's called. Wacky stuff, but cool.
Since I now work for Border's, I had to take a field trip to the store the other night. Employee discount is great. Got Christine Lavin's _Shinning My Flashlight On The Moon_, the Capitol Steps latest, a few others and the one I am listening to now, because it was prominatly displayed and had some interesting titles: _Let's Face It_ by BossTones, "Another Drinking Song".
Paranoid Android, Radiohead. Excellent song.
Really? Leaves me cold.. Elvis Costello and the Costello Show -- "King of America" 1986 was an excellent year for my favorite musical misanthrope -- he produced two exceptional albums, the country-sounding "King of America" and the more rock-oriented "Blood and Chocolate." Although in the long run I think I enjoy "Blood and Chocolate" more, "King of America" is a great disc..
"Take My Breath Away," by Berlin. I'm listening to an 80's hit sampler tape I made from listening to a retro 80's radio show here in Kennewick. Hrm, speaking of Costello, I should really get some of his recordings-- from what I've heard of him, I like his work.
Others will have different opinions but I recommend the two albums above as my favorite later "Elvis" albums and the very powerful "Armed Forces" as my favorite from among his early stuff. If you decide to go with a greatest hits package of some sort don't skimp, go straight for "Girls, Girls, Girls" -- 2 discs full of great songs and a much better set of selections than either of the one-disc greatest hits packages..
"People Are Strange" by the Doors.
Colored People, DC Talk.
Stewart Copeland, soundtrack from "Rumblefish".
I am listening to nothing but the hum of my computer. I guess you might call that music. Of course, silence and ambience are both very important in music.
"He's The Greatest Dancer" by Sister Sledge.
Cranberries. Lumen, I consider the hum of my computer to be wonderful music. :)
Yeah. My dad likes leaving the computer on all the time, (our monitor goes flaky when you shut it off), and it's in my room. The power went out a while ago, and the sudden silence woke me up. Couldn't get back to sleep untill it came back on. "Kodachrome" Paul Simon
"Cathy's Clown" by the Everly Brothers.
"Emotion In Motion," from the Best of Naked Eyes. (They did a cover of "Always Something There To Remind Me" and wrote "Promises, Promises," both big hits in 1983 and 1984.)
"Change" by Blind Melon.
The Beginning is the End is the Beginning, the Smashing Pumpkins (this song is great--too bad nobody's ever heard it. Billy at his best.)
Television, THE BLOW-UP. Found a copy at Encore today. Bootleg quality, unsurprisingly, and the first CD is hardly essential; we'll hope that the three long jams on the second disc make it worthwhile.
Aimee Mann, "Whatever".
The Beginning is the End is the Beginning, again. Cant' get enough of the song. I have to have the bass turned way down, unfortunately.
John Fogerty's new CD "Blue Moon Swamp".
Egads, the back of my CD picked up a disease from my TV screen,
it has a Warner's "W" ghosted into the lower right corner.
I was listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" until the batteries ran out on my discman. Didn't even get very far. Blat.
Sex Type Thing, Stone Temple Pilots. I keep forgetting that they made music like this back in the day.
Can't remember the title of the album and don't want to go check the jewel case but I'm listening to a cutout-bin CD from Rick Danko / Eric Anderson / Jonas Fjeld. Uneven, but good in parts..
"Lazy River" by Bobby Darin.
Uh, one of my seasame street tapes. Best of Ernie, I think. (I've got a collection. Many of them are from when I was really little and are about to die. Blat.) Still no batteries for my discman. :(
Layla, Eric Clapton (uplugged)
Something on WCBN, I don't know what it's called. It's pretty neat, tho'.
The theme song from Sesame Park, the Canadian version of Sesame Street. (Pat's watching his show, while I 'watch' mine)
So Fast So Numb, R.E.M. (skips way too much, which is too bad.)
Skipping is caused by scratches on the CD. Mild scratches can be polished out with toothpaste! Put a little on your finger, get it wet, then gently rub on the bottom of the CD from the edge to the center and back a few times.
I find that skipping is more often caused by dust or stray cat hair, so puff some moisture on the disc and wipe it on your shirt before trying more drastic methods. The Mahones, RISE AGAIN. A Pogues-clone band from Canada, pleasant enough.
I have had tons of problems with CD's on loan from the Ann Arbor District Library skipping. Guess people don't treat such items with TLC as I do.
The Lightning Seeds's "Sense," from the album of the same name. A friend of mine called it disco, but it's much better done than that. Now comes "The Life of Riley," which I hope some people are familiar with. (Please tell me that some of you know who the Lightning Seeds are!!)
bruin, have you visually inspected the library CDs for scratches or dirt? I saw a Lightning Seeds video once on MTV and thought vaguely about getting an album.
"Whiskey Under the Bridge", by Brooks and Dunn. For some reason I'm in just the right mood for it right now, and am enjoying the entire album immensely. Country is wonderful stuff to swing dance to. Four step preferable to six step.
Lightning Seeds are an Ian McCulloch (of Echo & the Bunnymen) project? Or am I misremembering? Listening to King Jammy's "Slow Motion Dub" on the "Dub Chill Out" collection..
My skipping is most definitely caused by a scratch.. It's not that mild, either. Hmm. Firestarter, Prodigy. The album is pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.
oddly, I'm listening to the exact same thing I was last time. "Whiskey Under the Bridge". heh
Would, Alice In Chains... superb song.
Got out two CCR Great Hits CDs, John Fogerty's "Centerfield" to add to "Blue Moon Swamp" and set the machine to shuffle. "Sweet Hitchhicker" is playing now.
my father talking about how well he played baseball at his company game tonight.
Nothing, because it's early morning and I don't particularly want to wake anyone up. AEnima by Tool is reverberating in my head, though.
Fuckin' with my Head, by Beck
my own horn playing scales... meticulously trying to recover what I lost in the past week of being sick and not playing.
CCR shuffle continues
Folk Rock of the Sixties, um, new song just started -- I think it'd Dylan....
Pretty scary if you can't tell!
I'm a girl watcher - on House of Blues. They seem to be playing a bunch of soul tonight. Here comes "Get on Up".
RE #55 "I'm A Girl Watcher" was by the O'Kaysions, and "Get On Up" was by the Esquires,and both groups had their 15 minutes of fame in 1968.
Blues Delux on WIQB, 102.9 waiting for Dr. Demento later,
just into the bluebloods portion--the unsigned bands part.
House of Blues celebrated Rhino Records release of
the 6 CD set of Beg, Shout and Scream - Soul Music of the 60's.
find out about on the rhino records site. I got to it through
www.borders.com, where it's on sale at Borders Books & Music
along with a contest and giveawaw. (The link is on the borders page).
Anyone who likes soul music from that period and lives in the Ann Arbor area is hereby commanded to listen to the excellent "Stan and Evy's All-Star Rhythm Review" on WEMU (89.1) Friday nights. About half sixties soul and the other half is fifties doo-wop. Great music, good commentary - excellent driving music when you're headed out of town on Friday night for a weekend getaway.
Cocteau Twins -- "Treasure"
Talking Heads, "Remain in Light".
"Progressive Torch & Twang," the Tuesday night country show on MSU's student radio station. The first set had some great stuff from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (bluegrass), Pete Anderson, and Kelly Willis.
Depeche Mode-- "Get The Balance Right!" (Combination Mix)
Pere Ubu -- the "Datapanik in the Year Zero" EP..
Vacuum cleaner upstairs
Wicked Garden, Stone Temple Pilots. Listen to Core and then Listen to Tiny Music--Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop and tell me that they couldn't be two different bands.
Nothing now :( I had been listening to Depeche Mode's "My Joy."
"Across the Great Divide" -- a 3-CD boxed set of the Band that I checked out of the Ann Arbor Public Library. Lots of great songs and a surprising number of interesting failures (IHMO, of course..)
Sharon Shannon, EVERY LITTLE THING -- good 3rd album from the Irish folk / pop-influenced accordion player who looks a bit like Julia Roberts. This has been out for a while in Europe and there are no signs of a USA issue; I was quite surprised to find this in the rock import bin in Tower East Lansing.
Rain.
Tom Waits, "The Black Rider".
Boom Crash Opera, "Dancing in the Storm"
Gilda Radner tapes.
Tori Amos, "Twinkle"
Loser, Beck. I love this song.
YokoYama Katsuya, "Zen" (trad shakuhachi music)
(Wow...Another Beck fan)
In additon to the hum of the computer, I'm listening to the clotheswasher agitate.
"Listen," Collective Soul. Nice song.
Depeche Mode's "Painkiller," a b side from the "Barrel of a Gun" CD single (one of them, anyway)
Ride -- "Leave Them All Behind" EP
Ricky Lee Jones - Atlas' Marker
Welcome to the Jungle, Guns N Roses... I love this song. Too bad GnR went south.
California Guitar Trio - "Invitation" Quite a good instrumental guitar album by a couple of ex-Crafty Guitarists.
Joe Jackson, "Big World". Very interesting... Jackson is a keyboard player, but a lot of tunes on this album are just bass, drums, and one guitar along with vocals. The vinyl version is a double album, with only 3 sides (2nd record side 2 says "There is no music on this side")!
I have cable now, so, i might be CNNing more then listening to music while i grex. Though, right now its senory overload
re #84: I like "Big World" -- it's nice that it's available again after being out of print for several years.. If you like Joe Jackson, I think "Look Sharp" is his best but I also like the relatively recent "Blaze of Glory" (relatively recent meaning 7 or 8 years old by now I'd guess..)
This Is Spinal Tap, I'm taping it for a friend and our VCR's screwy, won't let me leave it unattended. (I could be watching it, but it's been forever since I've been on, and the thought of how behind I am has been guilt tripping me.)
mcnally - how are their recordings? I heard them live at the King Crimson show I went to a while back, but that was a while ago and I've forgotten what they sounded like :P
The love of failure, the levitz
re #88: I think that "Invitation" is pretty good. I've been disappointed with most of the other Crafty-related recording projects I've heard -- they've been too uneven and markedly inferior to the live performance I saw of Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists. "Invitation" is both much more consisten than the LCG stuff and also more comparable to the California Guitar Trio's performances. If you liked the performance you'll enjoy this album.
Neil Woodward - Talking New Baby Blues from _Life, Love & food songs_ - see upcoming item on these 1 in 1,000 CDs.
Hmm...I'll have to get me a copy of that, then.
My Wave, Soundgarden.
Thank You, Tori Amos (A killer cover of the Led Zepplin song)
Dr. Demento is in! Playing STeve Goodman's "Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request" at the moment.
Fred Small -- On the Other Side of the Wood
Alan Stivell, BRIAN BORU, rather a good folk-rock (European style) album.
The Muppet Movie Soundtrack.
("Movin' right along - du du dum du du dum..."
Rocky Horror Picture Show, taping it for sister, along with Shock Treatment. She just may end up moving to Denton, Denton, the Home of Happiness.
re:99 "Moving right along, ins serch of good times and good news, with good friends you can't lose, this could become a habit." I could sing more, if you wanted. Learn the lyrics, silly.
"Waiting For The Night (To Fall)" by Depeche Mode, from the _Violator_ album.
Towards the end of "Wooden Heart" by Joe Dowell, and leading into Connie Francis and "Everybody's Somebody's Fool."
Mouth, Bush. the CD was on top of the computer.
"Walking In My Shoes," by DM again. I'll play the music often until I die, probably.
"All I want is a proper cup o' coffee, made in a proper-cup-o'-coffee pot"
Oh, no, not again, orin! Space Man, by Babalon Zoo
ccr's rendition of "heard it through the grapevine."
Broadside Electric, MORE BAD NEWS. A Philadelphia Folk Festival acquisition. Review upcoming in the folk music item; basically, it's an instant favorite.
Thomas Dolby, "The Flat Earth". This is a cassette from high school, and sounds like it. Maybe I need the CD version? Still a great album, though.
(Dolby as in Dolby Noise Reduction?)
Bleeding Me, Metallica
"Strangelove (single version)", by Depeche Mode. Dave-- check the electronic music item about Dolby. It's just a nickname he had in hs that he made his stage name. Dolby Labs at one point sued him for use of the name.
I thought his full name was something like "Thomas Morgan Dolby Robertson" (something along those lines anyway..) More a middle name than a nickname..
*shrug* details.. whatever..
Simon and Garfunkel, of some sort. I ganked it from my mum's collection the other night when I was in search of an old tape I must have misplaced.
Tom Waits, "Swordfishtrombones".
Montorex/Detroit Jazz fesival on 101.9fm , WDET. Most likely tunes I will only hear once in my life. I like listening to this on the last weekend of summer because the boradcast is very 'timeless' ; an observation a made about it when I was working to paint the house a few years back...without news or commercial breaks or other radio events that mark time; time slipped by quite nicely. Was also great to tune in at a campsite one year--again with few time markers, the night & campfire went by nicely.
Shonen Knife just finished (first American CD, I like it better each time I hear it), doing some Tom Waits to fill time till Xena comes on at 9pm.
Oyster Band, WIDE BLUE YONDER. Hard to believe it's ten years old.
Mostly silence, again. I'm too tired for more stimulus.
Back to 101.9fm for more downtown detroit jazz festival; almost commercial-free too. Betcha Detroit Edison paid less for their exclusive mentions per hour than could buy in 60 second ads elsewhere.
The television, playing a football game. It's football season again! Wahoo!
Tom Waits, "Frank's Wild Years". Yes, I'm back on the Waits again lately. :)
Tom Waits, "Rain Dogs". Pretty soon I'm going to run out. ;)
Tori Amos, "In the Springtime of His Voodoo"
Blues DeLux, WIQB, sounds like Richtie Havens singing "Streets of Philadelphi"-song of Bruce Springteen.
Something by the Prodigy
RE #128 I always thought "Something" was by the Beatles (from "Abbey Road").
Methinks you're being a bit too literal.
I have to remember to make that general.. I didn't know what the song was called, so I said "something." right now I'm listening to Don't Tread On Me, by Metallica
"Too Shy" by Kajagoogoo. I'm listening to my sub-pop 80's sample tape again. Had to rewind to this song-- it's a great one.
Classic Police Tunes!!!!!!!! (AM I in heaven?)
Jiffer, I assume you mean the rock group, and not the boys in blue uniforms, correct?
Laura Nyro, "Money" A live version off the 2-CD "best of" collection.
Londonbeat's "I've Been Thinking About You." I have seen nothing much from them besides their debut album, _In The Blood_, and their self-titled album. I need to get those two albums and listen to them, btw.
Da Yoopers 1996 CD.
Joe Jackson, "Heaven & Hell". Actually, this is "Joe Jackson and Friends", although it looks like he composed everything and just had guest vocalists. It's new, and I don't have an opinion yet.
Once you have a better handle on it please let us know what you think.. I'm interested in hearing opinions on it.. Future Sound of London -- "Papua New Guinea" remix EP..
WEMU, African Dance Party.
"Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward from "Disco Hits Volume 3" (Rhino Records).
More Metallica
"Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer from Janet's "Disco Nights Volume 8 -- Dance Floor Hits" (Rebound/PolyGram Records).
Help Me Somebody, David Byrne & Brian Eno.
RE #144 Orinoco, is "Help Me Somebody" the name of the song, or do you really need help with something?
Bob Dylan "Tangled up in Blue" on the radio
"Kiss From A Rose" Seal, from _Seal_ ('94). Aching for some wit, are we,
bruin?
(No, it's the name of the song. It's off the album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, which uses a lot of voice samples. This particular song is built around snippets from a broadcast preacher's sermon.)
Joe Jackson, "Blaze of Glory". 1989, pretty good. I am borrowing it from the library.
Very Interesting, the Levitz
Magazine, Rickie Lee Jones
The Mollys, "Hat Trick." Warming up for the FREE SHOW at the Ark on Tuesday!
Spiritualized - "Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space" this album continues to grow on me.. at this point I give it a strong recommendation..
Taken apart, the Levitz. Pity I have to return this album again.
El Hazard anime CD.
Oh! I luv that one. I have some of it on my mix tape..4 I think.
Joe Jackson, "Look Sharp"
"Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"
A suite from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "Le Coq d'Or," conductor Neeme Jarvi.
Mechwarrior 2 background music playing from the CD.
Luna - "Pup Tent"
Compadres -- Bump Me Up
STP's cover of "Dancing Days" (Just got Encomium)
I hear that that's the only good song on the album. "Don't Tread On Me," Metallica.
"Happiest Girl" (Pulsating Orbital Mix). Original song by Depeche Mode, remix by Dr. Alex Paterson and Thrash. The track supposedly is an ultra-rare one, but I'm assuming that refers to any appearrs to any appearance other than this World In My Eyes/Happiest Girl/Sea Of Sin single CD. Dang it-- I hate eternal lag..
As much as I always *think* I'll like the Orb (and their side projects) it somehow rarely happens.. It's like looking at a menu and reading a description of a dish, knowing you like all of the ingredients and think that the preparation sounds interesting, and then having it brought to the table only to discover that the texture's not right or those ingredients didn't go together as well as you thought they would. Well, right now I'm listening to crickets outside but until the CD player stopped just a moment ago I was listening to MC 900 Foot Jesus's "One Step Ahead of the Spider", bought used last week. Sadly it's another big disappointment (and thus almost certainly the last MC 900 Foot Jesus release I'll buy..) He's got a really annoying knack for putting together one or two really good songs per album which entice me into buying a disc 90% full of other stuff I don't want to listen to.. Still, when he's good he's very good -- I just love the track "Truth is Out of Style" from his first release (the rest sucks..) "MC 900 Foot Jesus, exactly how did you come to the conclusion that truth is out of style?"
Six Underground, the Sneaker pimps. On the radio. I'm about to rewrite ripclaw's plan, but read it now for a review of current rock radio (I've plugged this in another item)
It would be cool if ripclaw would put his .plan items into the music conference.
801 - Live
Blue Mountain, HOME GROWN.
Joe Jackson, "Heaven & Hell"
re # 168: Steve (senna, who is ripclaw), that is.
Obnoxious Radio commercials. First Finance and Mcdonalds in perticular. You ever notic that you always turn on the radio *just* in time to catch the ads?
Ripclaw is one of my logins. Number 5 of 29. Hmm, maybe I will put them in.
Myself, "Playing Scales on Bass Guitar".
My sister, pleading me not to call a friend of hers
I'm not listening to anything, but I can hear The Wallflower's "One Headlight" echoing in my head in bits and pieces..
once again listening to the Magnetic Fields' "The Charm of the Highway Strip", and I'm going to keep harping about how good this album is until someone else buys it and agrees with me.. (well, anyway, it really caught my fancy -- my favorite discovery of the past couple of years..)
Nothing, except my sisters chattering loudly and a cricket outside the window and the wind in the trees. I'm in too good of a mood to let my thoughts drift with any music I might listen to.
Right now --- I think Alanis Morisette is doing just great. Long time since
some proper rock came out ....MTV and V will kill us with all this pop ....
the album has enough good songs to spend an evenuing listening to.
Can anyone recommend some good songs of Alice in Chains ... for a
starter ?????
The Ramblin Jack Elliot [re-release] CD on Matt Watroba's "Folks Like Us" show on WDET, 101.9fm, Saturdays at 12noon.
Um, good Alice In Chains songs? Would is the best, and there's also Got Me Wrong, Angry Chair, Rooster, Again, No Excuses, Heaven Beside You, I Stay Away. There are others, of course. I'm listening to the wonderful inspiring chorus of Hail to the Victors
Troka, self-titled album, uptempo Finnish instrumental folk band, gorgeous recording, from a package which came in today's mail. Two fiddles, acoustic bass, accordion, harmonium.
Re #WayTheHellBackThere: I don't know, I *love* Encomium. With the Exception of Sheryl Crow's version of D'yer Make'r, they're all at least passable tracks, and there are quite a few real gems - Blind Melon doing "Out on the Tiles," the aforementioned version of Dancing Days, "Thank You" played by Duran Duran (of course, I'm just a big fan of that song), "Going to California" played by Never the Bride, and a wonderful version of "Down By The Seaside" by Robert Plant and Tori Amos. Now, my serious Led Zep fanatic friends would probably call a lot of those tracks heresy - they don't rock as hard as the originals - but they are well-done. You just have to stop looking at them as LED ZEPPLIN SONGS and start looking at them as "Wow...here's a good band...and they're playing a good piece of music". In fact, with that perspective, I think "Down By The Seaside" is better in the cover version than in the original. Of course, I'm also just seriously biased towards this album... :)
Steeleye Span, PARCEL OF ROGUES; the reissue from the UK label BGO. Seems to fix some of the glaring sound quality problems of the US Shanachie issue, but it's still pretty hissy. This is the album which hooked me into electric folk music way back in 1975; so I suppose you could say there is no end to the trouble this album has caused for me, and for many of my friends. This is also the last album Steeleye Span recorded before adding a drummer.
AEnima by Tool, again
the Penguine Cafe Orchestra.
my new Homer & Jethro CD, "America's Song Butchers" a CD compilation. right now "Movin On #2". They also did a Christmas version of this song. I like the Hank Snow original too.
steeleye span, "commoners crown."
re: 184 I wonder why? <smile> My newest mix tape. Right now it's Phish- Slave to the Traffic Light.
Steely Dan -- "The Royal Scam" gotta love "Kid Charlemagne"..
The "Pinky and the Brain" theme song has been stuck in my head most of the morning...
Santana, ABRAXAS. I think I'm going to go on a classic-rock binge for a few days.
Tom Waits, "The Black Rider"
TRIKI 1: DIATONIC DYNAMITE, by the ever popular Various Artists. A collection of Basque accordion & tambourine music.
I'm sure that, sooner or later, there will just have to be a musical act that calls themselves "Various Artists."
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
The Pet Shop Boys - "Very"
King Crimson, "THRaK aTTaCK".
Emmylou, "Wrecking Ball" Heck, it's almost a classic. :)
Mr Brownstone, GnR
Steely Dan - "Katy Lied"
You mean you can actually listen to Thrakkatack? I tried very hard for about a week to train myself to like it - just as I had earlier trained myself to like some of the weirder stuff on, say, _Starless and Bible Black_ or _Three of a Perfect Pair_ - but I couldn't do it.
The trick in appreciating "THRaCK aTTaCK" is to never listen to it directly. Use it as background only, to something you have to use brains on. Then it fills nicely.
Hmm...well, I've already sold my copy, and unless I find a real cheap used one I don't think I'm buying another, but I'll keep that in mind.
Weill's THREEPENNY OPERA; Leslie is studying for an upcoming role. (And, for the first time in years, I have moved both the stereo speakers to the same wall...)
I decided to pass on Thrak Attack but think I agree with orinoco about the difficulty of listening to certain Crimson. If the track on the Discipline Records sampler is typical of ThrakAttack I'm probably not sorry I gave it a miss. BTW, for those who like Crimson and related Fripp products but don't know what else they might enjoy Discipline Records has a 23-song sampler of all their artists which I picked up today at Tower for $4.99.. Right now I'm listening to Luna's "Penthouse"
Hail to the Victors
RE #206 "The Three-Penny Opera" is famous for the hit song "Mack the Knife." "Look out! Old Mackie is back!"
sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band, who else? the beatles.
Obviously not the movie soundtrack of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" starring the Bee Gees, right, kewy?
Beethoven violin sonatas, Arthur Grumiaux (violin) and Claudio Arrau (piano).
re 210: Big Daddy (the band of '59) put out their version of Sgt. Pepper a few years back, for their 33& 1/3 anniversary, I think. Either great humor or scariledge, depends if you can take "Lucy" done as a Little Richard-like rocker.
gregorian chants.
Well, "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" done as gregorian chant would be scary too...
Indigo Girls, SHAMING OF THE SUN. Please note that Indigo Girls is a Registered Trademark; unfortunately Grex does not support the cute little R-in-a-circle mark.
I have no music to listen to in a computer lab
Buddy Miller, YOUR LOVE AND OTHER LIES. Floating nicely in points between country and rock, but more country.
"Last," Nine Inch Nails. This album still blows me away.
David Bowie -- "Heroes" (nail me to my car and I'll tell you who you are??)
The Discipline Records sampler CD.
"Going to California", the Led Zepplin song, as covered by Never The Bride.
Spiritualized -- "Lazer Guided Melodies"
no bruin, but thank you yet again for your random musical knowledge, it was sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band.. by.. the beatles
Joe Jackson, "Big World". oops, it just ended, so now we have (pause for a change): Thomas Dolby, "Golden Age of Wireless".
Hail to the Victors.
re #225: Sounds like Scott's been rifling through my CD collection..
now playing, the Byrds, "Sweetheart of the Rodeo". it's not
the greatest music ever recorded but somehow I never get tired
of this album..
Cage, King Crimson
Sunday night and agian time for Dr. Demento, now playing the theme from the new Weird Al" Yankovic show on CBS (Saturday mornings at 11:30am, by irony channel 62, Detroit in this area, Ann Arbor cable 13).
Yesterday, while at scott's house, I noticed his magnetic "ransom note style" letters and underneath the part that read "John Tesh must die; also Yanni," I added "Weird Al Rules."
"Everything to Everyone," Everclear, which is doing a lot better than I had expected it to.
Slowdive -- "Souvlaki"
Hitchin a Ride, Green Day, which is living up to my expectations
Loud irritating - and quieter, non-irritating - people in the FOS classroom
Exit Music For a Film, Radiohead
"A Morbid Taste for Ballads," a mix tape in progress for Maeve. Supernatural abductions, illicit sex, murders of romantic rivals, incest and infanticide. Guaranteed to have an average of >1 corpse per song, though the mining disaster songs inflate the total somewhat unfairly. Steeleye Span, Oyster Band, Clannad, Richard Thompson, Pyewackett, Albion Band, Anne Briggs, Cindy Mangsen, Judy Collins, so far.
listening to the "Afro-Peruvian Classics: The Soul of Black Peru" compilation a lot lately -- it's quite good. I think I'll probably plan on seeing Celia Cruz at the Power Center in November, too..
Mmmm, I always meant to get that "Soul of Black Peru" album after hearing it at Schoolkids eons ago. Guess I should get over my snit at David Byrne and just buy it. :P
Snit at David Byrne? Por que?
Yes, that was a stumbling block for me, too.. I finally resolved my feelings on the matter by pretending that the real David Byrne died in a horrible car wreck just after the film "True Stories" was released and that Sire(Warner?) and the rest of the band tried to hush it up and keep things going by replacing him with an advanced clone of some sort.. Of course things went horribly wrong and the clone developed a mind of its own and ran amok, as tends to happen.. :-) re #239: Ever since shortly before the end of the band Talking Heads David Byrne has been on a Latin music kick, specifically mostly samba. This has had two effects -- the release of a lot of bad Samba music from Byrne himself and the exposure of lots of good stuff from South American artists which likely wouldn't have seen US release without Byrne to evangelize on its behalf.. Those of us who were really big Talking Heads fans have a hard time with this. The latter point is of course a good thing but we still openly begrudge the transmogrification of the greatest 80's Eno-puppet into a mediocre samba musician..
"You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)" by the immortal Buddy Holly.
Hmm...my only exposure to Byrne was _My LIfe in the Bush of Ghosts_ with Eno, so I don't know much about before or after that...
If you like "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" at all you should try "The Catherine Wheel" (score to a ballet that David Byrne wrote and recorded for Twila Tharp..) Of course the preceding advice should not be taken to suggest that there's much, if any, resemblance between "..Bush of Ghosts" and "The Catherine Wheel" Also, for my money it's hard to beat the Talking Heads' "Remain in Light"
Not much to report here, my CD player is not back from service yet. Yesterday at work (using the CD in my computer), I listened to Talking Heads, Joe Jackson, Beck, and 19 Wheels.
God bless whoever invented a CD-ROM drive that also plays audio CD's.
Mike covered my feelings about David Byrne pretty well. From 1977-1984 I pretty much worshiped the ground Talking Heads trod upon, from their first art-school album through to the "Stop Making Sense" tour -- the Pine Knob show was even *more* exhilirating than what you may have seen in the movie. I had this idea that Talking Heads would turn out to be like the Grateful Dead, a band that one could get old with, follow for years. (Back 20 years ago bands released an album a year, on average, so there was this great groove cycle you could get into, wondering what new curve Talking Heads would come up with...) Anyway, the band seems to have foundered in large part on David Byrne's oversize ego. Byrne was the principle idea man, but he needed the rest of the band to help edit him, and he *really* needed the Tina Weymouth/Chris Frantz rhythm section.
Poignant Plecostomus, "The Great Pancake"
Herbie Hancock's _Speak Like A Child_
Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC; the 1986 recording, with Kiri Te Kanawa, Jose Carreras, Sarah Vaughan and Mandy Patinkin. I don't know why, but the overture to this show dug into my ears when I heard it on WKAR's old-fashioned Broadway program Sunday afternoon, so I just had to run out this afternoon and get a copy. "Bali Ha'i", the track that's on now, is one of those melodies which is fairly pervasive in the culture, and I never knew it was from this show.
Simon Nicol, CONSONANT PLEASE CAROL. Simon Nicol is Fairport Convention's guitarist, probably the longest-serving veteran in the band, and this spinoff project is somewhat more interesting than the last few Fairport CDs, though I would hesitate to call it "good." Positive points: lots of singing throughout by Sheila and Sheryl Parker, who have done some concert work with Fairport, but who have not joined the band, dammit. (The Parker sisters provide some badly needed vocal reinforcement to Fairport's wimpy singing, which has been a weak point since Swarbrick left.) Another positive point is the final instrumental, a medley of "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Telstar." Weak point: too many mediocre songs, most treacly of which is a song comparing the sinking of the Titanic to the Challenger explosion. I am told that the title, which makes no sense to Americans, refers to a British TV game show which is roughly equivalent to WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Let's Face It".
As the song would have been described on MTV: The Hollies "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)" Billboard Top Rock 'n' Roll Hits 1972 Rhino Records
Anime soundtrack CD, from "Kiki's Delivery Service".
Just finished, DJ Spooky "Songs From a Dead Dreamer.." if I recall correctly the CD changer should soon be launching into Luna's "Penthouse"
re # 254 How is that DJ Spooky? I have been intriqued but haven't heard it yet.
It's fairly good but not brilliant. Has a couple of quite good tracks and a number that are more suited for filler/background music. Have you heard Massive Attack v. Mad Professor / 'No Protection'? That's a much better album in the same vein..
Southern Culture on the Skids, "Plastic Seat Sweat". Just came out!
Has anyone heard EPMD's new album?
Joni Mitchell, "Down to you"
Unknown song sung by Garrison Keillor on "A Prairie Home Companion."
I've got Bach's F minor invention stuck in my head, after playing it incessantly yesterday.
I just read the electronic music item, and I can't get Dolby's _One of our Submarines_ out of my head.
Poster Children _RTFM_
Oyster Band, LIBERTY HALL. Though the band now disowns it, this remains a brilliant electric folk recording, the first of four late-80s albums which represent the peak of the Oysters' work. I need to do something with that Oyster Band album I started when their newest, mostly-pop album came out.
Why do they 'disown' it, Ken?
Well...If I had a turntabe at work I'd be listening to the new Slint bootleg. But I don't, so I'm listening to Judy Dow Rummelhart from down the hall.
"Dream", Forest For The Trees
"Sleepyhouse", Blind Melon
"Memories of Love" -- Future Bible Heroes, another Stephen Merritt proj. Fairly good (though somewhat poppier than the other projects, perhaps due to the collaboration with Christopher Ewen..) The track that's currently playing, a humorous song called "She Devils From the Deep" gets bonus points for being the only song I've ever heard that plausibly uses the word "cthonian" in a lyric..
Unrelated, but I'm looking forward to seeing Supersugar at the Brick City Music Hall, Fri. night. I saw them live halloween night, and it changed my life! Amazing music.......and I've heard some pretty incredible stuff in my day.
("Cthonian"?)
"My Guy" by Mary Wells.
re #271: It's a real word.. As used in the song:
Stalking all the surfer boys (tearing, pairing..)
Cackling in chtonian joy (mating, mutilating..)
She-Devils of the Deep!
It's an odd little humorous song about these, well, aquatic she-devils..
(I'm quaking in my bootseses)
Dorsey Burnette "Tall Oak Tree" Greatest Hit Singles Collection LaserLight Records
the Stone Roses, eponymously titled album.. nostalgia music for the all-night programming marathon..
Some Debussey opera piece.
Got 'Recovering the Satelites' stuck in my head.
Won't be conferencing while doing it but I'm off in a few minutes to see Celia Cruz at Hill Auditorium..
VH1's Pop up video and wonder why i like cable.... videos are starting to scare me
Jen, T.V.'s pretty scary, in general. What in the world is Pop up video?
RE #281 I believe that "Pop-Up Video" is a music video show that flashes factoids about the video and/or its artist, and the factoids pop like bubbles. More information on the show would be appreciated (since I read this in the newspaper, and I'm not about to pay through the schnazzola for cable TV in Ann Arbor).
My upstairs neighbors have cable and I've watched PUV a few times. It's a hoot. Plus they play some older 'classic MTV' type videos that you wouldn't see anymore.
George Duke, "Is Love Enough"
Okay, I think I've seen this before (PUV). They were showing a video of Cher, and she had the most horrendous outfit on. I quickly moved on.
Yep, Chris is completely right-- it has been nice to see some of the older MTV videos that were really dramatic (Hall and Oates's 'Method of Love' was nice to see again after so, so long, as was even Falco's 'Amadeus')
One Dimensional, by The Belltower
"The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot (on this the anniversary of the "Edmund Fitzgerald's" sinking in 1975).
The soundtrack to the anime movie "X"
the Beach Boys, "Pet Sounds".. Yes, I know it's kind of over-hyped but it really is a pretty good album. Some of it sounds a little dated in the 90's but many of the songs (especially "God Only Knows") remain quite heartbreaking..
Thomas Dolby, "The Flat Earth".
Mose Allison, GREATEST HITS; a cheapie from last week's Fantasy label jazz sale at Tower.
Steely Dan -- "Aja". I don't think I'll ever figure out how this one (IMHO their weakest and least interesting album) ever became their biggest seller (and a pretty huge seller indeed) but even weak as it is relative to the others it's still a pretty decent album.
Mike, I'll agree with your opinion that _Aja_ is weaker relative to the other Dan albums, up to _Gaucho_. I think _Aja_ is a much better album. Not to say that I dislike _Gaucho_. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate everything from _Can't Buy A Thrill_ up until _Aja_ a 10; _Aja_ a 9; _Goucho_ an 8. I'm not too familiar with anything Becker and Fagan have recorded since the New York Rock And Soul Review tour. By the way, that concert was one of the top three concert experiences of my life. Imagine being in a huge crowd of Steely Dan fans, and hearing Becker and Fagan (with a very impressive band) performing Dan tunes live for the first time since their first album came out (1972-3). Everyone was insane. They did about 6 or 7 tunes, and the audience was *clearly* there for Becker and Fagan, not the other performers and groups. When they broke out with _My Old School_, the *entire* audience was jumping up and down in unison, *everyone* SCREAMING the words, many people in tears of joy.....it was *amazing*.
Hmmm.. I quite like 'Gaucho', actually -- my only problem with it is that it's really short.. It took a while for it to grow on me but once I got to like it I really liked it..
Cry of Love, _Peace Pipe_
Jimi Hendrix -- "Axis: Bold as Love" was driving home last night and they were playing a live version of "Voodoo Chile" on WDET. that song's not one of my favorites but it reminded me that I hadn't listened to my Hendrix albums in a while. His stuff has sure aged a lot more gracefully than most of the music from that period..
The Oyster Band, "Liberty Hall", but I don't know whcih song.
"carmina burana," carl orff, london symphony orchestra and chorus, andre previn conducting. that and a cup of coffee are a great way to wake up. :)
"One Tin Soldier (The Theme From "Billy Jack")" by Coven.
Chisel _Set You Free_ a great pop/rock record. There have been lots of comparisons between Chisel and The Jam, but I don;t see it other than they are both great bands.
(Re hendrix: Which album is it that has the full-length version of Voodoo Chile - i.e. no slight return)
I believe its _Axis Bold As Love_
I'm pretty sure it's not. I think it's on "Electric Ladyland"
Village People "Save Me (Up Tempo)" Live & Sleazy Rebound Records/PolyGram Records
re 288 Don't remind me. re Pop Up Video I like it. They have some decent stuff, although I wish they would stop with the Fiona Apple thing
Yep, you're right, Mike.
Chet Baker - The Best Thing for You
"Escaflowne - Over the Sky". This is a CD from/based on the anime "Vision of Escaflowne". Has opening, closing themes, but sounds like a composition student's assignments played very lushly for most of it. Sounds cool, but the orchestra stuff is *very* similar to better known compositions. Many styles on one CD!
The Washtenaw Community college Production Jazz Combo -- Live as I record it.
Lee Perry -- "Arkology". Treated myself to this 3-disc set from one of the most important producers and early dub pioneers in Jamaican music. I still haven't listened to all of it but some of it's pretty good. Interesting to hear Junior Murvyn's original version of "Police and Thieves", later covered by the Clash on their first album..
(Dammit, _everyone_ has that soundtrack except me...)
Steeleye Span, LIVE AT LAST. Like the title says: a live album, the final one of the Canonical band. Recorded in 1978 at one of their farewell shows. The reissue label BGO did a very good job with the sound. Looking at the photos of the band on the back: none of these people are in the late 1997 version of Steeleye Span! But this version of the band does have accordion player John Kirkpatrick, who is usually a star in any setting.
The Belltower, 'Too Late'
Material, ONE DOWN. Mike McNally: was that one of the Material albums you liked?
Nope. Might be the one I liked least, in fact. IMHO, their best are their most recent, except for the "Live in Japan" album (why do "Live in Japan" albums always suck?) "Seven Souls" is the one I like best, followed by "The Third Power" and "Hallucination Engine" I don't much care for "One Down", "Memory Serves", or the "Temporary Music" stuff.. YMMV, if I recall "One Down" has a bunch in common (musician-wise and style-wise) with the Golden Palominos stuff I liked least -- if that was stuff you enjoyed your opinion of "One Down" would be dramatically different than my own. My guests have left for the evening and I'm winding down with the last disc I put into the CD-changer, which happens to be King Crimson's "Beat".
Ah. Well, I have a used copy of SEVEN SOULS here as well, which I picked up for about $5 last Friday, so I'll scoot that into the player.
If it's a copy of the recent re-release (with bonus tracks oddly tacked on at the *beginning* of the album..) just skip right over the bonus remixes and listen to the original album.
(My copy has seven tracks and does not appear to be particularly new.)
The O'Jays (and I _don't_ mean Simpson) "Back Stabbers" Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits-1972 Rhino Records
Matchbox 20, "something" (according to my son, whose CD it is).
Shonen Knife.
love that "Tortoise Brand Pot Cleaner" theme.. "Let's Knife" is a fairly fun album but I can only take SK in limited doses.. re #319: let me know what you think of "Seven Souls" after you've had a chance to listen to it a bit.. Lush - "Spooky"
Veljo Tormis, composer; "Ingrian Evenings," part of the FORGOTTEN PEOPLES cycle; sung by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
The Who _Who By Numbers_, the newly remastered edition. A fresh pick from Encore.
We Belong Together, Rickie Lee Jones. A live version from _Naked Music_
The Beach Boys Christmas album (on CD). Let's see if I can listen to most of the Christmas music by Christmas.
Wow...someone who actually likes Christmas music...:)
See the Christmas music item in Fall Agora, item #111, I think.
Eddie Gee's Christmas Party CD is playing, with out-takes
from Three Stooges Christmas project (circa 1955) and The Old
Philosper's Christmas Spirit narrative thing.
What's wrong with Christmas music? It just depends on the artist.. Mannheim Steamroller produced three awesome Christmas albums, for example, and they are well known..
Just started up a Neil Diamond Christmas CD.
Hmm...I tend to object to Christmas Music - the traditional carols and songs, and all their various and sundry arrangements - but music that happens to be written for Christmas is all right.
Strangely enough, nothing so far today.
now playing: Man or Astroman? -- "Destroy All Astromen"
BTW, Chris -- since you brought up the Jam in your mention of Chisel, any suggestions for a starting point for someone who's heard some of their stuff but has no Jam recordings?
re: #332-- I happen to like many traditional carols, but they are often the lesser-known ones. I think I know what you mean, Dan-- some carols have just been terribly worn out, and new, fresh music needs to be written. I still think Chip Davis is brilliant (he's the Mannheim Steamroller percussionist and composer) with even his rendition of familiar carols. "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" on _Christmas In the Aire_ sounded rather annoying and obnoxious (I would have chosen traditional instruments for the melody line-- or at least a different sound from the tone bank).
Chet Baker - Once upon a Summertime
I don't mind christmas music, per se, (i *love* going caroling) but the place i work plays the same songs over and over all season, every year. If I hear (I guess) Dolly Parton singing, "...you've made this a christmas to remember..." one more time, I'm bringing the Uzi into work, and I'm taking out fellow employees at random (no, I don't work at the post office).
Well if you work someplace we might stumble into, like a retail establishment or a business where you have contact with the public, please let us know so we can plan accordingly this holiday season..
I think that _Compact Snap_ is still in print. It is a pretty comprehensive "Greatest Hits" type of CD. The Jam's best studio albums IMHO are "All Mod Cons" their third album, and "Setting Sons" their fourth album. These two albums show a refined Paul Weller (plus "Setting Sons" has the most kick ass cover of "Heatwave"!) The first two albums, "In The City" and "(This is the) Modern World" are great examples of the rougher, punkier Jam. If you'd like to check a couple out let me know, I have nearly a complete discography.
Dunno how "in print" it is but I saw a copy of "Compact Snap" at Vinyl Solution in GR the other day (on my way back from Thanksgiving with my folks..) Looked like a good buy (lots o' tracks, including just about all the songs with which I was familiar enough to remember the title..) but held off 'cause I wasn't sure if I'd want a greatest hits CD -- usually when I buy one I end up regretting it -- either I don't like the band and thus don't like the hits CD or I wind up liking the band in which case I usually prefer listening to the original albums and often prefer the non-hit album tracks to the ones that became popular. I didn't see "All Mod Cons" in the bin when I was looking but I've seen it around, will consider that or "Setting Sons"
Iggy Pop, "Brick by Brick"
Waco Brothers - "Do You Think About Me"
"I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus" by Kip Addotta on Dr. Demento presents the greatest Christmas Novelty CD of all time.
Kip Addotta covered that tune? He's the one that did the "Wet Dream" song/monologue..
Oddly enough, I'm listening to The Jam _All Mod Cons_.
Kathy Geisler, "21st Century Bach"
Spiritualized, again..
"My Drug Buddy," Evan Dando
(re# 339) Will do, Mike. I aim to please. Although, I think you're safe, unless you travel to Gainesville, FL to buy your produce. ;->
I've had an ugly week, so as soon as I can find it in this pile o' CDs I'm going to put on Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto and just relax for a bit.. Ken, did you catch the piece on NPR today about the increasing popularity of Scandinavian music?
Yes I did; the record label Northside e-mailed out a news flash about the piece a few hours before it appeared. They played excerpts from their recordings by Vasen, Hedningarna, and Wimme, and maybe some others which weren't identified. NP: Maddy Prior, CAROLS AND CAPERS. Possibly the only Christmas album containing recordings of "Turkey In The Straw" and "Old Joe Clark."
Soundtrack to the Nightmare Before Cristmas. I'm so happy I found it again! It had been hiding in my room, and I just found it yesterday. That makes me happy!
A Very Special Chirstmas, volume three. New this year.
Still listening to CHristmas music, An un-even collection called "A lump of Coal" on First Warning records. Includes that deep voice in Crash Test Dummies performing "The First Noel"
Was listening to Deep Forest's recording of the same name, and "Rapture" by Blondie..
Tom Waits, "Frank's Wild Years".
Background music on The Weather Channel
Football announcers from the TV in the next room
Again, my music runs out before I get to this item. I was listening to _Winds of Wonder_, a recording of bamboo flute and synthesizer impressions by Dan Myers, a local musician here in Kennewick. My father discovered the joy of the local folk scene :)
I've had Led Zepplin's 'In The Light' stuck in my head all day. Does that count?
the hums, beeps, clicks, and whirrs of Macs and vt100 terminals (no, not PCs)-- I'm back at school and am confined to the SUB 'puter lab.
Ar Re Yaouank, BREIZH POSITIVE; a disc from Brittany, in France, which I had coveted for a while, and which someone on the net just popped up wanting to sell. Yum.
"A Life Less Ordinary" soundtrack.. Lots of interesting modern bands on it but in general the material is not their best stuff.. Still exploring this one, full opinion after I've had more time to listen..
Some kid and his dad making duck sounds on Sesame Park.
Sesame Park? Is that like "Sesame Street" meets "South Park"?
Paul Simon, 'Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes'
"Buy Product 2", a sampler CD I bought about this time last year.
Mojave 3 -- "Ask Me Tomorrow"
Broadside Electric, AMPLIFICATA. Philadelphia local electric folk band. Reminds me that I need to add a Broadside Electric CD to the year's-best list.
Judas Priest -- "Screaming for Vengance" A really great brit-metal record. I've been living in my cock-rock past for the last couple of weeks.
<urrrgghh..> unpleasant high-school flashback in progress.. thanks a *lot*, Chris..
Sesame Park = Sesame Street via Canada. Content rules, ya know, eh?
RE#372 -- I've been digging VanHalen's "1984" too is that better or worse? ;-)
Celtas Cortos, the new 2-CD live set. I only have this on loan, my friend had a co-worker who brought it back from Barcelona. Celtas Cortos is the Spanish Celtic Rock Party Band.
That's a combination all right :)
re #374: Aieee!! Aborting flashback.. cortical shutdown in progress.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. NO CARRIER
Must have Celtas Cortos. :-)
Stewart Copeland, "Rapa Nui" soundtrack Yes! Found this little gem at Encore just this morning. I hadn't had any new Copeland in years, and this is quite nice indeed. Sounds like him, but not too much (it's fresh) like his older stuff.
Aqua Velvets -- "Guitar Noir" not brilliant but a nice moody instrumental "surf" album in the style I prefer (meaning more of the atmospheric & moody spanish/mediterranean- sounding guitar stuff and less of the frantic high-speed guitar energy that some surf artists (e.g. Dick Dale) tend towards (though I do like a lot of Dale's stuff I tend to like the slower surf stuff better)
Sounds lovely. But if I buy it, I'm sure my father would steal it from me.
Here's the trifecta to make Mike's head explode: Guns and Roses: Appetite for Destruction. I listened to Tsunami, Paul Weller, and Killdozer earlier in the day, is that redeeming?
<muffled thud>
Rickie Lee Jones, "Traffic From Paradise".
Is that new Rickie Lee Jones? If so what does it sound like?
It's from 1993 (used CD). It's pretty good, I just got it so I don't have a definitive opinion. B52's, "Good Stuff" (another just-purchased used CD). Not bad, produced by Don "Call 1-800-DONWAS to revive your career now" Was.
Jim Stafford "Spiders And Snakes" Super Hits Of The '70's - Have A Nice Day Volume 12 Rhino Records
raven - is 'Ghostyhead' the new Rickie Lee you're talking about, or is there something newer than it? The last movement of the Dvorak piano quintet.
re #386 B52's "Good Stuff": For the B52's, this was an especially good album. Just so you know, I am a B52's fan, but the work here was progress. Fred Schneider showcased his new singing talent-- he's actually gotten to where he can sing quite well. Some of the songs they wrote themselves were a little lousy, but other material written for them is good. Perhaps this album was poorly received because it strayed from their party image in some places, but even compared to _Cosmic Thing_, _Good Stuff_ is really good-- and in some aspects, is better.
Hmmm.. I couldn't stand the singles from the album and generally hate Fred Schneider singing.. I own and like (not love) their debut album and "Cosmic Thing" but just couldn't stand a single thing I heard off of "Good Stuff" Maybe there's other stuff on the album that I've missed out on but it seems more likely the band has turned in a direction that suits Jon's tastes better than mine..
I still have a little bit of "Fanfare for the Common Man" rolling about in my noggin. I got some CD's from BMG today and I'm very happy. I got Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant "Tigerlily", Aaron Copland's American Music, John Denver's boxed set and No Doubt. I like what I got and I'm pondering what to buy next. I'm probably going to buy something that I had in my vinyl collection.
Meat Puppets -- "Forbidden Places" Why, WHY?!? didn't I discover these guys earler? Great stuff.
Some song by Cornershop.
Yeah the meat puppets are punk with muscianship isn't that refreshing?
(whoa...the first time I read that response, I read 'meat puppets' as 'muppets'. That was good for a double take at least :)
I dimly remember liking the Meat Puppets' "Up On The Sun" way back in the vinyl era... saw them live at Rick's at East Lansing around then. Rolling Stones, BRIDGES TO BABYLON.
Future Sound of London -- misc stuff, I've got their "We Have Explosive" and "Papua New Guinea" CD singles on shuffle play with their "Lifeforms" EP.. not very successful as far as shuffle-play suitability is concerned..
Blues Traveller - Go Outside.
Mekons -- "Retreat From Memphis" Not one of their best, probably belongs on the list of things I wouldn't replace if it were to disappear.. Would-be Mekons listeners are instead advised to seek out the excellent import-only albums "Rock 'n' Roll" and "The Curse of the Mekons", and to soundly curse the record company that wouldn't release them here.
Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls" is dancing through my mind..can't believe I actually remember when that was an underground hit.
I remember when it was an above-ground hit (unlike most of the Pet Shop Boys' relatively popular stuff..)
Heh. I think they are just in a niche market that survived the 80's.
The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows
Ivy - Apartment Life
Yo La Tengo - "Electr-o-pura"
Horace Silver, "A Prescription for the Blues."
Bad Livers "Horses in the Mines," think bluegrass with a Butthole Surfers inflence.
This past weekend I cleaned out my music closet a bit and sorted out several milk-crates' and a few larger boxes of less-frequently-listened-to CDs (about 500 or so, a good start..) and put them in the bookcase which is to be their new home.. In the process I dug out a number of discs which I had bought, listened to once or twice, and then set aside (either because I wasn't initially enthralled, was diverted by something I liked better, or because I lost track of them in the general music clutter..) This week I've been listening to a number of those discs and enjoying the material on some of them. Others are being crated up for an upcoming trip to Encore or anyplace else that'll have them.. The one I'm listening to now is a cutout Hannibal records sampler I picked up in a bargain bin somewhere, called "Voices". Like most such samplers the quality is wildly uneven but as anyone familiar with Hannibal might guess the quality is considerably better than average and there are a number of quite good songs. Based on several listens to the sampler I'm thinking of finally breaking down and buying a Nick Drake album -- I've come close in the past and then backed out when I heard some of the songs because on at least one of the albums he has some particularly cheesey instrumentation that *really* bugged me, though I can't remember specifically how at the moment. Anyone familiar with his stuff care to make a recommendation? Also seeking advice on an eastern-European (Hungarian?) act called Muszikas..
Musczikas are really wonderful. I would recomend their first CD "Prisoners Song." which features Marta Sebastian (sp???) soaring vocals and music that has a sort of gypsy/klezmer feel to it. The other CD of theirs I really like is Matamoris (Lost Music of the Translyvanian ??? Jews). This CD is more instrumental and features the cymbalom and quite a few energetic tradational dance songs, and a couple of haunting songs with Marta Sebastian singiing ain a style that reminds me of the Bulgarian womens choral music. I like to listen to Nick Drakes Five leaves Left occasionally it has very haunting poetry and one song featuring Richard Thompson on guitar, but I can't listen to it very often because it is pretty depressing.
currently listening to "Lonely Inanimate" by Captain Tractor. I really like this song, not leat because it sounds like a typical batchelor apartment. :-) Sheesh, mcnally, and I though krj had lots of music. :-) Marta Sebestyn (spelling) is a wonderful vocalist. \
Mike, before you take a trip to Encore, I'd love to have a look see. The Beach Boys - "Pet Sounds" box set. Borrowed from a friend. Anohter record I've managed to ignore for no good reason, this is excellent, excellent stuff. The bonus material is wonderful as well, alternate mixes, alternate vocals, backing vocals only, music tracks only...etc.
For Mike: another vote for the Muszikas "Prisoner's Song" album. My second favorite would probably be "Blues for Transylvania." (There's probably a Muzsikas discussion around here from when the band performed at the Ark last fall.) Maybe you should have an open house so the music conference can come over and shop your discard pile. I've been thinking of doing something similar myself, since I have a goal of turning a box or two of unloved CDs into cash this year. NP: REM, a tape I made of the better songs from GREEN and OUT OF TIME.
The stuff I'm getting rid of is mostly the dregs (that and a couple of semi-decent albums that I've decided I will likely never play again..) A little of it falls into the "embarrassed to own" category, though I am deliberately keeping the more egregious samples from that category (such as the album which has already been given my lifetime achievement award for "worst album I'll ever own": Jad Fair's "Greater Expectations")
re #410: "sheesh, mcnally, and I thought krj had lots of music.." I suspect that Ken's got more recordings on formats he no longer listens to than I have recordings, period.. In any case he does have far more music than I do (but then he had a considerable head start, too..) re #411: I put a file called "music_list" in my home directory and if you want to speak up about anything on the list please do so soon 'cause it's probably going to Encore sometime this weekend. Next time I hold a record-collection winnowing I'll give more notice "Pet Sounds" really is a wonderful album though I'm not sure I'd care to do the whole boxed set -- one of the things I like about the album is its amazing polish and hearing unfinished demos & alternate versions might take something away from that.
np: Jefferson Airplane, SURREALISTIC PILLOW
Good album.. I'll have to dig out my "2400 Fulton Street" discs..
Junior Kimbrough, MOST THINGS HAVEN'T WORKED OUT; electric blues
"We're only in it for the money" - The Mothers of Invention also checked out some Can.
DJ Spooky -- "Songs of a Dead Dreamer"
Rickie Lee Jones - Prelude to Gravity
re: #414: That was my partial response to the Beatles Anthology..it just dragged on in my ears after a while. But I guess the newer generation likes this unpolished sound, and adding to the fans that actually remember the Beatles, or rather, the parents..would explain some why it's sold so well.
Actually, I rather liked the 2nd Beatles Anthology set, though in just about all cases the finished product was much better it was kind of interesting to hear what could have been..
See, I can usually deal with rough, but hearing the rough work of a studio band just doesn't do anything for me. The Beatles' real skill was in doing crazy studio stuff, and I'm just not interested in their raw live tapes.
I'm not convinced at all that "doing crazy studio stuff" was the heart of the Beatles' "real skill".
(gee, it's been so long since I've actually listened to music while conferencing that I'd forgotten what it was like.) (in play: a Bone Thugs-N-Harmony mix tape that I put together. specific song is "Dayz Of Our Livez.")
The Escaflowne soundtrack CD.
<dan drools...'escaflowne soundtrack'....> Paul Simon - 'Rene and Georgette Magritte and their dog after the war'
Radiohead - "The Bends" I've owned this album since shortly after it came out but never really got into it. I dug it up and dusted it off in the great CD reorginization and have since reached the conclusion that it's better than I originally gave it credit for being though I still think it could've stood to have a couple songs left off.. Not brilliant, but good enough..
(( just a note to Mike that I did get his former copy of the Martha and the Muffins CD from Encore... )) Tarnation, a tape I made of the best songs from their two albums.
Well, I finally got around to buying the Labyrinth soundtrack, so that's what's been living in my cd player recently. :) Great stuff.
Belltower's "Too Late" on mental stereo.
John Kirkpatrick, WELCOME TO HELL; the title track, of course, is a song about accordions...
New Kristen Hersh "Strange Angels," I've been waiting for her to do another solo album for 3 years. So far it seems pretty fine, but it's going to be hard to match her last effort "Hips & Makers."
The sound of my brother's cat climbing the screen window. She made it almost to the top this time before taking a fairly dramatic song.
Various Artists -- "A Life Less Ordinary" soundtrack..
One of my favorite groups, The Various Artists >:}
(That would make a great name for a band...) This item has inspired me to get off my arse and put on some Rickie Lee Jones
Wha...I don't know how the last word of 434 wound up as 'song'...it should have been 'fall'.
Pizzicato Five, "Happy End of the World". Heavily recommended by a friend I was in a music store with. This is like a Japanese lounge music version of Beck, many styles crammed into each song.
The Beau Hunks Sextet, "Celebration on the Planet Mars A Tribute to Raymond Scott". Yes! I had a good day at Flat, Black, and Circular in East Lansing yesterday. This is the same group that did the Little Rascals music CD. As you may know, Raymond Scott did a series of unique jazz compositions back in the late 1930's. These are much better known as some of the background music used in classic Warner Bros. (Bugs Bunny, etc) cartoons. The classic example is the composition "The Powerhouse", which was used in cartoons with factories and assembly lines.
Got a bunch of sampler CDs today, and I've been listening to the radio this afternoon. Well, it started with "Folks like Us" and doing the laundry. Might be interesting to tune into "Mountain Stage" in a few minutes (93.9fm in recent hours).
Not listening o it as I type, but spent most of the evening earlier listening to Opera Grand Rapids' production of Strauss's "Salome". As Ken and Leslie had warned, it's an especially creepy opera. Moderately enjoyable but either I'm getting jaded or OGR's productions have gone downhill in the last year and a half or so..
re #440: I think I know what you're talking about..
Yma Sumac, "Voice of the Xtabay". There was a stack of old records on a "free" table at the Mnet benefit breakfast, and this was in there. A very interesting relic from the 50's or 60's, a 33 1/3 ten-inch that purports to be genuine Inca music by a rare, gifted native singer. Inside there are lush, B-movie orchestra arrangments backing this singer's 4 octave voice doing rather European opera-sounding things. Cool arrangements! Mellow music! On the way home later in the day, I showed it to my friends at Boss Guitar, and got more info. Try spelling the singer's name backwards... ;) I'm taping this stuff for the car even as I speak. :)
Tom Waits, "Bone Machine".
RE #444 Amy Camus?
Hey that Yma Sumac is a collectors item you know, those records are hard to find and in demand from people who know about her. I remember hearing her records back when I was in school at Oberlin. You scored Scott... :-)
Tv now, but earlier was listening to various Gerry Anderson themes.
re444: And I almost picked that one up from the pile. I did pick up the 10 incher of The Desert Sond f/t Gordon MacRae.
I could have sworn that Yma Sumac's recording had made the transition to CD.
I have seen CDs of hers.
Sugarloaf "Green-Eyed Lady" Healthy Choice Rock Selections Vol. 1 EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets
Dvorjak's Bagatelles for strings and harmonium. I heard 'em on the radio this morning, and I've had 'em stuck in my head all day.
Currently undergoing musical withdrawal -- spending a quiet couple of days reading while looking after my parents' home during their absence/my spring break but I forgot the pile of CDs I had intended to pack so the quiet couple of days has been a little *too* quiet..
Y Tori Kan Rede.
I thought Tori kudnt rede.. Better check for typos.. Steely Dan -- "Countdown to Ecstasy"
Yur rite, Tori kant rede. Mi Mysteak.
19 Wheels, "Six Ways From Sunday".
Joni Mitchell, "Hejira"
Iranian music videos on the Internation Channel.
the new Jeremy Sams translation of THREEPENNY OPERA, from a 1995 staging. Completely different lyrics than the version which Leslie appeared in last month.
Tori, still unable to rede - "The banana king"
Liz Phair -- "Whip Smart"
"Video Girl AI" (anime) soundtrack
Rickie Lee Jones - "Easy money"
Please tell me that there's no relation to the King Crimson song of the same name (from "Lark's Tongue In Aspic")
Tahitian Choir "Rapa Iti." Interesting microtonal choir music sung with passion & gusto.
hmmm.. sounds quite unusual.. Brian Eno -- "Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)"
(the cacophony of whiny co-workers.)
Falling Joys, PSYCHOHUM (early 1990's Australian rock band)
Nope, no connection to the Crimson song, although I like that one too. (That's it, raven, I'm hunting you down and taking that CD by force if necessary, but I'm damn well going to hear it...)
No force neccesay I surrender. :-) I have been listening to Camper Van Beethoven "Our beloved revolutionary sweetheart," quite a bitb while conferencing the last few days.
re #470: They're Australian? I thought they were Canadian.. I bought "Psychohum" several years ago on the basis of a song of their that was on a Nettwerk sampler, the song was called "Shelter" I think.. I was disappointed in "Psychohum" but still interested in hearing the album that "Shelter" was taken from -- you don't have that album as well, do you? Unrelated aside: over the years "Psychohum" has proven to be the 2nd-most-frequently misfiled album I've run across in the "filed under album title instead of band name because nobody's ever heard of either one" category..
Pizzicato Five, "Sound of Music".
I do believe I have one other album by The Falling Joys. Finding it may be a long-term project, however. Without looking at the discs, I'm 85% sure they are Australian, and that the Nettwerk imprint is just a licensing deal.
Hedninarna, HIPPJOKK.
Paul McCartney, Live and Let Die
Yo La Tengo -- "Elect-o-Pura".. This one has met the McNally test to qualify as a really good album.. The test in question is if, a year after you've bought the album, you still like the songs you liked when you first got the album but now like even better the songs that you didn't much care for when you first started listening to the album. Too few albums have enough depth to continue growing on you with each repeated listen..
Rickie Lee Jones - Gravity
re: #475: I have just inspected the Falling Joys CD I can find, PSYCHOHUM. There are several Australian references, including a thank you to Radio JJJ. The album was mostly recorded in London, but they list an Austalian address for contact. NP: Mac Benford & The Woodshed All-Stars, WILLOW. Nice old-timey set from last year's Philadelphia Folk Festival.
Nick Drake - "Pink Moon"
Penguin Cafe Orchestra - "Penguin Cafe Orchestra"
"Money" by Barrett Strong (in a radio commercial for Michigan National Bank).
(wow...another Penguin Cafe Orchestra fan...I love this place)
King Crimson -- "Lizard" (definitely my favorite of their albums, though not a lot of people seem to share that opinion.. it's one of those albums I *hated* on the first few listens that somehow nevertheless managed to sneak up on me while I wasn't looking and wham! I listen to it after a few weeks or months of neglect and find I have a totally different opinion of it.. for some reason such albums almost always wind up making it high onto my all-time favorites list.. am I the only one who does this -- dislike an album initially, set it aside for a few months, decide to give it another try and then suddenly discover that I love it?)
Most Tom Waits albums (especially the more recent ones) seem to be an acquired taste as well.
Thomas Wayne "Tragedy" Greatest Hit Singles Collection LaserLight Records
Richard Thompson, STRICT TEMPO; his album of instrumental folk dance tunes from 1981.
Attila the Stockbroker & Barnstormer, THE SIEGE OF SHOREHAM. Early music crossed with punk, with many lyrics lamenting the fall of Communism.
(There's a combination you don't see every day)
Yeah that sounds like fun do triple time viola de gamba or what?
I'm listening to the organ at the ice rink. Wings vs Phoenix.
Albion Band, LIGHT SHINING, an old LP from the early 1980's. 15 years later, it sounds better, if only because the Albions showed they had a long way to decline... (I used to be the Usenet expert on Ashley Hutchings & the Albion Bands, but I finally gave up buying his stuff about four years ago.)
Augustus Pablo -- "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown"
Led Zeplin - "The Wonton Song"
That must be from their "House of Ho Lee" album, all about Chinese food..
Daddy Longlegs, "Situation Normal" CD.
<rotfl> Cute, Mike, real cute.... Tori Amos - Take To The Skies
3 Mustaphas 3 -- "Heart of Uncle"
Brian Eno -- "Here Come the Warm Jets" Brian Eno has unquestionably left a huge mark on modern popular music but for some reason his own work has never received anywhere near as much attention as that of the artists he's produced -- in fact though most people would easily recognize the work of several bands that he has influenced through his production work (such as Talking Heads or U2) very few are familiar with the series of remarkable albums he recorded in the early 70s -- albums which very much foreshadow the sound that his collaborators and/or protoge acts produced 10-20 years later.. If you've never heard these albums but like the Eno-influenced sound (for example if you're a big Talking Heads fan) you really should check them out. They are: "Here Come the Warm Jets", "Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy)", "Another Green World", "Before and After Science". The first two are more pop oriented, the second two had a great influence on the early development of the electronic, ambient, and industrial music genres..
Yes I second the recomendation of Brian Eno. Another green world also has Robert Fripp & John Cale & Phil Collins on it, one of the strangest and most underated albums of the 70s.
500 responses is enough in this item. I have started a new incarnation, item #127. Thanks to all!
You have several choices: