Other miscellaneous goodies...

New Om cd/lp this week...  Advaitic Songs!  Spent some time this morning with their last one, God is Good, as well as the last Grails album, Deep Politics.

I consider myself a pretty big Om fan (and of Sleep before them), but of these two, I kinda prefer Deep Politics.  I'm not saying that Cisneros turned in a subpar performance -- in fact, I'm not sure he's capable of anything less than stellar outings! -- but everything seems to have really come together for Amos and crew on the last few Grails records.

For a while, I would have said my favorite Grails disc was either Burden of Hope or Redlight...   In terms of an internal debate, that's a good one to have.  One could also wage a similar argument between Om's Conference of the Birds and Pilgrimage, but I digress....  

Then in '06, Grails compiled the Black Tar Prophecies on cd and I found I had a new favorite.  In '08, Emil and crew released Take Refuge in Clean Living, and I found myself with another new favorite.  Think you can see where this is going...  Along comes Deep Politics, and I find myself repeating a similar mantra:  This is the best Grails release yet!

Don't snicker -- it's actually quite serious praise, because in my humble point of view, a lot of bands degrade as time goes by and the number of releases begin to accumulate.  I mean let's face it...  for most artists, their first few releases are always filled with creative energy and sort of build to an apex, then something happens, either internal struggles arise or they sign to a major label, but inevitably, the whole spirit of the thing recedes over the next several albums. 

And it's only a rare few artists that are able to recapture their initial groove.  As one example of the latter, I offer another album I've spent some time with recently...  For anyone who wonders what happened to Wino after Saint Vitus, they need to check out The Hidden Hand releases.  Whiskey Foote is my favorite, and while I'll happily concede that Born Too Late is the most important Wino album out there, I find myself listening to this one just as much.

So why the big trip down memory lane?  Well, it's a fun little game I like to play whenever I hear that a band I like, Om in this case, has a new cd/album coming out. 

Typically when I hear the good news, I like to take that opportunity to re-visit some of their back catalog in anticipation.  I recently dusted off my Wino cds/lps to get ready for the new Saint Vitus disc.  I also visited several of the last few Melvins records to prep myself for Freak Puke.  I listen to a lot of music, and I find this practice really helps me get my head to a good place for enjoying the latest offering by one of my old faves. 

If nothing else, it serves as a good excuse to dig out some "oldies" every now and then for a good listen and maybe some related discussion...