New (to me) this week!

Brand new Om record!!!  And still in the wrapper... what a sight to behold!

And Longmire!  Is there a better new show on TV this year?!

Can't wait to start listening and reading on these...

Weekend playlist

The playlist for this weekend was jazzy...

John Coltrane - Complete November 19, 1962 Stockholm Concerts
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman [self-titled]
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage
Sonny Rollins - Tenor Madness and Saxophone Colossus

Proggy...

Porcupine Tree - The Incident
Rush - Clockwork Angels
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning

Eclectic...

Heavy Blanket (J. Mascis)
Om - God is Good
Grails - Deep Politics

..and freaky!!!

Melvins - Nude with Boots, The Bride Screamed Murder and...

... Freak Puke!

Great jazz reads...

Wonderful article in this month's issue of Jazz Times, detailing the fusion work by drummer Tony Williams and Spectrum Road's efforts to pay it homage.  Being a jazz fan, and a former drummer, I couldn't let the article go by without a few comments on the old blog...

Williams was an incredible drummer, one of my favorites in fact, and one whose name should be mentioned with the likes of Elvin Jones, Rashied Ali and Max Roach when it comes to serious discussions concerning great jazz men who played the drums. 

As most of you will surely know...  He played on a number of Blue Note sessions, including Dolphy's iconic Out to Lunch, as well as Herbie's Empyrean Isles and Maiden Voyage.  Great stuff!  He was also the drummer for the second great Miles quintet - yes the one with Hancock and Wayne Shorter - the same group featured on Miles Smiles and In a Silent Way.  Even better stuff!

The same group also featured on last year's Live in Europe 3 cd/1 dvd set...  And marked right there on the cover, "Bootleg Series, Vol. 1"  Can't wait for the next one! 

Still, it almost overshadowed Domino's 3 disc release of 'Trane's Stockholm Concerts.  If you can, try to pick up both, starting with the Davis set!

Also in the realm of recent great jazz reads....  A nice article in LA Weekly this week by Henry Rollins, commenting on the greatness of Miles and the recent decision to honor the trumpeter's legacy with a postage stamp.  I know the USPS has had its troubles lately, but this is one thing they've gotten very right! And Rollins does a nice job celebrating that fact in his column!

As a random thought... another jazz album that's really been working for me lately is 'Trane's album with the ultra-smooth vocalist, Johnny Hartman.  It's a different record than one typically expects to hear from Coltrane.  There are few solos, and the ones that are present are extremely tame by Coltrane standards.  To hear him playing and sounding so restrained - for lack of a better term - seems almost like a waste of the saxophonist's immense talents.  And yet... there's a not a bad song on the whole album.  Every note falls into perfect place, making it a wonderful soundtrack for a Sunday afternoon.

So often, we forget just how many albums there are where 'Trane did not receive top billing.  In Miles' earlier quintet, he definitely holds his own, but those are definitely Davis' albums.  And yet sometimes we even forget that there are albums where the legend wasn't wasn't even the featured saxophonist.  On Tenor Madness, he rightly cedes the spotlight to Sonny Rollins.

Madness wouldn't be my favorite Rollins record (that would of course, be Saxophone Colossus), but they can be very interesting when paired together.  Colossus is by far the better album, but 'Trane's appearance on the Prestige set makes for an embarassment of riches that definitely deserves more attention!

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...

Miscellaneous photos...

Some photos I found interesting:

Rain drops on a sweet gum leaf, just after an early morning shower,

"Ghost image" of sun room window just before sunset (really surprised this one came out like it did!),

And the reflection of light through the blinds while photographing the last J. Mascis album.

Some days are meant for Metallica!

More great tunes…    

“Them Bones” – Alice in Chains, Dirt

“Never Say Die” – Black Sabbath, Never Say Die!

“Since We’ve Been Wrong” – Mars Volta, Octahedron

“Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound” – Mars Volta, Noctourniquet

“Coil” – Opeth, Watershed

“I Drive the Hearse” – Porcupine Tree, The Incident

“BU2B” and “The Garden” – Rush, Clockwork Angels

“Raider II” – Steven Wilson, Grace for Drowning

“Heart of the Sunrise” – Yes, Fragile

… and just because some days are meant for Metallica!

“For Whom the Bell Tolls” – Metallica, Ride the Lightning

Somebody asked...

...which specifc songs were working for me from the albums I listed in an earlier post. 

I realize it's popular these days to pick one or two favorite songs from an album and listen to those, sort of discarding the rest.  In general, I don't like to experience my music that way.  Call me "old school", but I still like to think of an album as just that, an album.  Put another way, I rarely hit the "skip" button when listening to music, whether it's a cd (or the iPod) in the car, or the iPod/laptop at work.

But oddly enough, I will go the other direction however, and hit "repeat" for a really good song, when I come across one.  The following tunes definitely warrant the occasional "repeat"!

“Untouchable, Part 1” and “The Lost Child” – Anathema, Weather Systems

“The Sheltering Sky” (Alternate Mix by Steven Wilson) – King Crimson, Discipline (40^th Anniversary Edition)

“Unfamiliar” and “Trail of Fire” – Oceansize, Frames

 “Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts I – V) – Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here

“Anesthetize” and “Sentimental” – Porcupine Tree, Fear of a Blank Planet

“Prodigal” – Porcupine Tree, In Absentia

“Halo Effect” and “Headlong Flight” – Rush, Clockwork Angels

 “Red Barchetta” – Rush, Moving Pictures

“Parabola” and “Reflection” – Tool, Lateralus