10 days later, still not taking my own advice

the album thing continues on.

A few weeks ago I read this year 80th anniversary of John Coltrane's birth. This has inspired lots of listens to Giant Steps and The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard recordings. The latter contain what are perhaps my favorite John Coltrane recordings (caveat: JC was incredibly prolific and I have only heard about 8 or so of his albums). It falls stylisticly somewhere between his modal period and his later freer improvisation so you get the best of both. The soloing goes in lots of interesting places but the "tunes" that the group plays still stand up as something more than just a tonal phrase to get beyond so they can begin soloing. The presence of Eric Dolphy is a nice addition to the group, especially when he breaks out the bass clarinet.

Lots of listening to the Mountain Goats, esp the new record, Get Lonely. They were here last week and played it from start to finish (with a brief side trip for "See America Right" after a slightly creaky attempt at something in the middle of the album). Certain songs suffered from the live treatment - I really missed the stumbling percussion and horn lines on "If You See Light" - but the quieter ones became far more affecting after I saw John sing them live. It feels a tad ghoulish to watch him go to whatever dark place he visits when sings these songs, but it is powerful.

That End of a Year album I talked about a while ago is shaping up to be my favorite punk/hardcore-related release this year.

I had really weird sleeping hours over the weekend, with late afternoon naps, later bed times and early rising times. When I get out of whack like this it means a lot of listening to instrumental music, waiting to fall asleep. In this case it was a rekindling of my affection for Philip Glass' Solo Piano. It starts out with a solo treatment of the music from The Thin Blue Line, which is what first hooked me when I used to borrow my parent's copy. The reason I keep coming back is the soaring (and decidely non-minimal) apreggios of Mad Rush.

At the store we recently got a copy of the first Current 7" which inspired a spin during my shift on Weds and then a lot of listening to the discography yesterday. Ah the days of emo music before emo music was "emo music" and it was still just punk music with the energy channelled at different things using a slightly different musical vocabulary. Intense, heartfelt vocals from kids who weren't afraid to get poetic over distorted guitars. Current's songs are a mixed bag, but when they are good its like they are speaking directly to your innermost being. Cynics might call the whole thing pretentious, but then that's why they are called cynics.

Chutes and Ladders

Brief slide here. Part of the reason is I've been busy. Another part is I've been mostly listening to old favorites or things that are well covered elsewhere, which I suppose raises an interesting question about the mission of this thing; i.e. for a good portion of the last week or so, Yo La Tengo's "I Can Hear the Heart Beat As One" - a record that typically falls just behind Pavement, Radiohead, My Bloody Valentine, and Neutral Milk Hotel in lists of best 90s albums among the indie-aware - has been playing in my car. Does the web need more bytes devoted to this cause?

Perhaps. Ideally this thing straddles a line between bio-blog and music-blog, so if its what I'm listening to, its what I am listening to. In other words, although its not terribly original to write about "I can hear..." and actually a tad difficult when you are past the 100th listen or so, it is the facts of the matter. While it is not terribly exciting under criteria 2, it still fits under criteria 1. And I need to remind myself of that more often.

Moving on in roughly chronological order...

Song: Jackie
Artist: Scott Walker
Source: Sings Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel makes me wish I knew french. Rapid-fire images of literary old world decadence, an insistent rhythmic pulse, a unusual rhyme scheme (aabccb), and a brilliant kiss-off of a chorus that wiggles out of the corner the rest of the song paints it into (ie how to top the verses). Scott walker and the approriately overblown arrangement manage to capture the ridiculous manic thrill of it all.

Song: 3x3 Lines (It looks like you can hear a sample here
Artist: The Plan
Source: This Time Is Not This Place
Great mathy-emo-punk in the mid 90s rhythmic tradition of 400 Years and others who were melded the sounds of DC bands like Fugazi and Jawbox, the math rock of Slint and June of 44, and the abandon of San Diego bands. Some lyrics clunk a little 6 years on, but the pulse keeps everything rolling and the part where the music stops further proves the point that more bands need chants.

Artist: Yo La Tengo
Source: I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One
Great album with lots of classic songs. Sugar Cube... Damage... Deeper Into Movies... Green Arrow... Autumn Sweater... My Little Corner of the World... (Don't believe me? "Green Arrow" is one of This American Life's greatest hits. I think I read somewhere they used it so much, it got banned for a while.) The cover of Little Honda is still my nemesis, but the album is slightly too long anyway so I feel justified in skipping it.