Dr. Rat

Really? That obviously wasn't my impression at all. Back to the listening woodshed for me! Liner notes have really gotten to be a tired custom, I think. I like to know the basic circumstances of a session, but beyond that it seems very few records inspire good essays. I know I have a tough time writing record reviews anymore--I feel like most of the time I'm just churning up a vast pool of cliches. That's the point I think behind Joel Dorn's goofy notes. --eric

As a relative outsider here, I'd say there is some cliquishness here, but nothing pathological. We've all got personalities, and we have to live with some eqanimiousness with the consequences of those personalities. I have a tendency to rile folks up by being a contrarian pain in the ass, other people take their licks for other reasons (except Jazzmoose, whom everyone loves unconditionally). Anyhow topic drift is probably worse here than anywhere, but it makes for lively conversation. I thnk the line gets drawn when it looks less like drift and more like someone wresting away the wheel. The 1066 post was an honest attempt at a post on the general topic of generational conflict. Just that congratulating ourselves on being culturally literate always takes priority! --eric

It's worth keeping. Personally, I think it suffers from some of the same kind of mix-and-match juxtaposition and conflict as the Paul Anka record (totally different sets of juxtaposition and conflict, but same kind of uncomfortable tension is developed at times). Interesting, sometimes hititng on all cylenders, sometimes just not working. Davis gestures toward this, but doesn't really give us much of a handle on why the tension's there. (I'd call his talk of jazz time and funk time . . . impressionistic) He's more at a level of saying "this project is an intereting oddity, why did it happen?" much like someone might try to expalin the Anka record. I'd be interested in seeing the McBride notes, but I have a feeling he might like it a little too well to write productively of the album's significant defects. --eric

What? Piscopo did Smells Like Teen Spirit, too? --eric

That's kind of the perverse pleasure in this CD. It isn't great, by any means. But the arrangements do sound impressive, and the lyrics and 'tude are often jarringly out of place, but like I say I think that's part of the point--exploring how this works and how this doesn't work and what comes out of the unexpected juxtapositions. If by "the obvious attempts at kitch" you mean the poorer material selections--stuff that was nothing but pop-dreck in the first place, carrying too liitle ideological baggage to make the juxtaposition interesting--I'm with you. I don't much like Anka, but the record has been fun to hear on the station on occasion. --eric

Organisismo's upcoming third release, Imperative, featuring such soon-to-be-hits as "Shut Yo Mouth," "Drop Yo Stick," "Cover Yo Ears," and "Eat Yo Greens." --eric

Well the magna carta guy at least had the right aeon. I used to do a little quiz before teaching 18th century lit., asking questions like "were there cars?" or "were there printed books?" About 20% got at least one slam dunk question wrong. --eric

Did you get your senior citizens' discount on that? It looks awful low for a pound of Starbucks. --eric

JSngry- What's wrong with the notes? Don't worry, I'm not trying to start another Fran-a-thon. --eric

Oh man! .. A stick fumble frozen in time.. I'll never live it down.. ← It shows our humanity and the fact that we're not gods... yet. ← Or maybe you are gods, and you are heartlessly manipulating this by feigning a sort of human fallibility in order to test our faith and loyalty. Kind of like when capital G God left all those fossils in the ground . . . --eric

The first 14: Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Jelly Roll Morton, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum and Lester Young --eric

Only if you're itchin' for a fight. --eric

Personally I think I solicit the approval of others too much to be truly narcissistic. But enough about me. How about you? I'd love to know what you think about me? --eric

from wiki: --eric

Twasn't just me (though I did make a contribution) several other people spun your disc last week, too. Thanks for making a fine disc for us to play, --eric

I also would highly recommend it, as well as Diamond's earlier book the Third Chimpanzee, and if you like those there is a good book called, I think, the Great Human Diaspora by Cavalli-Sforza that is an excellent place to go next. --eric

Congrats, btw on reaching the Chicago charts! --eric

And in the Overall Rankings . . . --eric

Oh, why not lock it . . . you get to do it so seldom. --eric

We do a morning show here starting at 6am. If someone gets in early, they just throw something we wouldn't normally play on until 6. A lot of times this is comedy. A couple of weeks ago we played an old Newhart record and got some very puzzeld responses . . . a lot of people just didn't get it at all. --eric

WNMC Top 10 jazz for last week: # ARTIST Recording 1 ORGANISSIMO This Is The Place 2 RONI BEN-HUR Signature 3 DICK JOHNSON artie's choice 4 RUBEN GONZALEZ Momentos 5 SAMMY FIGUEROA And Sammy Walked In 6 YVES FRANCOIS Blues For Hawk 7 LUTHER HUGHES Cannonball-Coltrane Project 8 BILL CHARLAP Plays George Gershwin: The American Soul 9 JOSHUA REDMAN ELASTIC BAND Momentum 10 JAVON JACKSON Have You Heard --eric

I came in at the end of a feeding frenzy, but I managed to pick up some Hot Tuna, Traffic and BB King LPs amongst a grab bag of modern jazz. All in very good shape, too. --eric

Stupidest EVER? I find this hard to believe. Surely we've done stupider things than this. I think the collective nervous breakdown thread was about as stupid as we got, but I am a connoisseur of stupid. And anyhow, just because everybody else on the Internet does it one way doesn't mean we can't complain about it and try to create elaborate philosophical justifications for the status quo. I just wish we'd drag the issue away from the personal animosities present here. --eric

Somehow I can't picture Chris rustling around in the shrubs in his black velvet smoking jacket, clipping telephone wires in the middle of the night. ← That's a good way to ruin your slippers. --eric

As much as I value education, I have to say that increases my respect for him. --eric