Jump to content

The Bad Plus - The Rite of Spring


Aftab

Recommended Posts

I saw / heard them at the Village Vanguard last summer - way better than I expected.

I've never seen them live, apart from youtube clips, but i really dig them as a group. They've been playing for a long time together, and i find that good things can come from that. They've quietly amassed quite a fine run of records in my opinion (look out for the Mosaic and/or Beauty is a rare Thing style box set in the year 2054!). They're not everyones cup of tea i guess. They definitely have their own thing going on and that's a positive, if nothing else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Finally listened to this last night. Well done with some interesting touches. I could not help but feel it was missing something and then it struck me--I think a version that incorporated the B3 would be Brilliant!--but since the Bad have done it already perhaps a Funked up version of Russian Dance from Pétrouchka

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haven't spun this much since getting it when it came out, just haven't been in the mood for this type of thing. My take is that you pretty much get exactly what it says on the box, The Bad Plus performing The Rite Of Spring, and even though i'm a TBP fan and there's nothing particulary wrong with it it's just ever so slightly underwhelming some how. It feels like they recorded it to document their performance of the Rite of Spring once and for all but having performed it for a few years now maybe they're striking while the iron is cold?

TL/DR = I like it, don't love it, but i think i need to give it some more spins when i'm feeling in a more receptive mood.

Bring on their next album. :tup

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haven't spun this much since getting it when it came out, just haven't been in the mood for this type of thing. My take is that you pretty much get exactly what it says on the box, The Bad Plus performing The Rite Of Spring, and even though i'm a TBP fan and there's nothing particulary wrong with it it's just ever so slightly underwhelming some how. It feels like they recorded it to document their performance of the Rite of Spring once and for all but having performed it for a few years now maybe they're striking while the iron is cold?

TL/DR = I like it, don't love it, but i think i need to give it some more spins when i'm feeling in a more receptive mood.

Bring on their next album. :tup

Agree - admire more than love so far, but needs more listens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally listened to this last night. Well done with some interesting touches. I could not help but feel it was missing something and then it struck me--I think a version that incorporated the B3 would be Brilliant!--but since the Bad have done it already perhaps a Funked up version of Russian Dance from Pétrouchka

and a modular Moog too.Don't forget the melotron.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

This has really grown on me. Earlier in the week our city had a blackout that lasted about 48 hours. No power = no TV, no internet, cell phone coverage was down... anyway, it was a great time to listen to music! In the dark with candles listening to this album... i ended up listening to it a few times from start to finish over the course of two days. It really started to open up for me. It's almost like a form of 'minimalism', how strictly they stick to the score (i believe they stick to it quite strictly?) and on repeated listens you start to hear... it's all the subtle things that start to make it rather than the 'tune' itself.

Anyway, it was a great lead in to the arrival of Inevitable Western, which i've really been enjoying. I found out yesterday that Inevitable Western got a 3 star review in Downbeat, and pretty much 3 stars all round in the 'hot box'. It's funny, sometimes a less than glowing review of an album you dig can rain on your parade, but in this case i'm secure in my digging of the album. It's interesting though... not sure how it's been reviewed elsewhere but lets say for arguments sake that according to 'The Narrative' Inevitable Western will go down in history as a not so great TBP album. It's fascinating to be in the position in real time to say "i can confidently say that you've got it wrong." But then, depending on prevailing wisdom i could be seen as that guy that tries to defend 'Weak Album X' = "yeah that's great that you like that album and we'll tolerate your opinion but we all know that The Narrative has got it right."

As usual the Reid Anderson compositions are the standouts for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...