hutch head

Any thoughts on the Paul Horn two-fer?

Anyone heard the Paul Horn "In India" two-fer? Looks intriguing. I saw it in my local used record store for $5.00.

Yeah, last week I picked up a used copy of "The Prophet" LP for $4.00 in my local record store. Never seen it before. I think it's one of his best Verve records, maybe second to "Soul Burst." I dig the voices!

What about "The Riddle"?

Indestructible!

Akanalog, I like the first Nektar album, Journey to the Centre of the Eye (1971). It's got some spacey excursions on mellotron. After that, it's all downhill . . .

Thanks ss1! What do you think of it compared to some of the other Messengers LPs?

How is Blakey's Like Someone in Love? I think this is the only Shorter-Morgan Messengers LP I don't have. Never even knew it existed until about a year ago. How many Lee and Wayne compositions are on it?

My favorite Lytle album is "Got That Feeling!" I've got it on vinyl, but I think it's available on CD, too. This album really swings -- much harder than "The Village Caller," in my opinion.

I got the Dungen CD a few days ago from Forced Exposure and it blew my freakin' mind. If by poppy you mean the songs are in the 5 - 8 minute range rather than the typically bloated 12 minute+ freak-out, then, yeah, I guess so. I cannot believe one guy is playing almost all of the instruments (including mellotron, hell yeah!). The drums sound very HEAVY. Listen to sound samples here: http://www.subliminalsounds.se/DOK/dungen2.html Here's the Pitchfork review (the operative adjective is "triumphant"): Dungen Ta Det Lugnt [subliminal Sounds; 2004] Rating: 9.3 Despite the constant influx of catchphrase-coordinated marketing campaigns that would lead you to believe that life-affirming records are released daily, it's forever rare to stumble upon one as consistently mind-blowing and aesthetically far-reaching as Dungen's Ta Det Lugnt. Because of this scarcity, when such an unexpected (and immediate) discovery does take place, it's like being struck by indescribable melodic lightning: Unlike discs that warrant facile disses or mediocre passing grades, the countless reasons for its boundless successes remain ineffable and shadowy despite repeat late-night close-listening sessions. Simply put, Dungen exhibit all the signs of legitimate, hard-won staying power. Ta Det Lugnt is an exceedingly triumphant psych-pop oddity that evokes Keith Moon's drum fills on The Who Sell Out, the wraiths of unsung bedroom psyche celebrants, and the acoustic sustain and harmonizing of The Byrds' Younger Than Yesterday, Ta Det Lugnt feels less like a new release than some ancient tome, a fully formed masterpiece dropped unexpectedly on corduroy laps from some blue-brown sky. It's so aesthetically tight, jangly verdant, and musty that even carbon dating insists that it could not be post-millennial. To be sure, there's a major difference between retro and somehow embodying your parents' vintage zeitgeist: It's damn-near impossible to believe that the humming tubes, crackling drums, smoky backdrop, and complexly interwoven melodies on Ta Det Lugnt were birthed in a quick-fix iPod age. But perhaps even more impressive is that, despite the music's headiness and intricacy, its anachronistic results feel unusually effortless, earnest, and unpretentious: Dungen seem driven to this sound not for bloodless cred points, but out of a very sincere devotion to the music from a bygone era. Accomplished beyond his years, 24-year-old Swedish multi-instrumentalist Gustav Ejstes is the pin-up mastermind behind Dungen's vibrant polish. For the full duration of his third album's 13 bracing tracks, he perfectly inhabits-- and then expands upon-- his homeland's late-60s/early-70s acid-rock scene. Ta Det Lugnt particularly taps into the expansiveness of his Swedish psych predecessors, Pärson Sound, while maintaining a murky rocker edge: Imagine that band colliding with The Kinks, or Amon Düül II with Olivia Tremor Control, or Comets on Fire with The Zombies on their way to Terrastock. Interested in pushing pop glitter to its limits, Ejstes doesn't go as far afield into psych-pop cliches like chirping birds and hippie atmospherics as his elder brethren, but his equally vintage garage sound allows a definite space for ethereality in the form of funereal dew-drop strings, free jazz breakdowns, brief whiffs of AM radio tuning, flute minuets, lushly cascading pianos, prog time changes, florid medieval chimes, sky-melting freakouts, church organs, fuzz-guitar jousts, doubled mountain-top whistles, roaring six-string solos, and autumnal instrumental interludes. It's obvious his songs are painstakingly arranged with a sense of depth, gradations, and tonal three-dimensionality redolent of something as off the charts as Pet Sounds. Continually, there's a perfect push-and-pull between catchy melodies, roaring solos, and spaced-out dramaturgy-- the band's output is consistently upbeat even when heartbreakingly tranquil and melancholy. "Gjort Bort Sig" flutters and drifts, reaching for the outer realms, before catching a subtle hurricane of quicksand spirals behind doubled astronaut vocals. The sweet arboreal folk of "Festival" appears straightforward until it unleashes an echo-chamber bridge that absolutely shimmers. And the title track feels like chamber-pop expanded to include a psych history lesson. Because I took Latin and not Swedish in high school, I have no idea what Ejstes is singing about, but I like the verbal opacity-- the way syllables meld to the Hammond, flute, violin, bass, drums, guitars, and the way it masks any potentially subpar lyric that might detract from such brilliant arrangements. Indeed, as the summer finally turns to dying leaves, Dungen's lush palette of mystical earth tones and trade winds seems the ideal soundscape. This has been one hell of a year for psych, folk, et. al., but even with such fine releases as Animal Collective's Sung Tongs and Comets on Fire's Blue Cathedral, I doubt 2004 will birth a more blissful sonic encounter than Ta Det Lugnt. -Brandon Stosuy, September 17th, 2004 [Note: This record currently has limited distribution, and is presently available only via Swedish import, but can be purchased through such reputable retailers as Forced Exposure, Other Music, and Aquarius Records.]

Yeah, sure, what's the point? Makes a lot of sense . . . coming from a guy who likes "Future Days" better than "Monster Movie," "Tago Mago," "Ege Bamyasi," "Soundtracks," and "Can Delay '68." Anyone hear the newly remastered "Lucifer Rising" soundtrack (1973) by Bobby Beausoleil? Apparently, he recorded it in prison with some help from the warden and other inmates. It sounds like side 2 of "Meddle."

Dude, do you have any Hawkwind? If you like the proggier side of Floyd, you can't go wrong. The two best albums are "In Search of Space" and "Doremi Fasol Latido." On a side note, has anyone heard of a Swedish band called Dungen? All of my friends who work in record stores in Chicago are saying that "Ta Det Lugnt," a 2004 release, is the best new prog record in years.

Lines are long in Ohio: I went at what I thought would be a slow time (10:00 AM) and I still had to wait 2 hours! Even though it has been raining here all day, turnout is going to be huge. I can't imagine what the lines will be like after work.

You know what's really funny? Eminem was obviously lip synching his first song on SNL last night!

Thanks, Claude. I see that a "Drumfusion" reissue is available from Dusty Groove for $5.99.

I recently picked up a used copy of "The Chico Hamilton Special" LP (on Columbia) from my local record store. What an amazing session! It swings like crazy! Is this Chico's first recording with Charles Lloyd? How are the other Chico Hamilton LPs on Columbia?

The Ballad of Todd Rundgren is the best Rundgren album. That song "Chain Letter" gives me the shivers every time I hear it!

I've never heard any Jack Wilson albums. With Morgan and McLean, Easterly Winds sounds intriguing . . . . What's the word on this session?

Not this year . . .

I don't have anything to compare the RVG with, but on a quick first listen, I can hear the vinyl a-cracklin', especially on the first track.

I just picked up some fresh RVGs. There's a big EMI logo on the spine now.

Maybe it's because I worked in a used record store for 5 years, but I don't undertand the "immaculate collection" mentality. You're afraid of someone else touching your CD's and LP's?

You cannot be serious!

Uh, yeah . . . I got my dupes. I have the original LPs and remastered CDs of most of my favorite artists: Neil Young, Floyd, Zeppelin, The Kinks, The Stones, Bowie, Sabbath, Hawkwind . . .

Dude, what about RCA Dynaflex circa 1971? You talk about light and flimsy!