xybert

Excellent album. Picked up a used copy recently, totally knocked me out! Cool. Yeah i've really enjoyed it too.

Sun Ra - The Complete BS/SN Recordings CamJazz box I intended to get this when it came out, but i was short on cash at the time and my enthusiasm kind of waned. Flash forward to a few weeks ago, and i'm at home watching Stripes. There's a line in there where Bill Murray's soon to be ex-girlfriend hassles him for staying up late and listening to Tito Puente records (or something like that). The mention of Tito Puente kind of planted a seed i guess. Recently i didn't really know what i felt like listening to. Didn't feel like listening to anything Boppy (Be/Hard/Free/Post or otherwise), burnt out on Fusion, burnt out on Steve Coleman/Steve Lehman/Liberty Ellman type stuff. Also burnt out on kind of overly earnest, polished kind of proggy stuff with ethereal touches (latest from Antonio Sanchez and Chris Dingman). Just feeling a bit burnt out in general i guess. I thought of Puente and started looking for albums to get. I spent quite a bit of time on Spotify checking stuff out, and on a limited budget i was, foolish as it is, trying to find that one album that was 'the complete package'. Long story short surprise surprise i couldn't find one (i had a lot of fun listening and exploring, though). I wanted something a bit less intense and non stop bombarding than the majority of the Puente i heard, almost like somewhere between Cal Tjader and Puente or something. I'm sure it's out there but i moved on. I started checking out some Exotica stuff thinking that might be the ticket. Nothing was scratching the itch. Looking through my saved albums in Spotify i came across the BS/SN Sun Ras and it was just like a total 'aaaaah' moment. Found the box online for a reasonable price, and the rest is history. Anyway, a bit of a fun journey. Better stop procrastinating and do some work now.

Is the soda in the same fridge as the milk-that-never-expired?

I'm not all that aware of what critics are saying about The Epic, other than a few light weight blog things. Any serious contemporary criticism that carries any weight is just not on my radar. With regards to the whole 'white kids liking black culture' etc. I don't know. I think kids these days think black culture is cool, they think white culture is cool, they think asian culture is cool: they're just in to what they think is cool shit regardless. I don't know, different generations maybe? I'm no spring chicken any more but if you accused me of digging hip hop because i think black culture is cool i would look at you pretty quizzically. For kids 10-20 years younger than me it's likely even less of an issue. (Please don't destroy me, i'm not trying to diminish issues of race or the importance of race etc... it's really not a topic that i'm particularly strong on. Maybe you can't separate the music from the race, but i guarantee you that kids aren't consciously going "oooh this is black, it must be cool!") From what i gather the Brainfeeder label is pretty hot right now, and yeah, that's not gonna hurt in terms of getting exposure to kids (white, black, asian or otherwise), because a lot of it is about context and coming out on Brainfeeder immediately makes it relevant to them. Kind of reminds me of an interview with Matthew Shipp where he was saying that a lot of kids checked out his music in the nineties due to some of his music having been released on Henry Rollins' label. People checked out Sonny Sharrock when he did the music for Space Ghost Coast to Coast. EDIT: FWIW here's the Shipp thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19sWYT9FcFw

Fell down the rabbit hole watching Nardwuar videos on youtube. His schtick starts to wear thin, and i guess somewhat similar to Ali G/Borat there's the 'oh i know who this guy is now' effect where the interviewee's start to know what to expect, but he still get's some cool insights and there are some great candid moments. It's addictive because there are sooooo many videos and they're hit and miss but you finish one and you always see another artist that you want to check out.

I think that it has the potential to be amazing, but time will tell. For me there might be some initial conflict between what i want it to be and what it actual is on first listens. I'd love to hear a preview track. I'm pretty excited for this one. One concern is the risk of self parody, particularly with it being cover tunes. I can hear a bad version of 'lol Mary Halvorson doing Ida Lupino lol lol' in my head.

Mary Halvorson's solo album, Meltframe, is out 4th September http://www.amazon.com/Meltframe-Mary-Halvorson/dp/B0133G18B2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1439074642&sr=8-3&keywords=mary+halvorson Can't remember if this has been mentioned here before but it's all other peoples tunes. Should be interesting: 1. Cascades (Oliver Nelson)2. Blood (Annette Peacock)3. Cheshire Hotel (Noël Akchoté)4. Sadness (Ornette Coleman)5. Solitude (Duke Ellington)6. Ida Lupino (Carla Bley)7. Aisha (McCoy Tyner)8. Platform (Chris Lightcap)9. When (Tomas Fujiwara)10. Leola (Roscoe Mitchell)

Whoa, i see myself in that a bit. Not that i go round telling people that things aren't possible or anything, but it's almost a subconscious thing that peeks above the surface in my own thoughts at times. Anyway, a good reminder for me to not be that guy (to myself, let alone other people).

Ah, didn't know that. All the ones i've purchased have been in jewel cases (off the top of my head: Bud Powell Verve, Charlie Parker Verve, Sonny Rollins Prestige, Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall, Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces). Thanks for the correction, i guess they opted for cardboard sleeves due to the number of discs in the Evans set.

I love those universal sets, i've picked up many of them. Bonus = actual jewel cases and no CD-Rs.

Very interesting interview, thanks for posting.

I don't have them in front of me so i could be wrong, but apart from the recent double disc the previous three Zooid albums were all around 40 minutes. It was particularly noticeable to me for some reason, like it was an aesthetic choice/conscious decision. Also from memory (i really should wait until i get home and can double check) Ellman mixed and produced those albums. It's worth it for any fan of Threadgill's recent work to at least check out Ophiuchus Butterfly (and i assume that the new one will be well worth checking out too) in the same way that you'd check out Shorter/Hancock/Williams/Carter leader dates if you're a fan of the Second Great Quintet. Ellman is crucial to the sound of those Zooid albums.

Great to hear about the new Liberty Ellman album. A lot has happened since Ophiuchus Butterfly, can't wait to hear what he comes out with. And yeah the new Zooid... fast approaching, can't wait. New Liberty Ellman is out August 21st: http://www.amazon.com/Radiate-Liberty-Ellman/dp/B011J05RE8 Liberty Ellman guitar Steve Lehman alto saxophone Jonathan Finlayson trumpet Jose Davila tuba, trombone Stephan Crump bass Damion Reid drums

Yeah that's a standout one for me too.

Ha ha, i was going to ask you how this set went, wondering whether having Hemingway in the group would make any difference for you. Guess not! Never seen them live but i LOVE the two NY Trio albums (well aware that our mileages vary on that one).

So looking forward to this.

It's funny how different people can be sometimes. I actually love the fact that I DO have everything all in one device. Less clutter in my pockets. If I had to carry around a phone and an iPod Touch, I'd be annoyed as hell... I get ya man. I do have music on my phone as well, which is great, especially when out and about. I mostly leave my iPod at home unless i'm going on a trip. Listening wise, i have all my music on an external HD. A lot of the time i'll bluetooth my laptop to my stereo and listen that way, but i don't always want to fire up the laptop and external HD. That's where the iPod comes in handy, because i can either bluetooth that to the stereo or plug it in to whatever via an audio jack. I also often enjoy just laying on the couch with the iPod on my chest and just listen via it's built in speaker like a transistor radio. All these things i could do with my phone (and do sometimes), but i like to leave my phone off, especially at night, and especially when i'm in bed, but still obviously want to be able to listen to music. There are other things, and technically i could do everything i do with just one device, but ultimately it all comes down to preference. Anyway, as you say, just different strokes.

Sounds like an updated/improved version of the iPod Touch, which was already basically just an iPhone minus cellular capability. I'm stoked, because i love my Touch and like having a separate device (to my phone) for music and i will need to replace it at some point.

I'm a fan. He didn't knock me out on early listens, but he's grown on me to the point where i wouldn't be without his albums. If you're a fan of his previous work, definitely check out Graffiti. It exceeded my expectations, enjoyment level wise, which may sound strange, but, coming off the two quartet recordings (which i loved, Grace slightly more than Bloom) i perceived the return of the trio as being back on safe ground, which it kind of is, but upon listening it turned out to be in a good way, a celebratory thing rather than a 'moving back in with mum and dad' thing, if that makes sense. I'm listening to I Am I Am (an earlier trio album) right now, straight after having listened to Graffiti, and you can hear 'the difference.' Dude has grown.

"Never had one lesson."

"Never had one lesson."

Blank discs.

Not a big Star Trek fan (don't hate it, don't love it) but i'm a huge fan of cartoons. Hadn't watched it before, just checked out a clip on youtube. I like it! The animation is basic however IMO it still looks good. Dig the voice acting and the general atmosphere. Here's the clip i watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-EoyUtdLdc

Cheers page. Yeah kids are awesome that way. My son has been massively healing for my dad, i feel. My cousin doesn't have kids of his own yet, but it's cool. We're cool, i just get a bit maudlin every now and again.

Harris Eisenstadt's Canada Day IV available from his website now. http://www.harriseisenstadt.com/albums/harris-eisenstadt-2/ As the title implies this is the fourth album from this group of Eisenstadt, Matt Bauder, Nate Wooley, Chris Dingman and various bassists (this time out Pascal Niggenkemper). I've thoroughly enjoyed following along, really looking foward to this one.