xybert

About a year ago i caught one of the Twilight movies on TV and got completely hooked, rented the rest of the available films on DVD in quick succession and then saw the final film at the cinema. I love watching Adventure Time with the sound off while listening to music. The visuals are awesome.

I was listening to Aphex Twin's Drukqs yesterday... i remember when it came out in 2001 feeling pretty let down by it; expectations were huge and at the time it felt so average compared to The Richard D. James album. I think i remember reading somewhere that the release was rushed as the work in progress tracks had been leaked (he mistakenly left them on an MP3 player on an airplane or something?) and i think that coloured the way i heard it: rushed, works in progress. Interesting to look it up and see that it came out roughly a month after September 11, a really weird time on the planet. I remember about five years later meeting a guy from England while i was working in a medical supplies warehouse: he raved about Drukqs and i ended up revisiting it but it still didn't really do it for me. Anyway, it really hit the spot for me yesterday; at home while cleaning out my desk it made for a weirdly, pleasantly nostalgic buzz. I'm pretty sure at the time it was originally released i made myself a cassette tape which excluded the prepared piano tracks; in hindsight that was a mistake.

Regarding jazz journalism, critics/reviews etc, the problem as i see it is that we don't really need to be told whether an album is 'good' or 'bad' at this stage in history, we need to be told to what degree we are going to enjoy it or find it exciting, and with everybody on different pages with their listening that's just not going to happen.

Yeah, I mean, ok, the UK mixes are the originals, and now that I've lived with them, I consider them "definitive" as far as the music goes. But as far as how that music sounds, hey, don't expect me to unlearn what, 20+ years of aural memory. What, just tell myself that everything I heard never really happened?. What kind of retro-revisionist brainwashing is that? It may not be as dramatic as the differences between the original UK and US releases, but this was my logic, after much agonising, in convincing myself to go with the 2009 Stereo Box rather than the 2009 Mono Box when i finally got round to getting that sorted last year: I'd grown up with the original CD releases in stereo and it's just how i knew and loved the music. The funny thing is i've grown to love the early stuff, which i'd never listened to on CD growing up, and apparently it sounds much better in mono... so... something something.

The cool thing is no one record label has to be the be all and end all, i'm perfectly happy to continue cherry picking from all over the place. Clean Feed just is what it is and everyone's mileage is going to vary. The stuff that Threadgill has been doing... it's just one of the things that makes the consistently quality Clean Feed releases and stuff in that realm seem so unexciting by comparison. That level of genius, along with an ear for the massive, glorious hooks that Threadgill incorporates, is ultra rare.

Cheers.

Mine too, i think. I think it also partly relates to the following: This pretty much sums up my feelings on CF (although with the exchange rate/free shipping they work out to be relatively cheap for me). It's like you'll never get a drastically bad album on CF, but it's all so consistently 3.5 to 4 star; you rarely get a mind blowing, blazing 5 star release on CF. When i think about the albums that have blown my mind over the last few years i can't imagine them having been release on CF rather than their respective labels. Just an observation, i still highly value CF.

I've still barely scratched the surface, listening wise, but first impressions are extremely positive. Love the liner notes, really add to the immersion. Like Blues and the Empirical Truth i can tell that this is going to be music to really get lost in. Just a random word of thanks from an iTunes user: i really appreciate that all the track info was loaded in to Gracenote or where ever else it was loaded. I was bracing myself to have to manually enter 4 discs worth of track titles etc. Was doubly stoked that the bonus disc info was also already in iTunes! Above and beyond. Allen, i really enjoyed reading your thoughts on Bud Powell. Is there any chance you'd be willing to share what some of your favourite recordings of Bud's are? Thanks for your time.

Thanks for posting. The Bauder is the must buy for me among this batch; not an earth shattering record but i really enjoyed Day In Pictures and am a big fan of his playing in Harris Eisenstadt's Canada Day. I'm way behind on Kris Davis (i think Malaby's Novela is all i have), this trio album might be a good place to start.

Pretty quiet on the new release front at the moment, looking forward to the arrival of the new Mary Halvorson and Allen Lowe albums, but apart from that... From what i've picked up on artist's websites and blogs and in interviews there's a lot of stuff to look forward to in 2014, the lack of release dates keeps me hanging though (will it come out this month? will it come out in December?). Anyway just to get my own thoughts straight and to keep the new release fires burning, here's some random stuff i'm looking forward to coming out sometime this year (sooner or later but at least confirmed): - New Steve Lehman Octet on Pi (pretty monumental for those that dig their last outing) - New Wayne Shorter on BN - New JD Allen - New The Bad Plus x 2 (Rite of Spring and a traditional TBP album) - New Aram Shelton (Ton Trio) coming out on Singlespeed Music Could have sworn i had a longer list in my head. Anyway, this is not a wish list, this is stuff that is confirmed = i'm sure there'll be many other pleasant surprises along the way, as usual. Must be due for the latest Clean Feed drop soon; can be hit or miss for me, interest wise, but you never know what gem's there'll be among the latest batch.

If you think about it too much the whole concept of musical instruments in general becomes pretty strange.

The VV 1961 box is a hole in my collection that i thought i might be able to get away with but i can see i'm going to have to get it at some point. Cheers.

Was listening to Workin', Cookin', Relaxin' and Steamin' over the weekend. Never ceases to amaze me how these albums get better whenever i revisit them. Especially fascinating hearing Coltrane in a new light having finally gotten in to his Prestige recordings recently. For all intents and purposes i don't think i previously even really registered that Coltrane was the player here. I mean, mentally i knew it was Coltrane, but i chalked it up as 'Coltrane before he was Coltrane' and never really listened to him. I always thought that i'd already had my 'click' moment with Coltrane, but sometimes you have a second, deeper 'click' moment later on. Someone mentioned earlier in the thread not ever having caught the Coltrane Bug, and that was a bit like me; I dug a lot of his recordings, loved a few but he was never a desert island artist for me. I think i finally get it now, or maybe i've gone too far: i'm enraptured by every little thing i hear from Coltrane at the moment. The Atlantic recordings, which previously, Giant Steps aside, i found to be nice, solid albums, slightly dull maybe but now i find them to be MIND BLOWING. Revisiting the Impulse stuff in earnest looms so large it's almost scary; i want to hold off as long as possible but i was listening to a bit of One Down, One Up (edit: One Up, One Down) the other day before stopping myself and yup i think i finally really get that stuff too. Anyway, i know this is real 'no shit, Sherlock' stuff but man Coltrane is hitting me HARD right now and it's all thanks to the Prestige recordings.

Thanks for posting the Amazon UK link... a definite no brainer for me at that price.

Not sure if this is classed as new release or reissue, but anyway: http://www.marlbank.net/news/1411-latest-miles-bootleg-series-release-features-more-than-two-hours-of-unreleased-music-from-1970 From the linked website: The latest in the Columbia/Legacy Miles Davis bootleg series is to be released in late-March, the label has indicated. Miles At The Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 is a 4-CD set recorded over four nights (presented here as a disc per night) in June 1970 at the Fillmore East in New York city issued along with bonus tracks from the April 1970 San Francisco Fillmore West gigs (the same monthBitches Brew came out). It's Miles’ band that sees the trumpeter joined by Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira, and Steve Grossman. Two LPs from the shows were issued in October 1970 but this time EVERYTHING is included full and unedited, clocking in at some 135 minutes of previously unreleased music, the label says. It's issued with a 36-page booklet that includes a substantial contribution from Carlos Santana.

Definitley like Milt Jackson's playing with the MJQ, although the group as a whole took ages to grow on me. Expectations: i wanted the Evans/LaFaro/Motian trio with Bobby Hutcherson, i got (what i heard as) an ultra tight, slightly corny blues on bach thing. Took me ages to get my head around it and enjoy it for what it is. Now i savour every note.

Awesome! Thought this wouldn't be out for a while yet.

My copy of Air Song wasn't noted as CDR on demand on the Amazon site. Is the version showing on Amazon (first link below) the same as the one on the Candid website (second link below)? http://www.amazon.com/Air-Song-featuring-Henry-Threadgill/dp/B001NRPQXA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389640742&sr=8-1&keywords=air+song http://www.candidrecords.com/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=266

Not to dick ride but every now and again i'm sitting on the couch and i randomly remember that this is on the horizon and i get a warm feeling inside. Nice.

I'm still at the 'letting it all wash over me' stage but yeah i've never been the best at re-constructing where it all comes from with this type of thing, even when it's noted in the booklet. In general I tend to get interested, look it up, and then promptly forget, for some reason. I'd make a terrible musicologist.

Crazy. I purchased Air Song but didn't want to get Air Raid fearing another CDR... might look at getting them both from Candid, it's on the back-burner though. Looks to be good value at 6.99 EUR: http://www.candidrecords.com/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=266

Sorry to bump this old thread; obsessed with Coltrane at the moment and thoroughly enjoying reading through old threads. Anyway, i cannot believe these sets were available so cheap on release. Must be up there with the deals of the century.

Was the Air album Air Song? I'm pretty sure my copy was a CDR and the packaging seemed pretty home made, but the label was Why Not and i purchased it from Amazon... probably a whole 'nother kettle of fish...

It's pretty rare for international jazz artists to come to New Zealand (relatively small population and relatively isolated), so if you miss your chance you really miss out. On that note, i really regret not going to see Ornette play in 2008. He was playing in a city on the opposite side of the country so it would have involved a bit of travel/accomodation etc but what the hell. Also missed the Bad Plus in 2008 and Charles Lloyd in 2010. At the time i didn't care about the Bad Plus but now i'm a pretty big fan. I was overseas when Lloyd played but again at the time i wasn't that much of a fan. Now i am a fan and i wince a bit when i think about them having visited. Apparently they didn't get a very good turn out, which is not that encouraging.

Some fascinating thoughts and insights on Rollins in this thread. I think i'm still trying to get my head around him; i enjoy his albums and recognise him as being one of the greats, but i've never perceived him as being... what others clearly perceive him as being, others that were there at the time. I'm perfectly happy to be getting schooled, but it's going to take some listening for my ears to catch up.