John B

I've been reading a book that many of you might find interesting - Haunted Weather, by David Toop. From the back cover: "Is it possible to grow electronic sounds, as if they were plants in a garden? Can the resonance of an empty room be played like a musical instrument? Why are childhood memories of sound and silence so important to our emotional development? Is it valid to classify audio recordings of wind or electrical hum as musical compositions? Can computers replace more conventional instruments like the piano or the electric guitar? How can improvisation coexist with computer software? Why have the sounds of our environment become so important to sound artists and why is atmosphere so important in music?" So far I am really enjoying it. The book is not perfect. I have some problems with the overall coherence and narrative of the book...it seems a bit scattered and too stream-of-conciousness at times. Overall, I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in post-AMM electro-acoustic, laptop improvisation, musique concrete, film scores, soundscapes and field recordings.

a kind soul is sending me a compilation of his favorite Jandek tracks, so I'll finally have a chance to hear his music soon. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I am definitely looking forward to hearing it. I wonder if a large part of his appeal is the "mythology" that has been built up around him. Hopefully hearing the music will not be anticlimactic. Getting 20 cds for $80 is very tempting but, as I need to curtail buying music for a while, it makes sense to test the waters slowly. Let us know what you think of the documentary and of any cds you pick up!

Dan - I've been swamped with work and haven't had as much time as I would have liked to have spent with your BFT. I'm not sure that it would have mattered all that much because, other than naming a few tunes, you have me stumped. That said, I did have a few guesses: 1. Ike Quebec? Not anything I have heard before but something about his phrasing and tone remind me of Ike. 2. Hawk? 5. Horace Silvers The Preacher, right? I'm guessing that this isn't Horace, but I have no clue who else it would be. 10. Maiden Voyage, but I have no clue who this is. Both the tenor and the organist sound very familiar, but I wouldn't even hazard a guess. Overall you have compiled one of the strongest BFTs in terms of tracks flowing together into a coherent whole. I really dig the vibe on a lot of these. I really have enjoyed listening to this and am looking forward to spending some time with disc #2. If this disc is any indication, I am in for quite a few HAFCs.

Funny Rat was probably responsible for at least 2% of all Arcana Major sales. Someone should point Gono Robair over to this thread to see all of the reviews of his records. I need to cull my collection a bit. I've decided that, unless I sell some discs from my collection and use any proceeds, I'm not going to buy any new music for a few months. I know I have more than enough music to keep me busy, but there are always new discs I would really like to hear. I listened to AMM's Newfoundland again last night, during a long drive for work. Since I was by myself in the car and there wasn't a lot of traffic I was able to really play the disc at a volume level that brought out more detail and nuance than I had heard before. It was almost like hearing an entirely different album. I really was caught up in its beauty and restrained / overt power. I think some more AMM will be in my next order, whenever that is, along with Zen Widow and the Ayler box on Revenant and, and, and......

I have a few cds for sale, two of them still sealed due to shipping errors. Shipping in the U.S. is $1, internationally $4. Sonny Rollins - Newk's Time RVG (from BMG, still sealed) - $6 Matt Wilson - As Wave Follows Wave (Palmetto) holepunch in UPC - $5 w/ Dewey Redman, Cecil McBee, Larry Goldings Ella Fitzgerald - Forever Gold - $4 (compilation spanning her career.) SOLD - Efzeg - Boogie (Grob) w/ Burkhard Stangl, Martin Siewert,, Dieb 13and Boris Hauf PM me with any questions, thanks!

I'll second (or third...) the recommendation for Combustication. It is still my favorite album of theirs. I also highly recommend the Electric Tonic album that was mentioned earlier. I believe it is only available through their website, and is well worth seeking out. Another self-released album of theirs that seems to be OOP now is Farmer's Reserve. It is a completely improvised disc and a lot more "out" than most of their work. If you see a copy floating around used you should grab it. Also, MMW allows taping of their shows, so trading for a few live sets or dowloading them from sharingthegroove (for example) would be a good, inexpensive way to start exploring more of their work.

This one is essential. Great news that it is back in print.

I don't have a problem with Ducret's playing, in and of itself, I just don't think it fits very well in context of the Bloodcount tunes. I have yet to hear the Shell Game, but I wouldn't describe any of Berne's playing as "safe" on this disc or on the Unwound box, so these might be more to your liking. Poisoned Minds is on JMT and therefore OOP for the time being, but the Unwound box is available very inexpensively directly through Screwgun.

Is anyone here a fan of Time Berne? I have never been very impressed by his technical skill, but I have enjoyed each album of his that I have heard. Right now I am listening to Poisoned Minds: The Paris Concert, by his band Bloodcount. This disc was recorded live in 1994 and, on this recording, Bloodcount is Berne, Chris Speed on tenor and clarinet, Michael Formanek on contrabass, Jim Black on drums and Marc Ducret on electric guitar. I'm not crazy about Ducret's playing here, but the rest of the band is on fire! Overall I still prefer the Unwound box set of live Bloodcount recordings, even though the fidelity is not as good. As far as I recall Ducret is not on that set, which might be what makes the difference for me.

up for some fresh air... Jandek on Corwood is being released on dvd November 23rd. I am really looking forward to seeing this. I have yet to hear Jandek, but I find the concept fascinating. Anyone here have recommendations on which 2 or 3 Jandek discs would make for a good entry point into his music?

No, that would not be wrong at all! I'm glad you enjoyed this one.

I would assume it refers to additional material not on original LP. Correct. These three tracks: Flüchtige bären, The bar seems to vanish in the distance and Milan-Milan! were not on the original lp.

Not at all your fault! I got a burn of that, since. ubu what do you think of this one? I have only listened to it one and quite like it. I have never heard Rivers in a duo setting before. If you like Sam Rivers in a duo setting, you really should try the wonderful but hard to find 1998 album Winter Garden (Nato) with Tony Hymas at the piano. JPC Germany seems to have it, though. Another fine Rivers album is Configuration (Nato) with Noël Akchoté (guitars), Tony Hymas (piano), Paul Rogers (bass) and Jacques Tholot (drums). I had never heard of either of these. I will try to track them down. Thank you for the recommendations!

He-he, Conference of the Birds I found too simplistic with quite poor soloing by both Rivers and Braxton. This is how we treat the callssics here. ouch! I definitely disagree with you on this one. COTB is a classic album.

Not at all your fault! I got a burn of that, since. ubu what do you think of this one? I have only listened to it one and quite like it. I have never heard Rivers in a duo setting before.

it is always strange to see a picture of someone you "know" only through online contact. That photo of Nate looks nothing like what I would have expected. To be fair, I will also post a picture of myself, taken fairly recently. I'm sure this will surprise none of you: Due to constant houseguests and time spent with family, I have been unable to listen to anything even remotely Funny Rat-ish recently. (Although my sister did get to hear the end of track 3 off of Sheer Hellish Miasma when I picked her up at the airport last weekend. Her response: "This is music?") Hopefully that will change in the next few days.

Dan - I have received both discs. I'll start giving them some time and try to have my comments ready by next week. thanks again!

No, the last album I heard by them was Seventh Son. I might have heard the album after that once, but can't really remember. Predictable would not be a problm for me, as I stopped expecting innovation from them many many years ago.

"Scream for me Long Beach! SCREAM FOR ME LONG BEACH!!!!" I was listening to Live After Death a few days ago. I saw Iron Maiden in concert 16 or 17 years ago and still have a soft spot for the 1980's albums.

For those in the U.S. I have found that Erstwhile distribution has the best prices for Matchless. I agree with the recommendation for Newfoundland. It is a beautiful album and a great place to start with AMM. I've picked up a few interesting discs recently and will post my thoughts as soon as I have some time to listen to the music. My wife will most definitely not be a fan of any of these, so I either need a long car ride or some time with headphones on. I bought used copies of a Sam Rivers / Alexander von Schlippenbach disc on FMP (apologies to ubu!), an album by Tim Berne's Bloodcount band, who I have been meaning to post more about for a while. (Their Unwound live 3cd set is fantastic.) and what looks to be a limited self-released disc from Paul Dunmall, in duet with Tony Irving. On the EAI front I also got a copy of Kevin Drumm's Sheer Hellish Miasma, which is fantastic, and discs by SSSD (Taku Sugimoto, Martin Siewert, Burkhard Stangl and Werner Dafeldecker) and a nice solo disc by Martin Siewert. All of these are really good, on first listens, but the Drumm album continues to astonish me. It is, by far, the best disc I have heard by him.

doesn't cduniverse keep the pre-order sale price going until one week after the set has been releases usually? Looks like I will have to order Zen Widow, too.

for any of my Funny Rat friends who had not noticed yet, Bagatellen has a new article posted by someone who has seen, explored, and listened to the upcoming Albert Ayler box set on Revenant. If you weren't looking forward to this set already..... Bagatellen

I listened to it for the first time in years last night and it was a lot more "fractured" and interesting than I had remembered. "(he-he, no Madonna in my collection, I think) We'll have to remedy that immediately. Perhaps Atavistic will release Out Duos vol. 4 - Tim Berne, Madonna and Charles Gayle

I'm listening to an interesting disc this morning: Akira Sakata's Fisherman's.com Akira Sakata on sax, Hamid Drake on drums, Bill Laswell on bass and Pete Cosey on guitar, on his first release (as far as I know) since Miles' 70's releases. I really dig this disc. It's not too out and gets a really nice groove going. Sort of a cross between a typical Laswell production and Dark Magus. There are some vocals courtesy of Sakata that I am not too crazy about but, other than that, I really enjoy this one. This was only released in Japan, but I was able to buy a copy through DMG a while back.

As much as I enjoy Scattered Clouds I have not felt drawn to explore more of his work so far.