John B

Roscoe Mitchell - Snurdy McGurdy and Her Danicn' Shoes Warne Marsh - All Music Wild Tchoupitalas - s/t The Gladiators - Trenchtown Mix-up Man or Astroman - Experiment Zero Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You

I own two of the Collective 4tet discs and they didn't click with me on first listen. I'll have to revisit them again this weekend and see what I think of them now.

That 'Live In London' record does indeed consist of their Peel Sessions set, and it is a KILLER. Get it while you still can. I bought it a couple of years ago when it was released (less than legitimately, I'm sure) by a label here in Texas. It's since been made available again as an import, I believe. If you like "Side Effects of Being Tired", the version of that song on this record will literally knock ya down - it's incredible. THOSE DRUMS!!! I know someone who is selling his copy for $4 and it should be here any day now. I have read a few interviews with the band and they seem to have no problem with the records release. I think there is some restriction imposed by the BBC on its "official" release. Have you ever heard the Replikants, with Justin and Brandt? I've been meaning to check them out, but still haven't gotten around to it. The singles collection is pretty fantastic, too. I keep forgetting to mention that disc. I'd be happy if the full demo that Crab Nebula was taken from ever gets released, or if the long-rumored live album comes out some day.

Not meaning to steer this completely off topic, but...it's not everyday that I find another Unwound fan. I took a while for me to get into 'Leaves...', too. Some of the songs grabbed me immediately ("December", "Demons Sing Love Songs", "October All Over") while others took longer...and some still haven't. Overall, though, it's a very impressive piece of work. The album that I still haven't managed to wrap my ears around, so to speak, is 'Challenge For a Civilized Society'. There's a couple of songs I really like ("Sonata For Loudspeakers", the instrumental track, comes to mind) but overall...well, it's not a bad record - as far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as a bad Unwound record...but, it's the one that I've played the least. By a wiiiiiiiiide margin. The one that I've played the most? A toss up between 'New Plastic Ideas' and 'The Future of What'. What an incredible band they were... New Plastic Ideas gets played the most by me, by a wide margin. as far as I recall, my favorite track off of Challenge... is"The Side Effects of Being Tired," with Vern singing. I just found out that a "semi-legit" record exists of them live in London (I think it is traks fro their Peel session) and I should have a copy fairly soon.

Ah yes, the Derek Taylor pre-release review. Sounds good to me - maybe with the exception of Drake's chant on the closing track. There were a few DT posts about this set on JC too (he's a regular poster over there). I thought the "not so positive" comments in that review were about another Fred Anderson disc? My favorite "review" of this so far was posted over on JC and read: Oh. My. Oh my yes. or something to that effect. Can't wait to hear this one!

I have wanted to pick up that set for a while but just can't justify the price right now. Perhaps some day...

You will love Remember to Forget. Leave your wallet somewhere out of reach when reading this discussion. It can get to be very expensive, indeed.

What would you consider to be "essential" Cecil Taylor? I only started exploring his work recently and have been primarily focusing on his solo albums. All that I have heard so far: Silent Tongues, Double Holy House, Tree of Life, Indent, Air Above Mountains and Trance have all been fantastic. My recent order included Looking (Berlin) Solo, Incarnation, Erzulie Maketh Scent, Nailed, Leaf Palm Hand and Remembrance. (catching up on his FMP output.) I'll probably pick up the RVG of Conquistador soon after it comes out, too.

after selling some old cds I no longer listen to I placed an order for this one, along with a few other Cecil's on FMP that I have been desiring for a while, from Cadence. I am really looking forward to hearing this set. I have heard a lot of praise for the role Franky Douglas plays in the music from a few people who have heard this disc.

Amazon.co.uk confirmed the availablity of Monoceros. Looking forward to hearing it. Good news! Let us know what you think.

Reign in Blood is their "classic," but I would recommend starting with Seasons in the Abyss first. There are some great songs on SITA and it is more in line with what a fan of Megadeth would enjoy imo.

Frode Gjerstad / William Parker / Hamid Drake - Remember to Forget Recorded live in October of 1997. Some great playing by all involved. Highly recommended!

Ramon Lopez - Eleven Drum Songs This one gets a conditional from me. I wasn't really enjoying the first few tracks..it seemed as if Lopez didn't know what he wanted to do and wasn't saying anything interesting as a consequence. The disc started to pick up after that and I really enjoyed it more as it went along. That being said, I certainly do not consider this one to be essential, by any means, but, for $3, I'll recommend it. This reminds me that I still have a few more Leo Labs discs from Berkshire to make my way through....

Murray Street is their best release in quite some time, imo. The first five tracks are fantastic, then I lose interest pretty quickly. The last time I saw them was probably around '96 and I think Helium opened up the show. The highlight was definitely the Diamond Sea...such a great song. Going off track a bit, I'm still really disappointed that Unwound broke up. I first saw them opening up for Fugazi and have loved them ever since. It took a while for their last album, Leaves Turn Inside You, to click with me but it finally has. They still are one of my favorite bands, too.

Definitely! I really enjoy the albums of his that I have heard. From the Green Hill and Litania, in particular come to mind. edit - I almost forgot, he is fantastic on Krzysztof Komeda's Astigmatic as well.

check out Brotz' Chicago Tentet. Mats is on all of those discs, as far as I recall.

Ah, yes...he plays electric bass, correct? Live at Nefertiti is a fantastic disc. I'd be interested to hear all of these.

Interesting...do you know if this a new release? It is always good to hear Brotz with some different players. I know nothing about anyone else on this album. Are you familiar with their work at all?

Gerry Hemingway Quartet - Devil's Paradise Herbie Hancock - Complete BN disc 3 John Coltrane with Duke Ellington Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Jimmy Hendrix - Axis: Bold as Love The Doors - Morrison Hotel Vibracathedral Orchestra - Mothing Afro-Celt Sound System - Release Isis - The Red Sea Cult of Luna - The Beyond

Great mixes, Jim. I really enjoyed listening to both of these. I've spun the discs a few more times and am still baffled by many of your selections. 1-1 Definitely Ray Anderson on trombone, but I still don't have the foggiest clue what album this is from. I really dig this track. 1-2 No clue 1-3 This is either a track from the Larry Young Mosaic that I have never heard or someone has been worshiping at his alter for many years. This might be the one track I am most curious to see the answer to. 1-4 cheesy 70's keyboards, the vocals aren't doing anything for me. Not my cup of tea. 1-5 I really dig this song. No clue who it is but the tuba / sousaphone player reminds me of Matt Perrine. 1-6 no clue 1-7 Classic album. Got to be from this one. 1-8 Very nice. A smokin' live track...don't know who this is but I am really looking forward to finding out. 1-9 no clue 1-10 Again, the vocals just aren't doing it for me. Not my cup of tea. 1-11 No clue 1-12 Sounds like something arranged for a 70's TV show theme. No clue I was more familiar with the cuts on disc 2, which I also really enjoyed. 2-1 No clue who this is but I like the droning bass and the bird song and other odd noises tossed in. 2-2 Everyone should buy a copy of this before it goes out of print. Excellent music, great recording. I need to get more of his music soon, perhaps starting with the solo discs on Nimbus. 2-3 Not 100% sure on this one, but I think it is from this one. Sounds like a few Parkers, one on bass, one circular breathing as well as some electronics. 2-4 David Murray? Not familiar with the album this is from but it sure sounds like him on sax. All in all a fantastic mix that will end up costing me some money once I see the answers to a few of these.

Yes, I think they are all great. Well worth the price of the box.

John, where did you get this one? It looks like it's OOP now. Forced Exposure. I was able to buy it through them fairly recently, so they might still have some in stock.

They are not included. The albums in the box are Five Year Plan, 7x, Spectres and Songs and Rituals in Real Time, which is a double album.

yes, go to screwgun immediately and buy the Empire box (5 discs for $30) and the the Bloodcount - Unwound box (3 cds for $28.) The Empire box is a re-release of his albums on JMT, recorded in the late 1970's / early 1980's. Unwound contains all live tracks recorded by Bloodcount (Berne, Jim Black and Chris Speed.) Both sets are great and really inexpensive through Berne directly.

The comments I have seen from people who have heard review copies all state that this disc is fantastic. I am really looking forward to buying this as soon as it comes out. Hamid Drake is my favorite active drummer and one of my favorites of all time.