Teasing the Korean

Not much interest in Spooky Tooth, but MAJOR interest in the great Pierre Henry!

Do you know "Psyche Rock?" You've probably heard it if you don't know it by name.

Oh, I thought these were older recordings.

Several years ago, I bought a concept album by a 70s rock band called Spooky Tooth. The only reason I bought it was because of the involvement of French electronic music pioneer Pierre Henry, whose 1960s French discotheque hit "Psyche Rock" has been sampled quite a bit over the last few decades. Shortly after lugging it home, Ms. TTK had to work one weekend, so I spun it. I thought to myself, "I can't tell if this is brilliant or terrible." I ended up spinning it 3 more times that weekend. And after the fourth time, I still couldn't tell if it was brilliant or terrible. I haven't played it since.

Same here. But have you ever experienced the opposite?

That's my favorite AEC track! Fontella does not seem to be on this release.

I read both authors in the 1980s, although I spent the 1980s trying to relive the 1960s and 70s. The 80s is by far my most hated decades. Brautigan was indeed embraced by the counter-culture, but I have read that he didn't really identify with hippies.

I don't think The Honey Dreamers Sing Gershwin was ever reissued.

I was recently talking to a friend about Richard Brautigan, most famous for Trout Fishing in America. Without really thinking about what I was saying, I said, "He's the kind of writer you need to explore when you're in your 20s." I loved his books, but I can't imagine reading one now. I feel much the same about Tom Robbins. I thought Still Life with Woodpecker was brilliant when I read it age 23 or so, but again, his stuff would not interest me now. Am I off-base here? I think on the one hand, there is something healthy about our perspectives changing as we go through life. On the other hand, I worry that my brain is becoming calcified for believing that windows for reading certain books will close at key thresholds.

PM sent.

The "regrettable" one is my favorite. It is like a space-age bachelor pad Monk album. I delete the two Teo Macero tunes and add "Blue Monk." Yes, I love this stuff. These tracks are like Monk's equivalent of the Raymond Scott Quintette 1930s recordings. They suggest a bright, shiny, mechanized future.

Monk's music to me suggests a bright, shiny, mechanized future.

It's easier to do this - deliberately or accidentally - with digital playlists or a CD, as the CD will automatically start over. With LPs, more work is involved. Sometimes, with something new, I will play it a few times within a short amount of time to absorb it. But with more music and less time to listen, it gets harder. I do have some seasonal listening preferences, and as a result, certain albums will be spun at least once a year. But between this, I am trying to listen to seldom-played albums.

That sucks.

Well, if you don't like his sax playing, at least he's good for something!

I find that 1976 date troubling, as 1974 is my CTI cutoff year.

Well, not on CTI, but it may as well be. Doc Severinsen's Closet is a Command album from 1970, with arrangements but the great Don Sebesky. Tracks include, in a very CTI-like way, "In the Court of the Crimson King," "Give Me Just a Little More Time," "Surfer Girl," the Abbey Road side-2 medley, a track based on Bartok themes, and a couple of Sebesky originals. Give it a Pete Turner album cover, and no one would be the wiser. Get it while you can, kids!

It's about time. Copyright extension IMO got way out of hand, and it has had a stultifying effect on creativity.

👍

@Gheorghe I am listening to the Ella Fitzgerald Harold Arlen Songbook, drinking sparkly, and watching the train go around the tree. Superb arrangements by the great Billy May! Give this one another chance!

I agree with you, there are some things I like more than others. Some things feel contrived. But overall, those kind of comps work well in party settings.

I have some of John Berberian's more "traditional" middle eastern records, but I just got the reissue of this Verve album from 1969, that adds bass, drums, and electric guitar, and sax to the mix. Joe Beck is on guitar. Overall, it comes off kind of a like a Gabor Szabo record, but maybe more intense and less introspective.

I was half-kidding, but I think that both are worth mentioning with regard to the Beat scene penetrating the mainstream. Yes, the Lux and Ivy set is great, and a perfect companion to the Rhino box set.

I have at least 6 of those. How is the sound on this? I'm guessing at least some are vinyl rips?