Scott Dolan

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd Appetite For Destruction - Guns N Roses New Moonshine - James Taylor

I count myself as one of the bigger Monk fans here, so why didn't I receive this memo?! Hearing this second hand is quite distressing, to say the least (which is my specialty). But if true, which I'm still suspicious of (considering the questionable source), then I need to find a fifth pianist. Is Eric Reed acceptable? Yeah, he played with Wynton. But, he was exceptional, AND he's had a decent enough solo career. Ah, yes. The rub! Hmmmm... I guess if we call all other positions a wash, it comes down to a Shorter vs. Coltrane/Adderley death match. That won't end well...

I'd say if he's averaging that 6-8 albums a week (which is how he's making it sound), and he works a full-time job, he can'e be spending a substantial amount of time on one album before having to move on to the next. Unless he just has hundreds of unopened/unplayed discs laying around. And again, I would question the overall point. Though, perhaps if he's single and does nothing but listen to music while not at work... I work full-time, and have a wife and son. My time has to be divided, and outside of the car on the way to and from work, I may not listen to anything for several days at a time unless it's simply playing in the background while we're doing something else (which is actually the case almost nightly in our house). But that's no way to truly consume music, IMO, especially considering how much we talk to each other.

All fair points, Jim. Though, I guess that makes Monk extremely problematic what with all the getting up and dancing every five minutes.

I don't use a streaming service. I've used the free Spotify app to preview albums I was interested in, but even that has happened less than 8-10 times. Furthermore, I never buy 6 albums at a time. I buy one, and listen to it over and over until I'm satisfied. I like to thoroughly "consume" albums, rather than listen to one and immediately move on to another. Which it sounds as though that is exactly what you're doing. And how that is different than using a streaming service is beyond me.

Yes, I'm fully aware of the polarization Jarrett creates, but he's still a fave of mine. Though, in the case of Bley, I will have to admit that I just haven't heard enough of him. And Cooper-Moore is most definitely post-Cecil, so no need to narrow your scope.

I'm not sure where I'd rank Evans in the Jazz pantheon. My personal top five would be Monk, Tyner, Jarrett, Hancock, and Cooper-Moore.

Well, now. You are obviously a cutting edge rebel who is simply above the rest of us.

They might be stuck in traffic, Shawn, but they ain't looking at billboards. They're busy tweeting their current fate and checking their Facebook page.

Not to mention it's harder to get people to look up these days.

Other than fucking up otherwise beautiful views, I've never seen the sense in billboards to begin with.

That's an interesting statement considering they had been playing together for about a year or two by the time the Vanguard dates were performed.

I feel like it's akin to comparing the Miles Davis Sextet to the Miles Davis Quintet. Sure, the latter was far more adventurous and exciting, but does that mean the former low-key and boring? I have the Vanguard box set and enjoy it quite a bit. But, even I have to admit that I often find myself completely entranced by what LaFaro is doing that the other two kind of get lost in the shuffle at times. Still a damn fine trio and outing. *edit* I see Larry posted while I was composing my post. I pretty much agree with everything he stated.

The once mighty horticultural tattooing industry is also hanging by a thread. There is a definitive parallel there.

One of these days I'll make Scott D happy and listened to Radio KAOS, but Pros & Cons of Hitch-hiking is a serious contender for the worst album I have ever heard. Huh? I'm not a fan of Radio KAOS. Amused To Death is the only Waters solo album I like. And it's the best "post-Floyd" album there is. But I don't care for any of his other solo albums.

What a douche...

Fair enough, brother.

So much to respond to here, so forgive me foe what is about to be an absurdly convoluted post: While I'm a fan of both AMLOR and The Division Bell, I have to agree with what you've said here. This album, for all the bad advanced press it received (and for obvious reasons, I'll admit), may just be right up there with Animals. It is certainly the best post-Waters album, IMO. And the way masters Gilmour and Mason chose to highlight the keyboards does indeed strike me as a most humble and respectful send off. Not to mention that the music simply stomps fucking ass! Agreed 100%. As I mentioned before, The Division Bell found Gilmour & Co. trying to regain that fire that drove them back in the 70's. They came thisclose, but still something seemed to be missing. All the right sounds were sampled, but the results were almost kinda cheesy in retrospect. The opening voice snippets seem a bit forced, I agree. Still trying to catch up with the exceptional voice snippets from Water's Amused to Death album. And the lyric from the final tune were groan-worthy. But, at the end of the day, it is actually an excellent tune. So, we've got that, I suppose. Again, agreed. I wish they could have reconciled, but Water's ego just never allowed that to happen. Goddamn, brother! Can you imagine how fucking cool it would have been to see all of them tour together once more, even as far back as 1994? IIRC, most of us Floyd fans here are quite respectful of The Final Cut. But, I will tell you this: The Post War Dream through Paranoid Eyes may be the best "side 1" of any album I've ever heard. And that sinister synth line that underscored the second verse of "The Hero's Return" was more Rick Wright than whoever actually played it. "...and no one kills the children anymore..."

Hopefully no train tracks, highways or airports are nearby, all the acoustical treatment in the world won't stop vibrations getting into the recording. This is a pointless argument, I think nothing beats a professional recording studio, you think any room (even an outhouse!) can be used for recording. I'm not going to budge on my opinion, you most likely won't either. So this is a useless exercise. Point being, any room can be calibrated to be acoustically neutral. Look, are you going to get the exact same results as a professional studio? No, but for a multitude of reasons. Hell, you aren't going to get the same exact results from any two professional studios! Either way, it's possible, especially for richer artists, to build a home studio that can rival the big boys. The Barn and Astoria bears that out. On top of that, if most artists retained the rights to their album sales they could easily afford studio rental fees along with marketing and distribution (the former would essentially be bandwidth for their website), and still make a pretty handsome profit in most cases. Lastly, yes it is a pointless argument. And no, neither of us will budge. But, let me make it perfectly clear that while I don't agree, I DO completely respect your opinion on the subject. Not only are you a valued and respected member here, but you've never given me a reason to believe that you're simply talking out of your ass just to be heard. Now, to address the final paragraph in Ligeti's (outstanding username, BTW!) post. Yes, piracy is a major concern. Now more than ever, I'm afraid, since a simple mouse click and Dropbox (not to mention p2p) have made it almost too simple. The Tim Berne example is problematic only because he's a "marginal artist". Smaller audience, smaller results. But, let's not even begin to fool ourselves that a recording contract with a major label somehow shields any of these artists from piracy. Or, we can state the question this way: which artist has, in the grand scheme, suffered more from piracy? U2, or Tim Berne?

Gilmour's tone is unrivaled, IMO. And you're absolutely right concerning the bonus tracks. Haven't listened through the cans yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to it!

Any room can be acoustically treated, and professionally calibrated. Any room.

You haven't seen some of the modern home studios. They are indeed professionally engineered. And even those that aren't can be corrected through superior software. Many home studios these days are far superior to professional studios from just a couple of decades ago. Not all, mind you.

It's really good material. Gilmour and Mason really gave Rick Wright a fitting tribute.

Rock on. Musicians are learning their true place. As sole owners of their rightful property.

Currently spinning the Blu-ray disc in 5.1 DTS Master Audio. Listening to strictly audio really exposes the stark contrast between my Polk Audio surrounds as opposed to my Dynaudio mains. Still not that bad, all things considered. About 20 minutes in at this point. The first three or four tunes are a modern re-imagining of some of their best instrumental moments from the early to mid 70's. It's What We Do is Shine On You Crazy Diamond, almost to the letter. And Anisina is almost a direct re-imagining of Us And Them. This is definitely "retro" Pink Floyd. If not for the fact that they were trying, quite blatantly, to channel their glory days on The Division Bell, you'd be hard-pressed to believe most of this came from those 1994 sessions. So far, so good. Allons-y (1) started as I was typing. Nice Wall-era jam. Overall, I'm very happy with the results. A nice "send off". Unless it falls apart from here. You could tell these three cats were simply enjoying themselves, and trying to recapture a fire from long ago. And not doing all that poorly... Thumbs up! If you were a fan of 1971-77 Pink Floyd (Meddle through Animals), this album is a must have, IMO.