Brandon Burke

Listening to it again, promted by Lon's reply. This might very well be my favorite LP ever...

Sold.

Strangely, I didn't really like The Man Who Wasn't There despite how much I love both the noir aesthetic and the Coens. Couple of reasons: First of all, everyone was so blase in The Man Who Wasn't There that, ultimately, I didn't end up giving a shit either. I may or may not have fallen asleep in the theatre. The cinematography was definately brilliant but it's hard to stay emotionally invested in a picture when the characters don't give a damn either. Dead Man, on the other hand, I mentioned earlier. I'm a huge Robby Muller fan so Dead Man and Down By Law are among my all time faves. Watching Knife in the Water for the first time the other night, it really struck me how much of an influence it must have been on Muller. What with the high-contrast b/w, the use of bodies of water as reflective surfaces, etc. Very cool.

You're bummin', dude. I just got back and it was f*cking REE-DIC-U-LOUS! Seriously people: Rhythm section was out of control. Bass player is my new hero. And one of the guitarists had a damned turban on. I'm totally exhausted and I wasn't even on the floor. The rest of you in DFW better act like u know tomorrow night because this show was nothing short of amazing! (Er...sorry Jim.)

Funny you mention that as I saw it listed among Howe's works on AMG when I looked him up an hour or so ago. I've been scratching my head ever since, trying to remember if I've seen it already or not. I may have it mixed up with Shock Corridor. Dunno. Sounds like, either way, I'm in for a treat if I can't remember....

that's a confession? why do you think the LLizards should be in this thread? Seriously, I'd be interested in the answer. I used to like those records but they're too *ironic* for me at this stage in my life. I still very much enjoy Lurie's film scores and Nat'l Orchestra stuff, however.

I've not seen Visions of Light in some time. Perhaps revisiting that (and jotting down some featured names) is a good start. I'll give Howe some time this week. I have seen a handful of his works, however accidentaly, but it was long enough ago that I wouldn't have been paying much attention to the cinematography. Thanks guys.

Yea, I'm thinking I'm gonna go. I'm also supposed to go see Hollertronix tonight. They're a DJ team from Philly that's been making a lot of noise. My buddy in NYC got me on the list to it's kind of a no-brainer. I figure I'll do my best to see both. Thing is, there's a great DJ team (Waxploitation) opening up for Sharon Jones too. So much funk, so little time... B)

Damn.... That sounds brilliant.

This thread is somewhat self-serving. I was at the video store last night and really wanted something with some stunning b/w cinematography, edting and ultimately drew a blank. I was, however, quite pleased with what I took homw with me,Z, which I'd been meaning to see for ages. Anyways, some of my favorites are: * Knife in the Water * I Know Where I'm Going * Lady from Shanghai * The Third Man * Down By Law * Dead Man * Rififi * The Killing * Dr. Strangelove * The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, etc. * lots... And lots more in color as well. Lars Von Trier's The Element of Crime, for example.

I've always found the LP--the Mary/Folkways pressing, anyways--to be pretty muddy in the first place. Strangely, and I may disagree with my self on this tomorrow, I think that "It Ain't Necessarily So" somehow benefits from that style of production. The reverb and muddy sound quality seem to distance the song from the listener, like a ghost that's about to disappear. No matter how loud I play the song on my stereo I still feel like it's fading away. Beautiful....

Jim... Dig this. B)

Love it. Cinematography is amazing, especially his use of color. Lots of sepia-tone with bright (otherwise white) light appearing as blue. Not to be watched with your girlfriend/wife, however. There's some pretty rough stuff in there. I remember thinking "Thank god Emily's not watching this"... Next stop: The Kingdom.

I love those Sandy Bull records. Six Organs was just him w/o accompaniment. Vocals on about half of the tunes that I could go either way on. Not bad enough to be in the way but not really adding anything either. Not unlike Robbie Basho in that respect. In fact, his playing is much more like Basho than Fahey as well. To that end, I agree that he's no Fahey but I don't think that that's really the point. Fahey plays considerably fewer notes and some of Six Organs runs are outlandishly fast. I mean it's ridiculous. And by that I mean ridiculously good. I have not heard any of the records, however, so I'm speaking only for the line show that I saw last night. It was great. As for the psych/folk underground, my two favorite records of the year so far probablt fall into that category: (1) Rejoicing in the Hands by Devendra Banhart and (2) Sung Tongs by the Animal Collective. It's becoming clear that we have quite a bit in common, Clem. Cheers, B.

I just found out about this last night at the Six Organs of Admittance show. I'm quite excited, having not seen Bennink before.

First of all, this is not a flat-out disagreement with you, J Larsen. Just pushing the conversation... I hear what you're saying but the fact of the matter is that we couldn't possibly know that unless they were testing CD technology in 1904. The only other way to get this figure is by employing accelerated aging which, though useful, really only tells us what happens when you put something in the oven (or whatever else you choose to do). As far as I've heard, the lifespan of a manufactuted CD is closer to 30-70 years. But we have no way of knowing either way. And, as mentioned earlier, it depends on when the CD was manufactured. As to the comment about reactive qualities of [Al], the technology has not been around long enought to say with any certanty but the argument for gold CD-Rs is pretty clear. Gold is almost completely inert. (And of course this is in reference to CD-Rs only.) I should add that much of the work that goes into CD longevity--as far as I've seen--is concerned with CD-Rs. This is largely because audio restoration/digitization projects are often commited to CD-R. It's a library/archives/cultural hertiage issue and there's quite a bit of funding to be had for those willing to take on the study. I mean let's face it: the LC, Smithsonian, AMIA, and NARA are more than willing to hear the results of new research. Their asses are on the line.

Jim-- I hear you, man. Definately. I just never really liked that sound....which I'm sure you've figured out already. That's just me being super-picky. (Go figure.) I like my funk to be a little more....er....meaty. I want to hear funk by dudes with facial expressions that look like something really f*cking stinks in that room and I didn't ever get that from Prince back in the day. This is not to slight his influence or his music. It's just not for me. Fair enough, right. Strangely, I could always go for a little "Jesse....n-now Jerome." Don't ask me why.... As for the young hip hop co-worker, I hear you. We live in an era where guys like 2-Pac are old school which is really weird to me. I mean I never liked that dude anyways but 1996 isn't exactly old school. I don't care who you are. Granted, I bought my first rap cassette in 1983 (4th grade) so maybe I have a different outlook than other 30 year olds. I dunno.... Cheers, B.

I have seen cases of 'bronzing' on the part of manufactured CDs.

I'll be damned. Well I guess I should have looked that up but that would have entailed....looking that up. And I'm at work. Needless to say, I was thinking of JohnJ's initial post and not the rest of the thread. Oh well. Good lookin' out....

"Summertime" is on Zo which has since been reissued on Thirsty Ear. It originally came out on some tiny label called Rise in 1994. Duet session w/ Parker. Very good. One of the few Shipp sessions that I held onto, frankly. His take on "Summertime" (both on this record and live) is distictly Ivesian, as he employs the very same dissonnances that make Ives' work so singular. Recommended.

I was just going to post this article. Funny that no one is commenting, especially since I got such a hard time a few months ago for suggesting that CDs indeed deteriorate over time... B)

This is a trick question, right? In a song with all the references to old-school classics? Who once ruled the world with "those KORG circa-1986 synths"? And generelly speaking, this whole revulsion towards "cheesey", "dated", "Colecovision", etc synth sounds is kind of amusing. They used them at the time because that's what they had (and in somebody like Zawinul's case, that's how they tweaked them). They use them now (hopefully) because it's a specidic sound, and like any other sound, it has physical and psychological references which the user wishes to connect to/through/with. Bottom line - they're a variety of sounds that happened in a particular era, and as such, they're like any other sound of any other era - fair fodder to be used at will. Some people consider Rudy Van Gelder's sound to be "old fashioned" and "cheesy" too! Jim, I usually agree with you but those synths sucked back then too, man. I'll admit to liking some--but not nearly all--of the retro 80's hip hop production that's coming back around again these days. I mean I'm a huge fan of early 80's synth rap (Fearless Four "Rockin It", Whodini "Five Minutes of Funk", etc). I grew up on that stuff and love it to this day. As for modern day appropriaions of it: Mostly, I don't like it, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't a few that I dig. In the case of this particular jam, it seems clear that he was using them not in any kind of Grandmaster Flash 'let's get back the roots of hip hop' way. He just used them because that's what he does. I mean the beat is straight JBs, right? So his synths don't make any sense. And I don't want to hear any kind of 'melding all of the old schools of funk production' business. He just has a thing for synths and that's the way it is... The track in general is brilliant but those synths really pull the rug out from it and make it sound wimpy. In any case, it's the best Prince to come out in ages so I'm more than with you there. Great song. B. [EDIT] Look up both "Rockin It" and "Five Minutes of Funk" if you don't know them. They're still amazing and not at all victims of their era. Seriously...

That Sacto/Minn game tonight was amazing! I'm a Kings fan but either way.....

For better or worse, seems that a lot of Prince has somewhat of an "unpolished" sound, which is at times charming, at times annoying. BTW Brandon, what track are they playing on MTV? PS - You are a brave man for sporting that Royal's cap ... It's the title track. And as for the Royals: them's my boys. Always have been, always will be. This starting pitching situation is really killing me, though....

I've seen the video on MTV/BET/etc a few times and like it quite a bit--I always watch it when I happen upon it. Definately love the rhythm, drums, accompaniment and all that but what's the deal with those shitty, thin, p*ssy synth sounds? I can't stand that shit, man. Why, with so much at his disposal, does he insist on using those KORG circa-1986 synths?!