ghost of miles

Wow! I have the Lacy & the Taylor and love them both--will have to run down that Braxton when it comes out.

A friend of mine has done this & swears by it for purposes of space. He puts the booklet and CD on one side of the sleeve, the back cover on the other side, and cuts out the title spine, inserting it sideways into the sleeve. Obviously you do this if you have no intention of selling your CDs (I don't, although I sometimes pass along singles to friends when I get box-sets that contain the albums). I live in a small 1920s bungalow and am almost literally up to my ears in CD stacks... not yet ready to embrace this solution, but it's starting to seem more tempting. Have others switched from jewel cases to sleeves? One concern I have is that the CDs seem to scratch more easily if they are ones that you remove frequently to play.

REMAIN IN LIGHT, FEAR OF MUSIC and MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD--and definitely this Rhino re-issue of THE NAME OF THIS BAND... You'd probably also like SPEAKING IN TONGUES. I retain a bit of a soft spot for LITTLE CREATURES as well.

Oh oh--what would that be? I gave up on them not long after AUTOMATIC and find most of their Warner catalogue unlistenable these days, although some friends have vouched for UP. Some thought "Bad Day" a return to form, which is true in a way--it's a revamped "P.S.A.", a song they were playing on the 1986 PAGEANT tour and which morphed into "It's the End of the World as We Know It." R.E.M. on IRS was transcendental. R.E.M. on Warners--better-than-average pop for its time.

Thanks to Larry & others for their comments--anybody else get theirs yet? Mine should come either tomorrow or Tuesday. I'm finally getting around to reading Gene Lee's LEADER OF THE BAND in anticipation of the Mosaic.

I haven't seen either movie, but it's true (IMO) that jazz has a certain cultural cachet that works both to its advantage and its disadvantage. It's seen as important, serious, and perpetually hip music--but the first two adjectives there sometimes make people go, "Oh, it's supposed to be good for me--they want me to eat my cultural vegetables."

Here's the Amazon listing for David's book: SuicideintheEntertainmentIndustry Kenneth Anger's name is listed because he wrote the foreword for it.

A friend and colleague of mine, David Frasier, just showed me a trailer for the new John Waters movie, A DIRTY SHAME. David writes encyclopedic books about rather morbid topics; his most recent one is entitled SUICIDE IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. Unbeknownst to him, Waters featured a character holding it up and reading it in the new film. You can see it about 1:12 into the "bigger" trailer here: ADirtyShame You can't buy better targeted advertising than that! People into John Waters films are just the kind of folks who would be interested in David's book... He's pretty damned happy & I am for him as well!

Up for broadcast in about 8-10 minutes.

Also check out John Coltrane's BALLADS album, recorded for Impulse around the same time as the Hartmann collaboration. Alexander beat me to it with the Bill Evans piano trio recommendation--any of the Lafaro records (PORTRAIT IN JAZZ, EXPLORATIONS, SUNDAY AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD + the aforementioned WALTZ) plus one of the first post-Lafaro albums, MOONBEAMS (an all-ballads record) make for very nice listening. James Carter's THE REAL QUIETSTORM is much more recent (1995) but is a beautiful late-night saxophone jazz record as well.

Out next Tuesday! NameofThisBand

You know, STRANGWAYS is the one that I never actually picked up, although I heard two of the singles frequently ("Girlfriend in a Coma" and "Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before"), and I did hear the entire LP via a friend when it was first released. I think I was too depressed by their breakup to become too absorbed in it. Not long ago I finally got it through BMG and listened to it all the way through last night. In the Mojo issue both Morrissey and Marr are quoted as saying they think it's the best Smiths album (an honor usually accorded to THE QUEEN IS DEAD), and Marr makes some statement to the effect that it took everything the Smiths were trying to do musically to its full development. If he felt that way, then that might be the biggest reason that he left the Smiths when he did. In any case, I'm appreciating anew STRANGEWAYS and hope to listen to it again tonight after the Baker/Smithsonian Basie concert. (Ah, the pleasures of the schizoid jazz/indie rock fan!)

Mark, No, I didn't--I'm hoping to do a more extended (two-hour) special on the group sometime in the next year as a supplement to my series on Indiana jazz. I talked with David Baker on the phone Wednesday after taping the program, and he's very happy that it's going to air--even asked me to give him a CD-R to send to George Russell! He also says that KANSAS CITY may be re-issued sometime in the near future, as he was recently asked for clearance on the composition he contributed to the record ("War Gewesen"). More than agreed on David Young! Looking forward to meeting you Monday in Indy for "the connection." B-)

I'm still searching for THE SWINGIN' NUTCRACKER, which (last I checked) was still out of stock at Fresh Sounds.

I was just reading about this cartoon the other day in Krin Gabbard's JAMMIN' AT THE MARGINS... At Favorite Cartoons near the bottom of the page.

To your health, wealth, and happiness!

I really like Impossible's retro design logo and will buy one of those as soon as they're available. May have to throw in a coffee mug as well... howza 'bout a CD opener too? My five-year-old Mosaic one's getting a bit dull from constant use... B-)

I have none of this material and haven't heard any of it either (save for that "Move" track that kicks off the box). Definitely on my October to-get list! Geez, in addition to the Ayler Revenant, the Granz jam sessions, the Miles Seven Steps... ahh, anybody know of an easy bank to knock over?

Oh, definitely! I love that record, and that song in particular. I was just saying that "Barbarism" is the only song on MIM that I don't care for much--and where Morrissey's yelps drive me to distraction. The rest of the album is killer stuff--the hard-charging opener, the galloping "Rusholme Ruffians," the frantic, unrequited despair of "I Want the One I Can't Have," the MC5 attack of "What She Said," and yeah, "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore," beautiful and haunting. Throw in "How Soon Is Now," "Nowhere Fast," and "Well I Wonder," and you have an eight-song stretch that never seems to sputter for a moment. Funny that 20 years on I've renewed my Smiths fanaticism. I'm going to seek out a copy of MORRISSEY & MARR: A SEVERED ALLIANCE, which is a thoroughly detailed and researched account of their songwriting partnership.

Heard Lenny Kaye on NPR the other day discussing a new book he's written about the crooners: KayeonNPR YouCallItMadness Sounded interesting. I don't (as yet) have much of an appreciation for the crooners, but I'd like to read some cultural history about them.

Oy. There will be much gloating and grumbling no matter who wins.

just put The Draize Train off of Rank on repeat. A great instrumental from a band not known for instrumentals. Yes, "The Draize Train" was a good one, and I wish they had included it on LOUDER THAN BOMBS. Another Smiths instrumental I've heard good things about is "Money Changes Everything" (B-side to either "Bigmouth Strikes Again" or "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side," can't remember which at the moment). I've never heard it, unfortunately. Marr re-recorded it with Bryan Ferry under a different name shortly after leaving the Smiths. Listening to MEAT IS MURDER right now--a great record, though it does trail off a bit at the end ("Barbarism Begins at Home" is just too damned long and not all that great to begin with).

Didn't they advise about two million people to evacuate? Man... thoughts & prayers to everyone in the Florida area.

This is Eddie Costa?

Steve, I haven't heard that Xanadu material but look forward to encountering it. HOUSE OF BLUE LIGHTS is fantastic, perhaps my favorite Costa record. I'll try to tune in later tonight.