Whatcha' Listenin' To?
Oh, man! I’ve got so much music floating around in my own personal ether as of late. Would you care to know about it?Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsys
For me, this album served a great purpose: as a point of comparison for how bad the Woodstock performance was! Here we have a different rhythm section backing up Jimi and they are much tighter here, arrangement-wise. Unlike with the Woodstock show, it sounds as if these guys actually played together before the concert. The material is bluesy funk rock and lends itself well to improvisation and Jimi is on. The guitar tones are classic and he spends equal time in “crazy electric noise land” and working with thematic ideas. This album, with fantastic drumming by Buddy Miles, reminded me why Hnedrix is so beloved, and gives a tragic glimpse of what could have been, had he lived and continued experimenting and working with different musicians.
Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas
This is really the only Christmas music I need. The melancholy of “Christmastime is Here” is the reason I got the album, but the vibe that these guys create on all of the songs just takes you back to simpler times of innocence. Now, I don’t know how a collection of notes and a certain sound of a recording space can really do what I’m saying it does here, (i.e. simultaneously recall your childhood memories and/or vague notions of a “Christmas soul.”) Chances are, I bring a lot of that appreciation with me to the recording, but I’m not the only one. This music is pretty much playing any time I’m at home these days…
Metallica Death Magnetic
I’m pretty sure this is the only place on the internet where Charlie Brown and Metallica are mentioned together, but also in the “useful music” vein is this new Metallica record, which is useful for inspiring you to run a long distance. Thanks I’m sure in no small part to Rick Rubin’s guru-ism, this album is what Metallica’s follow-up to …And Justice for All (should) have sounded like had the 90’s not intervened. I happen to really appreciate the band’s more proggy, compositional tendencies, so this album is just about perfect for what I need Metallica for.
My Morning Jacket Evil Urges
This is another album serving as the soundtrack for My Morning Jog as of late. Stylistically, it’s all over the map: white boy funk, alt-rock, jam band, some folkie and electronic elements…with a production philosophy sounding at times like The Flaming Lips and other times like the latest Radiohead. It’s pretty melodic stuff and rocks just hard enough to keep you awake.
Prince 1999
It has two giant hits: the title track and “Little Red Corvette.” But what is more interesting to me is the stuff I’ve never heard before.
Let us talk seriously for a moment. Prince is obviously a sexual creature. If I were to say some of the things that he says on this album to a girl I don’t know, (or even most of the girls that I do know) I would probably get arrested. The only reason he gets away with it is because he is Prince. And I am Mike.
“International Lover,” with its hilarious speech towards the end, is the best and only “pilot-of-the-plane-as-loverman” metaphor I’ve ever heard. This album also makes for an interesting document of the synth sounds that were available at the time.
Booker T and the MGs The Best Of
“Green Onions” is of course an instrumental classic. As I listened to this organ-driven R&B Soul I wondered what would have happened if these guys had collaborated with new Orleans funk outfit The Meters. Probably the entire planet would have been wobbled off-center from simultaneous dance exhaustion.
Stevie Wonder Fulfillingness’ First Finale
I have no idea what that title means but man! This is such a great album! It’s like a comfortable T-shirt. Even after listening to this album over and over I never got tired of it. In particular, the harmonic writing is pretty sophisticated, (Steven, take note, if you haven’t heard this!) yet still entirely functional. The sentiments are direct and apparently heart-felt, but I just can’t get over how interesting the purely instrumental component of this record is. There is a steel guitar part on “Too Shy to Say,” (that I’m pretty sure is playing whole tone scales), that on anybody else’s song would sound out of place. But Stevie had a vision and somehow made it work. I recommend this one in addition to the Charlie Brown stuff, as a Christmas gift to yourself. I promise it will be a laid-back holiday season.
Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker Carnegie Hall Concert
Who knew? Who knew that these two purveyors of West Coast jazz would have flirted with fusion in the 70s? I certainly didn’t. With the Fender Rhodes electric piano sound and some excellent electric guitar from John Scofield (apparently before he decided to do the “elevator jazz” thing), these guys come this close to being among the “next big thing” in jazz, ca. 1974.
OK, hopefully that’s enough to tide you over for awhile. I’m off to the library to pick up a bunch more, including Cara’s recommendation of John Mayer live. We shall see…
posted by Mike @ 8:49 AM
3 Comments:
I think you need to check out Aimee Mann. I have been listening to some of her old stuff. A lot of her music is on the depressing side. She sings about broken relationships, but she does it so eloquently it does not come across cliche.
Saw her on Austin City Limits recently and was quite impressed.
Thanks, Mike! I will be looking up that Stevie Wonder album for sure.
I've been thinking about Guaraldi and how great his music is. I think it's the mix of accessible themes with more complex harmonies, top-notch bluesy jazz swing soloing and the Latin feel his band often employs. Love it all. It's Christmas when that music is on.
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