What Are You Listening to? 2020

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Bettye LaVette, Blackbirds (2020): I think of her as a Method actress song stylist, from the inside out, prob never much about, "Oh, that's a sweet bit, think I'll sing it" as "Okay, this means something to me," and you can feel the push and pull and twist and turn of that, even if you'll never know all it means to her, in her life. The comeback has been largely via songs by old white rockers, but as customized, chopped 'n' channeled vehicles, getting moreso: her 2018 Dylan collection, Things Have Changed is fearless, overall her most radical yet, and I hate using the r-word, at least as modifier.
This set is all blues as a feeling, whether or not of the genre, written by or strongly associated by women, mostly if not all of color, with some jazz in there: all modern, as the band goes where she leads, though not passively: musos can sound like, "Yeah that's bad, but whattayagonna do, and look out for that hearse now." Incl. a stalking, shuffling, actually kinda fast, yet unmistakable "Strange Fruit," and even a happy one or two, if you count "Blues For Weepers," where she seems glad to be here, anywhere she can sing for the lonely souls, heads(sounds dark and smokey), or three, counting the likewise "Drinking Again," where she sociably rhymes about smokin, jokin' tokin', without sounding like Steve Miller or Charlie Daniels.
Near-title track is the one that gives pause so far, like a vocally-shredded pile of bloody feathers, which may go against the words, which she's tweaked to 'bout how she has indeed taken broken wings and learned to fly---or is more like, positive statement in harrowing sound representing what freer living has cost her?

Bettye LaVette does an excellent version of 'Love Reign O'er Me'.

Yeah!
I meant "associated *with* women", "whattayagonnado".

9-8:
Hendrix, Jimi- Band of Gypsies
Hendrix, Jimi- Band of Gypsies
James Gang- Thirds
Walsh, Joe- But Seriously Folks
Styx- Man of Miracles
Little Feat- Sailin’ Shoes
Fleetwood Mac- Pious Bird of Good Omen
Nazareth- Exercises
Walsh, Joe- You Can’t Argue with a Sick Mind
Funkadelic- US Music
Golden Earring- Moontan

9-9: (so far...)
Winter, Johnny- Johnny Winter
Winter, Johnny- Nothing but the Blues
Captain Beefheart- Legendary A&M Sessions
War- the Black Man’s Burdon (D2)
Jefferson Airplane- After Bathing at Baxter’s

today:

Eno - Music For Installations
The Ex - At Bimhuis

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBD56BzLG7U

Charles Ives - Symphony no. 4 (LA Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel)
Reginald Smith Brindle - El Polifemo de Oro (perf Julian Bream)
Styx - "Babe", "Blue Collar Man", "Come Sail Away", "Crystal Ball"
Hannah Lash - Sonata for Harp
Charles Ives - Symphony no. 1

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young marco - biology

can chill vibes also be warm?

anyway this album makes me feel loved

Kaatayra - Toda historia pela frente; the first track is fantastic so far

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Young Jesus - Welcome to Conceptual Beach
random Françoise Hardy tracks on Spotify
Panic! At the Disco - "Tonight Tonight"
Feng E - "Bad Guy"
Mozart - Sonatas 9, 10, 11 (Barenboim)
Sarah Louise - Floating Rhododendron

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agricultural implement cover connections

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https://healthy-competition.bandcamp.com/album/repetititive-music

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Cover art maybe even better than usual lately--keep it coming yall.
Speaking of the Breadwinners, reminds me that UK jazz saxist Nat Birchall sometimes does dub w Al Breadwinner; most of this is pretty good, tagged as "old school" but fresh, some turns I hadn't encountered before (I'm certainly no dub expert):

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ditto his latest:

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And he did this Sun Ra homage,Mysticism in Sound, which also makes me think of Coltrane's "Alabama" era:
an album of nightsky blues solace, which I first heard after listening to a doc about black people shot by cops recently. Sun Ra inspired Space Jazz. Nat Birchall plays all the instruments - Tenor & soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, Korg Minilogue synth, bass, drums, hand drums, bells, shaker. These three and a lot more are on his bandcamp.

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t & d meltzer's follow-up to the serpent power record. gone are the very mid-sixties sf garage/folk-rock/acid flourishes (for the most part) replaced with string arrangements, gentle guitar backing, spoken word & ornate art song. surprised how much i actually like this!

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^nice

It's a Carmen (Maria Callas/Paris Opera Orchestra/Georges Prêtre) kind of day.

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2nd disc of this, had forgotten t ended with one of the Ofo & The Black Company sides which is great in itself. Heavy, possibly not as much as Allah Wakbar but stiull pretty stunning.
I am struck by wondering how African sounding this stuff on the cd is. A lot of it is obviously very heavily influenced by mid 60s and a little later rock stuff and various funk and other r'n'b/soul and jazz stuff. I guess taht's why it was picked. & it does show some processing through a blender fo a different perspective from the usual but not sure how much directly African influence there is.
I've been lying i bed feeling ill for part of this week so been listening to the stuff on my 3 changer more and subsequently may have heard this cd like 3 times a day on a couple of days or so. Does about stand up to it. & i think I have been neglecting the disc.
Would like to know how many compis like this were done around the time and get more familiar with them.
Also would love to hear what bands since this was released claim direct influence from listening to this stuff.
I'm liking the hammond swathes and stuff, not liking not being able to put my finger on melodies I think I recognise. There'sd one i think comes from a Curtis Mayfield tune for on, though i think it takes off elsewhere shortly afterwards..

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This turned up at the time I was looking to stick a couple of new cds on my 3 changer and wasa semi random choice like the World Ends set was. It kind of fits and may have some influence from that kind of thing mixed into its influences. Certainly does seem to be taking some influences from some eclectic sources.
Augmentary instruments sound really good on here, keyboards and things.

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Kept this on for another week because i thought I hadn't been able to familiarise myself with it enough.
& i think its the cd taht I'm getting to hear least.
Am enjoying this and would like to familiarise myself with his work better. NOt sure I'm going to get the chance to get as familiar with everything i want to as much as I'd like to,.
BUt great anyway. Must learn to whistle it and so on.

I hadn't heard teh band really before picking this up at Xmas. Probably need to investigate much further.
& again this is something I've been neglecting too much.

just seen the last paragraph on there was actually referring to parquet courts. must have got separated and gone off bottom of screen or something
dang flu

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penderecki/cherry - actions

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Lacy, Mal Wadron, Elvin Jones, Buell Neidlinger, so good.

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Deep Purple - Whoosh!

Some really good stuff on here

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...i'm expecting this is probably going to take me some time to get through

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Borboletta.jpg

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Deep Purple - "Nothing At All", "Step by Step"
Bach - BWV 1006 (perf Itzhak Perlman)
Emily Shaw - Vespers

That looks amazing, no lime tangier.

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xpost Richard Betts' Highway Call is very refreshing, with his signature sound, but not too much like an Allman Brothers Band album at all.

Stevolende, re the 70s African blends, you might like Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Colonou---Volume Two is my fave so far (haven't heard 'em all)---seems to be currently out-of-print or otherwise unavailable on vinyl (at least via US Amazon), but they've got the CD and MP3:

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Also like this collection of jams etc (which is still on all formats)

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Think the original leader died, but at least some of the others got back together for later tours, may have recorded. It's all an African response to 70s availability of Black Diaspora sounds, esp via radio, incl. but not only from Radio Free Europe, BBC World Service, France, Italy etc, also as cassettes became more available, where records, turntables weren't as handy----also white music strongly influenced by those blends: these are African musicians w their own interest in all or some of that, responding to that of their audience (as CD booklets tell it).

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(related co-sign on that Laubrock/Davis duo, too--Intakt are by far my fave contempo jazz label at the moment, such a dependable batting avg IMO)

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aka the 1966 gruppo di improvvisazione nuova consonanza lp

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https://sisterarchive.bandcamp.com/album/45-02

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from Captain Beefheart
Don't remember seeing this thread before the past week; it's gotten me looking around---a bunch of skeevey-looking CDs still on Amazon (several of which I bought quite a few years ago), but also, discovered that they now have a nicely-priced legit-looking Decals (ditto several others that I already have), also I'm Goning To Do... on mp3 (and a bunch of other Rhino Handmades likewise, incl. Television's Live at the Old Waldorf and that monster Fugs box). Grow Fins mp3 is $49.49, much less than even the used CD edition on there.
I've just finished first listen to Albums That Never Were's version of It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper---great work-outs, although I could live w/o this long-ass version of "25th Century Quaker," but so many hooks: "Kandy Korrrn, Beee reeeborn"---different from (though utilizing) the Sundazed, and, as always, he tells you exactly what and why and how he used which materials---sound is crisp, well-defined without getting anal about it (I listened to the flac; also offers mp3s: 2 "discs," 45 minutes each):
http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/search/label/captain%20beefheart

― dow, Monday, August 31