speech is insufficient:
working with the quartet that was responsible for ayler's previous album, "vibrations," this session was recorded live in europe and presents an elongation on the themes of the prior work. it's debatable whether it reaches the disorienting, paramount heights of "vibrations," but i find its variations to be enlivening and sometimes favor it even more. ayler himself was a mercurial figure, and the wordless melisma and vocalizations of his playing leave me hollowed and immobilized. his playing definitively embodies the term "free jazz" in a much more appropriate way than either coltrane or coleman (at least to me), as there is nothing short of pure celerity and motion in his phrasing, an unbounded cry from the depths of the human body. though his renown is comparatively pale and bare alongside coltrane, there has been something of a renascent interest in his music (notably, there was a documentary a few years ago called "my name is albert ayler," though it is frustratingly rare to come across). i recently discovered that he's buried about 45 minutes from where i'm living now, so i intend on visiting his grave in the near future.
download "hilversum session" by albert ayler
http://rapidshare.com/files/217521741/Albert_Ayler_-_The_Hilversum_Session.rar
(this link is an advertisement for the wonderful "albert ayler depot" blog, which sponsors nothing but ayler's music...mercifully, they even have the holy ghost boxset):
http://albertayler.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label ohio pride. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ohio pride. Show all posts
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard..."Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Dept."
why the phrase "electric newspaper boy" resonates so deeply with me, why it makes me feel ineffaceably alive...i don't know, but here you go...
i'm attending the guided by voices reunion show in columbus, ohio, so i'm expectantly devouring the countless, massive amounts of music conducted under pollard's genius (yes, i believe him to be possessed of it in his own unmistakable way). i've been listening to guided by voices and robert pollard for nearly 6 or 7 years now, and though i may not listen to them as unflaggingly as i have in the past couple of years, i always return reverently before his drunken altar. pollard's solo career (until the recent dissolution of gbv) has remained mostly obscure to anyone but inveterate, dedicated fans. quite a shame considering "not in my airforce" and "waved out" are both studded with a gluttony of gems. then there's "speak kindly of your volunteer fire department," a record that provides me with a surfeit of warmth and happiness. collaborating with late-era gbv guitarist doug gillard, "speak kindly..." finds pollard at his most deliriously pop-oriented. it should be a cardinal sin to listen to songs this deliciously well-written. "pop zeus" is a rather obvious tune to praise (disgustingly perfect as it is), but tracks like "and i don't (so now i do)," "frequent weaver who burns," "slick as snails," "tight globes," and "larger massachusetts" are equally as enticing. lyrically, pollard is at his best here, and vocally he has rarely sounded as powerful and assured. even something as seemingly disposable as "soul train college policeman" is endeared due to its performance (and the strange sincerity with which "post-christmas cupcake handgrenade" is sung). in its entirety, this is a great record, on an equal footing with pollard's earlier solo effort "waved out." despite the preponderance of memorable tunes, the closing song ("and my unit moves") remains my unwavering favorite for reasons i could never possibly express.
download bob pollard and doug gillard's lovely little album:
http://megaupload.com/?d=G296J5IN
i'm attending the guided by voices reunion show in columbus, ohio, so i'm expectantly devouring the countless, massive amounts of music conducted under pollard's genius (yes, i believe him to be possessed of it in his own unmistakable way). i've been listening to guided by voices and robert pollard for nearly 6 or 7 years now, and though i may not listen to them as unflaggingly as i have in the past couple of years, i always return reverently before his drunken altar. pollard's solo career (until the recent dissolution of gbv) has remained mostly obscure to anyone but inveterate, dedicated fans. quite a shame considering "not in my airforce" and "waved out" are both studded with a gluttony of gems. then there's "speak kindly of your volunteer fire department," a record that provides me with a surfeit of warmth and happiness. collaborating with late-era gbv guitarist doug gillard, "speak kindly..." finds pollard at his most deliriously pop-oriented. it should be a cardinal sin to listen to songs this deliciously well-written. "pop zeus" is a rather obvious tune to praise (disgustingly perfect as it is), but tracks like "and i don't (so now i do)," "frequent weaver who burns," "slick as snails," "tight globes," and "larger massachusetts" are equally as enticing. lyrically, pollard is at his best here, and vocally he has rarely sounded as powerful and assured. even something as seemingly disposable as "soul train college policeman" is endeared due to its performance (and the strange sincerity with which "post-christmas cupcake handgrenade" is sung). in its entirety, this is a great record, on an equal footing with pollard's earlier solo effort "waved out." despite the preponderance of memorable tunes, the closing song ("and my unit moves") remains my unwavering favorite for reasons i could never possibly express.
download bob pollard and doug gillard's lovely little album:
http://megaupload.com/?d=G296J5IN
Guided by Voices..."Mag Earwhig!"
bob pollard & co. at its finest...
i'm definitely a populist in terms of "bee thousand," as it remains one of my favorite musical documents, but people tend to gravitate around the "era" encapsulating "propeller," "bee thousand," "alien lanes" and "under the bushes under the stars." guided by voices are typically derided (pollard in particular) as being unable to maintain a kind of quality control, but i'm nearing asceticism in my devotion and belief in the near majority of their catalogue. i love the earlier, ramshackle and lo-fidelity efforts as much as anyone (especially overlooked marvels such as "same place the fly got smashed," "sunfish holy breakfast" and "vampire on titus"), but the summary dismissal of the latter half of gbv's existence is inexcusable to me. the hip opinion is to chastize and inveigh against the band for its reliance on the hiss and murky distractions of limited recording devices, the lo-fi aesthetic, etc., but people overlook that what qualifies as "lo-fi" wasn't a luxury or affectation as it is currently. a band like guided by voices was driven and populated by people in their mid-30s who couldn't afford session time and preferred to do it themselves, rather nobly. their songs and ineluctable charm are not dependent on methods of production - a good song remains a good song. after disbanding gbv's "classic" line-up (a misnomer, horribly, since something like 50 people at any point played with the band) pollard recruited more conscientious and "professional" players. however outrageous people may have found this, the results are beyond this kind of record store banter bullshit.
"mag earwhig!" is beset with only 3 flaws - all of them forgivable, all of them occuring within the first 5 songs. those faults are - noticeably - "can't hear the revolution," "i am a tree" and the increasingly putrid "bulldog skin." aside from that, however, this record is phenomenal, at times reaching far beyond "under the bushes under the stars." "jane of the waking universe," "little lines," "sad if i lost it," "i am produced," "portable men's society," "not behind the fighter jet," "choking tara" and the chokingly-dense, apocalyptic "the finest joke is upon us" - my favorite on the album - alight in a kind of starburst grove, registering a level of intensity rarely reached on previous releases. the two successive albums - "do the collapse" and "isolation drills" - are far more uneven and tenuous, though still retaining a stunning amount of great songs (the former nowhere near as unlistenable as is often claimed). they regained their balance on their triumvirate of final releases, "universal truths and cycles," "earthquake glue" and "half-smiles of the decomposed," all of which permit the band to bow out gracefully (leaving - in my mind - a nearly unblemished discography).
download "mag earwhig!" by guided by voices:
http://www.mediafire.com/?byz90150wbz
i'm definitely a populist in terms of "bee thousand," as it remains one of my favorite musical documents, but people tend to gravitate around the "era" encapsulating "propeller," "bee thousand," "alien lanes" and "under the bushes under the stars." guided by voices are typically derided (pollard in particular) as being unable to maintain a kind of quality control, but i'm nearing asceticism in my devotion and belief in the near majority of their catalogue. i love the earlier, ramshackle and lo-fidelity efforts as much as anyone (especially overlooked marvels such as "same place the fly got smashed," "sunfish holy breakfast" and "vampire on titus"), but the summary dismissal of the latter half of gbv's existence is inexcusable to me. the hip opinion is to chastize and inveigh against the band for its reliance on the hiss and murky distractions of limited recording devices, the lo-fi aesthetic, etc., but people overlook that what qualifies as "lo-fi" wasn't a luxury or affectation as it is currently. a band like guided by voices was driven and populated by people in their mid-30s who couldn't afford session time and preferred to do it themselves, rather nobly. their songs and ineluctable charm are not dependent on methods of production - a good song remains a good song. after disbanding gbv's "classic" line-up (a misnomer, horribly, since something like 50 people at any point played with the band) pollard recruited more conscientious and "professional" players. however outrageous people may have found this, the results are beyond this kind of record store banter bullshit.
"mag earwhig!" is beset with only 3 flaws - all of them forgivable, all of them occuring within the first 5 songs. those faults are - noticeably - "can't hear the revolution," "i am a tree" and the increasingly putrid "bulldog skin." aside from that, however, this record is phenomenal, at times reaching far beyond "under the bushes under the stars." "jane of the waking universe," "little lines," "sad if i lost it," "i am produced," "portable men's society," "not behind the fighter jet," "choking tara" and the chokingly-dense, apocalyptic "the finest joke is upon us" - my favorite on the album - alight in a kind of starburst grove, registering a level of intensity rarely reached on previous releases. the two successive albums - "do the collapse" and "isolation drills" - are far more uneven and tenuous, though still retaining a stunning amount of great songs (the former nowhere near as unlistenable as is often claimed). they regained their balance on their triumvirate of final releases, "universal truths and cycles," "earthquake glue" and "half-smiles of the decomposed," all of which permit the band to bow out gracefully (leaving - in my mind - a nearly unblemished discography).
download "mag earwhig!" by guided by voices:
http://www.mediafire.com/?byz90150wbz
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
GUIDED BY VOICES..."VAMPIRE ON TITUS"
"vampire on titus" contains the most abrasive, penetrative and hostile fidelity of any of the early gbv recordings. i would make a casual guess and say that i listened to it nearly 10 times before anything remotely appealing began to emerge from the density and fog of tape hiss, feedback and oddly-mixed vocals; now it's among my favorite guided by voices albums, so what the hell do i know? the album also contains some of the more puzzling and strange songs that robert pollard has ever written, and at what point that statement becomes a hyperbole - i simply don't know. you never know, try it out - it certainly has its out sound to it, however unpleasant it appears at first.
download "vampire on titus"
http://www.sendspace.com/file/w2j42i
Sunday, June 6, 2010
SCOTT WALKER WALKS AMONG US
being as i have an incommensurable love and appreciation for everything related to scott walker, i thought it'd be appropriate to represent a charitable section of his discography. scott walker is a name that rings with a certain familiarity now, but i've still yet to encounter many people who have actively listened to his work. the main point about scott walker is that his music is meant to be devoured with an almost reverent appreciation, and listening to his latter work especially means committing yourself, challenging yourself, experiencing the atmosphere and miasma of what he presents, of all the ghosts and unnameable worlds he conjures.
walker's early work with the walker bros. has its moments, but he began to develop more when he tore apart from the group and pursued a solo career (which saw him covering jacques brel and ornamenting his own morbid lyrics with bombastic string arrangements). his first two records are fairly hit-or-miss for me, though not without disorienting heights. his third and fourth solo records are where the real vertiginous, almost hallucinatory depths begin.
when the walker bros reunited in the late 70s, they completed an album called "nite flights," and it began an entirely different, unnavigable direction for his work. the first four songs from "nite flights" are all walker originals, and are unlike anything i've ever heard. they share affinities with some of the work bowie was doing with eno and the usual krautrock pioneers, but they are a world apart, unbelievable. the rest of the album isn't remotely as good as the first four tracks, but based on the strength of those, the rest is forgivable, forgotten.
following the walker bros. dissolution, scott went on to record "climate of hunter," elaborating on what he began with "nite flights," but in no way anticipating the direction he'd pursue on his two subsequent releases, "tilt" and "the drift." the nature and atmosphere of both, the latter especially, is tenebrous and inescapably dark, operatic, dizzying, unpredictable. the instrumentation varies and flits from crushing density to haunting austerity, demonstrating a kind of adventurousness that has been long absent from music.
i can't begin to convey even a fraction of my enthusiasm and love for walker's work, and i hope his music affects more people in the manner it effects me.
here's a link to "nite Flights" from icoulddietomorrow:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zwfny13zain
here's a link for "tilt"
http://rapidshare.com/files/230956334/Tilt.zip
and finally "the drift"
http://www.mediafire.com/?dzmdmllj1dz
"climate of hunter" and walker's third and fourth solo records are also worth seeking out, and will invariably be uploaded here soon
walker's early work with the walker bros. has its moments, but he began to develop more when he tore apart from the group and pursued a solo career (which saw him covering jacques brel and ornamenting his own morbid lyrics with bombastic string arrangements). his first two records are fairly hit-or-miss for me, though not without disorienting heights. his third and fourth solo records are where the real vertiginous, almost hallucinatory depths begin.
when the walker bros reunited in the late 70s, they completed an album called "nite flights," and it began an entirely different, unnavigable direction for his work. the first four songs from "nite flights" are all walker originals, and are unlike anything i've ever heard. they share affinities with some of the work bowie was doing with eno and the usual krautrock pioneers, but they are a world apart, unbelievable. the rest of the album isn't remotely as good as the first four tracks, but based on the strength of those, the rest is forgivable, forgotten.
following the walker bros. dissolution, scott went on to record "climate of hunter," elaborating on what he began with "nite flights," but in no way anticipating the direction he'd pursue on his two subsequent releases, "tilt" and "the drift." the nature and atmosphere of both, the latter especially, is tenebrous and inescapably dark, operatic, dizzying, unpredictable. the instrumentation varies and flits from crushing density to haunting austerity, demonstrating a kind of adventurousness that has been long absent from music.
i can't begin to convey even a fraction of my enthusiasm and love for walker's work, and i hope his music affects more people in the manner it effects me.
here's a link to "nite Flights" from icoulddietomorrow:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zwfny13zain
here's a link for "tilt"
http://rapidshare.com/files/230956334/Tilt.zip
and finally "the drift"
http://www.mediafire.com/?dzmdmllj1dz
"climate of hunter" and walker's third and fourth solo records are also worth seeking out, and will invariably be uploaded here soon
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