What are you listening to? December 2025

[Ojai Sam]

George Wallington - George Wallington Trio (1953)

George's birth name was Giacinto Figlia.

 

[axolotl]

George's birth name was Giacinto Figlia.

No, it isn't.

Oh, you mean George Wallington.

Never mind.

 

[Ojai Sam]

English Chamber Orchestra, Corydon Singers (cond. by Matthew Best) - Faure: Requiem (1989)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Thursday Playlist Day - today, the songs of 1961 (continuing in order)
"Crazy" - Patsy Cline
"Can't Help Falling in Love" - Elvis
Runaway - Del Shannon
"Hit the Road Jack" - Ray Charles
"The Wanderer" - Dion
"Please Mr. Postman" - Marvelettes
"Crying" and "Running Scared" - Roy Orbison
"Duke of Earl" - Gene Chandler
"Cupid" - Sam Cook
"Tossin' and Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis
"Moon River" by Jerry Butler
"Hurt" - Timi Yuro
"Gypsy Woman" - Impressions
"Big Bad John" - Jimmy Dean
"Little Egypt" - Coasters
"Stranger on the Shore" - Acker Bilk

And many, many more... (evoking old record comp commercials)
4 hours of great old music

 

[Ojai Sam]

The Modern Jazz Quartet - Under The Jasmin Tree (1968)

The Modern Jazz Quartet - Space (1969)

It must be nice to have enough money to start a record label and sign whoever you like. These two albums were the fruit of MJQ's brief tenure on Apple Records. There's nothing groundbreaking here but both records can stand proudly with the rest of the Quartet's stellar catalog.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Bobby Watson - Tailor Made (1993)

With @JazzyRandy on extended leave, it falls to me to wave the flag for Bobby. This is a superb album of big band jazz that arrived in my mailbox courtesy of MusicBoomerang.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Carpe Diem, Moonman (2025)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Pogo Rodeo (2025)

 

[axolotl]

Alasdair Roberts ~ The Amber Gatherers (2007)



Top RYM review from Grampus (I approve this comment, icudk):

One reason for my ignoring folk music for so long are all the trappings of tradition and ceremony which follows it around like the train of a tattered, ancient wedding gown. Sea shanties, courtly reels, hornpipes, jigs and Morris dances, peopled by wandering minstrels, itinerant tinkers, dastardly villains, handsome heroes and fair colleens. It's always been a just too olde worlde and quaint for my tastes. Yet here I am listening to an album containing songs about bird migrations, wayward wives, lowing cows, drinking the king's wine and fighting the Devil himself. Go figure!

Alasdair Roberts is a Scottish singer-songwriter with a voice so delicate and featherweight it could easily float away but, while he's never going to make himself heard in an iron foundry, the way he melodiously carries a tune is beguiling. It may be stereotyping but his soft Scottish brogue makes you believe Roberts has just emerged from an isolated croft in the Highlands where he spends his time between tending a small herd of sheep and plucking a dulcimer (yes, Roberts does play the instrument and very well too). His voice is the main reason why I find The Amber Gatherers so compelling. Without it this would simply be a folk album I could point my finger at and say "I told you so!"

Unless you're willing to give The Amber Gatherers a chance, it's likely Alasdair Roberts will simply be seen as just another guy with a guitar (and a dulcimer) – and the stages of the world are already overpopulated with that specie. Roberts' strengths may be subtle but they are effective. Rather than focus on the lyrics, or the music, or the voice, just lie back and let the combination wash over you. It may seem a crazy thing to say when talking about an artist for whom words are his currency but, to some degree, their significance is reduced. I may be doing folk music in general an injustice but The Amber Gatherers is an album to immerse yourself in and not concentrate on too closely. The best tracks – "Riddle Me This", "Firewater", "River Rhine", "The Cruel War" – sound better with eyes closed and mind empty.

The Amber Gatherers does nothing to alter my perceptions about folk music – in fact the subject matter of the songs reinforces them – but Alasdair Roberts is an interesting talent who, if nothing else, proves if you listen to something from a different angle you might be in for a surprise.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

The Chameleons - Arctic Moon (2025)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Julian Cope - I Dream The Cosmos Atavistic (2025)



Edit: Brian Eno has nothing to worry about.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Marian McPartland - The Marian McPartland Trio (1956)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

mr. Gnome - Heave Your Skeleton (2009)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Mary Halvorson - About Ghosts (2025)

 

[Ojai Sam]

Bud Powell - Bud Powell's Moods (1956)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Hawkwind - There Is No Space For Us (2025)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Juliana Hatfield - Lightning Might Strike (2025)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Magyar Posse - We Will Carry You Over The Mountains (2002)

 

[axolotl]

Pesky J. Nixon ~ Red Ducks (2012)

Red Ducks, by Pesky J. Nixon

11 track album

peskyjnixon.bandcamp.com

Red Ducks vol. 2, by Pesky J. Nixon

10 track album

peskyjnixon.bandcamp.com

Red Ducks is a series of records intended to capture the songs we love but failed to write before their original authors. It's also a horrible pun on the word "redux."

 

[axolotl]

Parchment ~ Shamblejam (1975)

Spoiler

Disclaimer: Under no circumstances should Unsomnambulist ever listen to this.