What are you listening to? - January 2019
- Thread starter Unsomnambulist
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lpfreak1170
Well-Known Member
Desmond Dekker & The Aces - Action! (1967)
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
Zeeba Neighba
Staff member
The Rolling Stones - Goats Head Soup (1973)
Did I realize there's no apostrophe in Goats in this album title? Not sure.
Still chugging along with The Stones for those following at home. Not sure I'll get all the way until their last 4 albums - Guess I've got that ol travelling bone and envision me listening to something else . But sticking with this a bit more. It is good to hear some of their album tracks not heard in awhile
Did I realize there's no apostrophe in Goats in this album title? Not sure.
Still chugging along with The Stones for those following at home. Not sure I'll get all the way until their last 4 albums - Guess I've got that ol travelling bone and envision me listening to something else . But sticking with this a bit more. It is good to hear some of their album tracks not heard in awhile
I know fans and reviewers are both split on any Prince albums post-2000 (and some avoid anything as early as the 1990s), but I think this one is highly underrated. I could say "one of his best," but betcha by golly wow, when an artist has as many great albums as Prince does, "one of his best" is a tricky description for an album. Is it one of his three of four best albums? No. Is it one of his six or seven best albums? No.Prince - Art Official Age (2014)
Don't think I've listened to this since 2014.
I have it ranked the same as Prince's 13th to 21st best albums. Now, saying an album is an artist's 18th best album might sound like faint praise, but this is Prince we're talking about. In my ranking, 4 stars puts it alongside albums like "The Black Album", "Around The World In A Day", "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic", and his self-titled 1979 album "Prince". That's good enough for me.
Walter Smith III - In Common (2018)
I've seen this listed as an album titled "In Common" by the newly-formed band called In Common, as an album led by Walter Smith III, and as an album co-led by Walter Smith III & Matthew Stevens. To make life simpler, I'll go with filing this under S for Smith, or maybe under S for Stevens. Definitely not under I.
I've seen Smith III live twice with two different bands and loved his playing. I don't have enough of his recorded work, but this helps. Stevens most famously played with Esperanza Spalding in a setting that was nearly as much Art/Rock-Art/Pop as it was Jazz, and I thought he was one of the many highlights of the show when I saw her live. Stevens has played on several Jazz albums that I own from the past five years. I like his phrasing and playing, but alas, somehow I have failed to acquire any of the three albums led by him.
Nothing not to like here for fans of Modern Jazz. Except possibly some listeners might find this, as typical for Smith, veers a little too close to being too free for their tastes. For me, the band plays the risk just right, never really going over my overload line. In fact, this is less adventurous (in that vein) than most of his other work.
A fine quintet of players with a combo of electric guitar, tenor sax, vibraphone, bass, and drums. I bet this is highly entertaining to see live.
The JazzTimes description of Stevens' playing as "encompassing the sonic lushness" of the guitar also rings true. Stevens reminds me of Kurt Rosenwinkel in that regard, but without all the falling-into-the-rabbit-hole-too-deep strangeness that Kurt sometimes brings. It's obvious that Kurt is deeply in love with the guitar, that he probably has spent thousands of days doing nothing but noodling on his guitar and playing with every trick of his 38 amps. Based on his approach to playing, I think Stevens is probably the same, except doesn't talk to his guitar as I suspect Kurt does.
I've seen this listed as an album titled "In Common" by the newly-formed band called In Common, as an album led by Walter Smith III, and as an album co-led by Walter Smith III & Matthew Stevens. To make life simpler, I'll go with filing this under S for Smith, or maybe under S for Stevens. Definitely not under I.
I've seen Smith III live twice with two different bands and loved his playing. I don't have enough of his recorded work, but this helps. Stevens most famously played with Esperanza Spalding in a setting that was nearly as much Art/Rock-Art/Pop as it was Jazz, and I thought he was one of the many highlights of the show when I saw her live. Stevens has played on several Jazz albums that I own from the past five years. I like his phrasing and playing, but alas, somehow I have failed to acquire any of the three albums led by him.
Nothing not to like here for fans of Modern Jazz. Except possibly some listeners might find this, as typical for Smith, veers a little too close to being too free for their tastes. For me, the band plays the risk just right, never really going over my overload line. In fact, this is less adventurous (in that vein) than most of his other work.
A fine quintet of players with a combo of electric guitar, tenor sax, vibraphone, bass, and drums. I bet this is highly entertaining to see live.
NextBop said:
I think the NextBop review hits on something I noticed about Modern Jazz. It often has a strong and distinct rhythm, but it rarely swings in the sense that Wynton Marsalis once insisted (still insists?) all "real" Jazz should do. Swing has it's own rhythm, but insisting all Jazz swing would be like insisting all Jazz use a Waltz or Samba beat. One beauty of Jazz is the freedom to do what moves you.JazzTimes said:
The JazzTimes description of Stevens' playing as "encompassing the sonic lushness" of the guitar also rings true. Stevens reminds me of Kurt Rosenwinkel in that regard, but without all the falling-into-the-rabbit-hole-too-deep strangeness that Kurt sometimes brings. It's obvious that Kurt is deeply in love with the guitar, that he probably has spent thousands of days doing nothing but noodling on his guitar and playing with every trick of his 38 amps. Based on his approach to playing, I think Stevens is probably the same, except doesn't talk to his guitar as I suspect Kurt does.
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lpfreak1170
Well-Known Member
Totally agree! I enjoyed it quite a bit and will definitely be listening again soon.
Nickyboy
Staff member
"Winter" might be their most beautiful song ever written.The Rolling Stones - Goats Head Soup (1973)
Did I realize there's no apostrophe in Goats in this album title? Not sure.
Still chugging along with The Stones for those following at home. Not sure I'll get all the way until their last 4 albums - Guess I've got that ol travelling bone and envision me listening to something else . But sticking with this a bit more. It is good to hear some of their album tracks not heard in awhile
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
Crescendo - Unless (2016)
Nickyboy
Staff member
Lo! Peninsula again.
Zeeba Neighba
Staff member
Great song - Goats Head Soup as a whole is pretty great if you take away the opener ("Dancing with Mr. D") and the closer ("Star Star"). The Stones are great when they're not trying too hard to be wicked.
As I mentioned, great revisiting many of those album cuts - on It's Only Rock and Roll, loved hearing "Time Waits For No One" again"
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
Soda Lilies - Love Cemetery Tapes (2016)
Nickyboy
Staff member
Here's some bar trivia for you, if you don't know already: "Star Star" is an odd title, isn't it? Listen to the lyrics. Then realize that the record company made them change the song title from the original "Star Fucker" for the album cover.
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