What are you listening to? July 2017

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Scott Colley - Empire _2010_

AllMusicGuide said:
4/5 stars
Empire is centered around a core group consisting of electric guitarist Bill Frisell, trumpeter Ralph Alessi, and drummer Brian Blade, with pianist Craig Taborn added on some tracks. A brief paragraph in the booklet describes the history of the speculative town of Empire, KS, which was undone and doomed to obscurity when the railroad was built well north of the town. Colley's songs have a lonely, haunting quality, especially in the finale to "The Gettin Place," with the simulation of a train at rest fading to the close. The ballad "For Sophia" has a loping, rural flavor with Colley's melodic lead backed by Frisell and Blade. "Speculation" showcases Colley's moody bassline and Taborn's sparse, dark piano. Perhaps the most emotional track is the Colley/Alessi duet, which has hints of Baroque music built into its structure. This often subtle release deserves a quiet setting to be truly appreciated, it is easily one of Scott Colley's finest recordings.
 
Bruce Springsteen - Arizona State University, Tempe AZ 1980

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An odd release from The Boss - when The Ties That Bind box set was released to celebrate the 35th anniversary of The River, a concert film of the ASU show was released. However, some parts of that show had poor/incomplete video, so Bruce released a 10-song live set of the songs not featured in the concert video. Why not release the whole concert on audio? Who knows. On the other hand, these ten songs were given as a free download - so completist fans really shouldn't complain too much :)
 
Bruce Springsteen - Nassau Coliseum, New York 1980

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Tremendous show from The River tour. AXS.com includes it as one of the three best Bruce shows and Consequence of Sound ranks it #2 of its top 10 list of his greatest concerts. Great New Years Eve show with The Boss counting stuff down with a cover of "In the Midnight Hour" followed by "Auld Lang Syne". I believe this is the version of "Merry Christmas Baby" one hears at Christmastime and on the compilation of A Very Special Christmas, but the version of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" is not the recording one hears often (that one's from the C.W.Post College show from Dec. 1975).
 
I could only get into Shivering King before, but I find Feathers pretty good (first listen).
I own everything they've done, other than the Peel Sessions LP, and love the heck outta the first six. The last two, including Warble Womb, are just meh, at best.
 
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