What are you listening to? June 2021

[axolotl]

Esto.

It's a bit of a different take on Post-Rock, to be sure.

It does not have the first-tier climactic sonic buildups and nary-a-note-out-of-place precision of Mono or even Explosions in the Sky.

To me, it is more in line with the earnest efforts of Six Parts Seven or Mice Parade.

In other words, there's a place for second-tier Post-Rock.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

It's a bit of a different take on Post-Rock, to be sure.

It does not have the first-tier climactic sonic buildups and nary-a-note-out-of-place precision of Mono or even Explosions in the Sky.

To me, it is more in line with the earnest efforts of Six Parts Seven or Mice Parade.

In other words, there's a place for second-tier Post-Rock.

I wouldn't call it second-tier. They just have their own sound.

 

[axolotl]

Thomas William Hill ~ Grains of Space (2019)



Modern Classical, Post-Minimalism, Post-Rock

 

[Ojai Sam]

Nancy Nevins - Nancy Nevins (1975)



Vinyl Rip Of The Day.

Nancy was the lead singer of Sweetwater, a So Cal country rock group tagged "can't miss" after playing Woodstock. But then tragedy struck. Her car was totaled by a drunk driver and she suffered extensive brain damage. Somehow she fought back, returning to work with Sweetwater. When the band broke up, she scored a record deal which resulted in this, her only solo album to date.

Nancy Nevins was produced by Tom Catalano, who had achieved great pop success with Neil Diamond, Anne Murray, Helen Reddy and the like. The vibe here is high energy contemporary supper club jazz, with superb musicians like Pete Jolly and Bud Shank on board. Nancy hits 'em all out of the park with sass and style. The record closes with a genuine tour de force, her searing cover of Ruth Etting's "Ten Cents A Dance" from 1930. But where Ruth portrayed a downtrodden taxi dancer victimized by the Depression, Nevins pushes back hard against those "tough guys who tear her gown".

Alas, her record label went under, dragging this album and Nancy's hopes with it. That's a real pity, because for my money she outdoes Bette Midler's faux nostalgia by reinventing what The Divine Miss M merely revived.

on the Sam-O-Meter.

 

[axolotl]

Air Texture Volume III (CD One: Deadbeat Selection)



Ambient, Electronic

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

What's this cool What Are You Listening To? thread I found here. Think I'll post something

Buffalo Springfield (1966) and Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)

In recent weeks finishing my series, I've had a hankering to listen to a lot of Neil Young. Who knows why - the heart wants what the heart wants (ask Daryl Hannah). So might just do that starting with his stuff here.
Edit: threw in his two songs from their third album Last Time Around "On the Way Home" and "I Am A Child"

 

[axolotl]

What's this cool What Are You Listening To? thread I found here. Think I'll post something

Do we get a vote?


If so, "Welcome, welcome. All are welcome."

 

[Ojai Sam]

Dick Haymes - Dick Haymes Comes Home! (1973)



Vinyl Rip Of The Day.

After achieving early success, Dick Haymes became a battle scarred graduate of the School of Hard Knocks. In the early 40's he hit the big time as Frank Sinatra's replacement with the Tommy Dorsey big band, a gig which he parlayed into a promising movie career. But during WWII he was heavily criticized for ducking military service as a citizen of Argentina. After the war, he racked up six wives (including Joanne Dru, Rita Hayworth and Fran Jeffries) along with a bunch of debt.

This energetic live set from the Cocoanut Grove represented Dick's return from a decade-long self-imposed exile in Europe. It demonstrated that he could still sing with the best of them. Backed by Les Brown and His Band of Renown, Haymes deftly mixes old and new material in a triumphant set before an enthusiastic audience. Sadly, Haymes and the Grove were both past their peak. He would pass away less than ten years later after a long illness, while the Cocoanut Grove never really bounced back after Robert Kennedy was assassinated there in 1968. Sic transit gloria mundi.

on the Sam-O-Meter. Torme meets Sinatra.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Giuseppe Verdi - il Trovatore (Leontyne Price, Placido Domingo, Sherril Miles, Fiorenza Cossoto)

 

[axolotl]

Air Texture Volume III (CD One: Deadbeat Selection)



Ambient, Electronic

Air Texture Volume III (CD Two: DJ Olive Selection)

 

[axolotl]

Stephen Montague ~ Snakebite [and titles of other works that you can readily read off the fairly-large cover, below] (1997)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

The Very Best of the Spinners

Thing I Learned Today: "It's a Shame" was cowritten by Stevie Wonder

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Rock Instrumental Classics, Vol. 2: The Sixties

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

The Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock (1973)

Plus a little bit of The Return of the Incredible Bongo Band (1974)

For the record, that's two version of "Apache" today (with Jorgen Ingmann's version on the instrumental album above). Gonna throw in the Grandmaster Flash remix and The Sugarhill Gang's "Apache (Jump On It)" for good measure.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

 

[axolotl]

W. G. Snuffy Walden ~ Music By... (2001)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - Carnage (2021)

Cave's latest (and look at the clever letter-play with the album cover ) Australian composer/musician Ellis is a longtime collaborator but with his Bad Seeds/Grinderman stuff and on films. Enjoying this

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan - Two of the Mind (1962)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Jessye Norman & Kathleen Battle - Spirituals in Concert (with James Levine) (1991)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Neil Young - Harvest (1972)

Fact I learned today: sure Crosby, Stills and Nash appear on a few tracks but Linda Ronstadt guest vocals on "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold", and James Taylor is on banjo on both of those tracks too