Unsomnambulist
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Isis - Panopticon (2004)
What are you listening to? March 2021
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Unsomnambulist
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Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Carnage (2021)
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
Red Red Meat - Bunny Gets Paid (1995)
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
The Godfathers - Birth, School, Work, Death (1988)
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
Pere Ubu - By Order Of Mayor Pawlicki (Live In Jarocin) (2020)
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
L7 - Bricks Are Heavy (1992)
Ojai Sam
Staff member
Fleetwood Mac - The Pious Bird of Good Omen (comp 1969)
An odds and sods comp from Big Mac's early days that stands on its own. Four singles (A's & B's), two tracks from Mr. Wonderful and two songs in which they ably support Eddie Boyd. I used to think the title was a takeoff (no pun intended) on this airline slogan:
But alas and alack, it comes from the Rime Of The Ancient Mariner.
An odds and sods comp from Big Mac's early days that stands on its own. Four singles (A's & B's), two tracks from Mr. Wonderful and two songs in which they ably support Eddie Boyd. I used to think the title was a takeoff (no pun intended) on this airline slogan:
But alas and alack, it comes from the Rime Of The Ancient Mariner.
axolotl
Nunquam non paratus
Miguel Espinoza ~ Curandero (2016)
axolotl
Nunquam non paratus
Benjamin Wetherill ~ Laura (2008)
www.leedsmusicscene.net
Benjamin Wetherill | Laura
Review of Laura by Benjamin Wetherill on the Leeds Music Scene website.
Ojai Sam
Staff member
Van Morrison & Joey Defrancesco - You're Driving Me Crazy (2018)
Traveling through Van's recent work sometimes feels like a lonely journey. According to last.fm, fewer than 1,500 of us hardy souls have cracked the seal on this album. Doubtless he alienated a lot of his fans with his tone deaf pronouncements about the pandemic, but I suspect he may simply have outlived his fan base. The few that survive may still be waiting for him to revisit "Wild Night". However, that train left decades ago. In recent years, Morrison has followed his own muse deep into jazz, with very satisfying results.
You're Driving Me Crazy pairs Van with Joey Defrancesco, a jazz organist 26 years his junior. I confess to being ignorant of Joey, but his eponymous web site set me straight:
Joey's emergence in the 1980s marked the onset of a musical renaissance. Organ jazz had all but gone into hibernation from the mid-'70s to the mid-'80s until DeFrancesco reignited the flame with his vintage Hammond organ and Leslie speaker cabinet. The son of "Papa" John DeFrancesco, an organist himself, the younger DeFrancesco remembers playing as early as four-years-old. Soon after, his father began bringing him to gigs in Philadelphia, sitting in with legendary players like Hank Mobley and Philly Joe Jones, who quickly recognized his talent and enthusiasm. With a natural gift for music, DeFrancesco also swiftly picked up on the trumpet after a touring stint with Miles Davis as one of the two youngest players ever recruited for any of Davis' ensembles.
DeFrancesco has recorded and/or toured with his own groups as well as numerous renowned artists that include Ray Charles, Van Morrison, Diana Krall, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, James Moody, John Scofield, Bobby Hutcherson, Jimmy Cobb, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, David Sanborn and many more. The four time Grammy® Award-nominee, with more than 30 recordings as a leader under his belt, has received countless Jazz Journalist Association awards and other accolades worldwide, including being inducted into the inaugural Hammond Organ Hall of Fame in 2014, the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame in 2016 as well as topping the Critics Polls in DownBeat Magazine eleven times over the past fifteen years and the Readers Polls every year since 2005. DeFrancesco also hosts a weekly program on SiriusXM Radio's Real Jazz channel titled "Organized."
Joey's energetic style is funky and bluesy, owing more to guys like Bill Doggett and Doc Bagby than Jimmy Smith. He doubles here occasionally on trumpet and Van plays harmonica. They are joined by a tight group consisting of Michael Ode (drums), Dan Wilson (guitar), and Troy Roberts (sax). The Man hasn't lost a step vocally. He bounces joyously through the whole album, Whether covering Cole Porter ("Miss Otis Regrets"), Johnny Mercer ("Travellin' Light") and Mr. Acker Bilk ("Evening Shadows"), or performing one of his new songs debuted here. He ever covers himself successfully ("Have I Told You Lately") backed by daughter Shana.
This record deserves far more attention than it seems to have received. But somehow, I don't think Van really cares. He veered off the main highway many years ago and hasn't looked back.
on the Sam-O-Meter. I sure wish I could have joined them at the food table for these sessions.
Traveling through Van's recent work sometimes feels like a lonely journey. According to last.fm, fewer than 1,500 of us hardy souls have cracked the seal on this album. Doubtless he alienated a lot of his fans with his tone deaf pronouncements about the pandemic, but I suspect he may simply have outlived his fan base. The few that survive may still be waiting for him to revisit "Wild Night". However, that train left decades ago. In recent years, Morrison has followed his own muse deep into jazz, with very satisfying results.
You're Driving Me Crazy pairs Van with Joey Defrancesco, a jazz organist 26 years his junior. I confess to being ignorant of Joey, but his eponymous web site set me straight:
Joey's emergence in the 1980s marked the onset of a musical renaissance. Organ jazz had all but gone into hibernation from the mid-'70s to the mid-'80s until DeFrancesco reignited the flame with his vintage Hammond organ and Leslie speaker cabinet. The son of "Papa" John DeFrancesco, an organist himself, the younger DeFrancesco remembers playing as early as four-years-old. Soon after, his father began bringing him to gigs in Philadelphia, sitting in with legendary players like Hank Mobley and Philly Joe Jones, who quickly recognized his talent and enthusiasm. With a natural gift for music, DeFrancesco also swiftly picked up on the trumpet after a touring stint with Miles Davis as one of the two youngest players ever recruited for any of Davis' ensembles.
DeFrancesco has recorded and/or toured with his own groups as well as numerous renowned artists that include Ray Charles, Van Morrison, Diana Krall, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, James Moody, John Scofield, Bobby Hutcherson, Jimmy Cobb, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, David Sanborn and many more. The four time Grammy® Award-nominee, with more than 30 recordings as a leader under his belt, has received countless Jazz Journalist Association awards and other accolades worldwide, including being inducted into the inaugural Hammond Organ Hall of Fame in 2014, the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame in 2016 as well as topping the Critics Polls in DownBeat Magazine eleven times over the past fifteen years and the Readers Polls every year since 2005. DeFrancesco also hosts a weekly program on SiriusXM Radio's Real Jazz channel titled "Organized."
Joey's energetic style is funky and bluesy, owing more to guys like Bill Doggett and Doc Bagby than Jimmy Smith. He doubles here occasionally on trumpet and Van plays harmonica. They are joined by a tight group consisting of Michael Ode (drums), Dan Wilson (guitar), and Troy Roberts (sax). The Man hasn't lost a step vocally. He bounces joyously through the whole album, Whether covering Cole Porter ("Miss Otis Regrets"), Johnny Mercer ("Travellin' Light") and Mr. Acker Bilk ("Evening Shadows"), or performing one of his new songs debuted here. He ever covers himself successfully ("Have I Told You Lately") backed by daughter Shana.
This record deserves far more attention than it seems to have received. But somehow, I don't think Van really cares. He veered off the main highway many years ago and hasn't looked back.
on the Sam-O-Meter. I sure wish I could have joined them at the food table for these sessions.
Ojai Sam
Staff member
Bruce Springsteen - Springsteen On Broadway (2018)
I've never had the pleasure of seeing The Boss in concert. Back in the day, his live shows rapidly became legendary, in large part thanks to his intensely personal spoken introductions. In 2018 he ventured onto to the Great White Way as a solo, an act of considerable bravery that was rewarded with favorable reviews and a long, profitable run.
This two disc album is a souvenir of those shows, with all but one of the 16 songs preceded by Bruce's comments, often running longer than the songs themselves. His meandering monologues concern both of his parents, his wife, his band members, his youth in New Jersey, his political views, his religion and God knows what else, dropping a lot of f bombs along the way. By the time he started declaiming about his taste in breakfast cereal as a kid (Sugar Pops with lots of added sugar
), I realized I had heard too much. The songs and the patter which seemed so exciting in arena concerts with the E Street Band are now just tired remembrances of an aging rocker to a boomer audience wealthy enough to pay Broadway ticket prices. Next time, I'll dig out an old live show, maybe even from Bruce's own archive. 
on the Sam-O-Meter, one star for each hour wasted with S.O.B. 
I've never had the pleasure of seeing The Boss in concert. Back in the day, his live shows rapidly became legendary, in large part thanks to his intensely personal spoken introductions. In 2018 he ventured onto to the Great White Way as a solo, an act of considerable bravery that was rewarded with favorable reviews and a long, profitable run.
This two disc album is a souvenir of those shows, with all but one of the 16 songs preceded by Bruce's comments, often running longer than the songs themselves. His meandering monologues concern both of his parents, his wife, his band members, his youth in New Jersey, his political views, his religion and God knows what else, dropping a lot of f bombs along the way. By the time he started declaiming about his taste in breakfast cereal as a kid (Sugar Pops with lots of added sugar
), I realized I had heard too much. The songs and the patter which seemed so exciting in arena concerts with the E Street Band are now just tired remembrances of an aging rocker to a boomer audience wealthy enough to pay Broadway ticket prices. Next time, I'll dig out an old live show, maybe even from Bruce's own archive. on the Sam-O-Meter, one star for each hour wasted with S.O.B. 
Zeeba Neighba
Staff member
Bruce Springsteen - Springsteen On Broadway (2018)
I've never had the pleasure of seeing The Boss in concert. Back in the day, his live shows rapidly became legendary, in large part thanks to his intensely personal spoken introductions. In 2018 he ventured onto to the Great White Way as a solo, an act of considerable bravery that was rewarded with favorable reviews and a long, profitable run.
This two disc album is a souvenir of those shows, with all but one of the 16 songs preceded by Bruce's comments, often running longer than the songs themselves. His meandering monologues concern both of his parents, his wife, his band members, his youth in New Jersey, his political views, his religion and God knows what else, dropping a lot of f bombs along the way. By the time he started declaiming about his taste in breakfast cereal as a kid (Sugar Pops with lots of added sugar
I certainly agree - I think it's a much better experience live (or on the Netflix rebroadcast of a later show) that it is an excellent listening experience
In fact, I have never listened to the album having seen the Netflix show it's based on
You're right, stick with the archive live shows where you can appreciate different eras, changes in Bruce's live style - he's still years later an exciting performer especially when he's with a larger group, and has the ability bar none to make a whole arena think he's talking to them. But solo with lengthy stories between every song, it's a little tougher
But hey, it's not Elvis Presley's Having Fun with Elvis on Stage at least
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
THICK - 5 Years Behind (2020)
Ojai Sam
Staff member
Good points, Zeeb. This is one of those “you had to be there” albums.
I certainly agree - I think it's a much better experience live (or on the Netflix rebroadcast of a later show) that it is an excellent listening experience
In fact, I have never listened to the album having seen the Netflix show it's based on
You're right, stick with the archive live shows where you can appreciate different eras, changes in Bruce's live style - he's still years later an exciting performer especially when he's with a larger group, and has the ability bar none to make a whole arena think he's talking to them. But solo with lengthy stories between every song, it's a little tougher
But hey, it's not Elvis Presley's Having Fun with Elvis on Stage at least
And it’s way better than Got Live If You Want It.
Ojai Sam
Staff member
Harry Partch - The Bewitched (1955)
Volume 4 of the "Harry Partch Collection" consists of the complete score of his epic "dance satire" The Bewitched. Partch was a legendary avant garde composer who invented his own instruments to work with his scales which divided the octave into 43 unequal tones. AMG tells us:
This is one of Partch's longest continuous works of music and perhaps the most successful realization of his ideas about ritual theater, which he hoped in vain to make obsolete the "music drama" of Richard Wagner, to be produced and recorded during Partch's own lifetime. Indeed, The Bewitched has an almost Wagnerian scale, but is wildly different in just about every other way. To what extent can be gauged simply by mentally visualizing one of Partch's characteristic scene settings: "Visions Fill the Eyes of a Defeated Basketball Team in the Shower Room."
The music, played by an orchestra of 18 Partch instruments, is some of the most elaborate and complex that he ever conceived. However, Partch goes to greater extent to incorporate alien styles and ideas in The Bewitched perhaps more so than in any other work this side of The Dreamer That Remains. Partch trained two dozen musicians, dancers, and actors from the University of Illinois to realize his vision. There was never a tighter and more disciplined group of Partch musicians than these, and the album is justifiably a classic.
on the Sam-O-Meter. No sign of Elizabeth Montgomery, though.
Volume 4 of the "Harry Partch Collection" consists of the complete score of his epic "dance satire" The Bewitched. Partch was a legendary avant garde composer who invented his own instruments to work with his scales which divided the octave into 43 unequal tones. AMG tells us:
This is one of Partch's longest continuous works of music and perhaps the most successful realization of his ideas about ritual theater, which he hoped in vain to make obsolete the "music drama" of Richard Wagner, to be produced and recorded during Partch's own lifetime. Indeed, The Bewitched has an almost Wagnerian scale, but is wildly different in just about every other way. To what extent can be gauged simply by mentally visualizing one of Partch's characteristic scene settings: "Visions Fill the Eyes of a Defeated Basketball Team in the Shower Room."
The music, played by an orchestra of 18 Partch instruments, is some of the most elaborate and complex that he ever conceived. However, Partch goes to greater extent to incorporate alien styles and ideas in The Bewitched perhaps more so than in any other work this side of The Dreamer That Remains. Partch trained two dozen musicians, dancers, and actors from the University of Illinois to realize his vision. There was never a tighter and more disciplined group of Partch musicians than these, and the album is justifiably a classic.
on the Sam-O-Meter. No sign of Elizabeth Montgomery, though.
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
Neil Young With Crazy Horse - Way Down In The Rust Bucket (2021)
Ojai Sam
Staff member
How is it?Neil Young With Crazy Horse - Way Down In The Rust Bucket (2021)
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
It's excellent! (The exclamation point is well-earned.)
The sound quality is crystal clear and the musicianship is top-notch.
Several of the live takes sound better than the album counterparts of the same song.
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