Mark is Cranky

Ah, that Little 'Ol Band from Texas finally, finally gets back to their roots.

Some would say that they accomplished this on Rhythmeen. Maybe so. But the thing is, I've never heard that record. In fact, this is the first ZZ Top recording I've purchased in years. Let me tell ya, there's some good old fashioned Texas boogie on this thing: and some country-ish swing, Mexicana (is that a genre? I think I just made it up), and humour. All delivered with gobs of mega-distorted guitar and bass. Plus, some phlegm-shakin' vocals.

I'll work up a 'real' review of this over the New Year's break, assuming I don't wreck what's left of my mind with too much football.

Happy New Year everybody.

I just enjoyed a very yummy turkey, lettuce & tomato on a toasted garlic bagel with onions and honey mustard.

Here's hoping that the customer who opened that egg salad sandwich (what I actually ordered!!) had as gooda time as I did.

It's very difficult to concentrate on work when what I really, really, really want to be doing is sitting on my couch reading The DaVinci Code. Dang, so many books, so little time. It's true.

It was probably that fifth glass of nog. Or...it coulda been the third viewing of A Christmas Story (Did I really need that? I mean, I got a copy of the DVD fer crying out loud!)

Anyway...somehow, what with all the holiday mayhem, I forgot it was Friday...which was started with a nice cuppa coffee and The Blind Boys Of Alabama.

This record is just brilliant. The high point for me is the title track with guest vocalist Tom Waits. If you're not sick of all this Christmas stuff you just might want to check it out.

Our cookie cutters were missing. Nobody seemed to know where they went (when stuff disappears, of course nobody touched it). So we made an emergency trip to Macy's (pretty much the only place still open). Their housewares department would have 'em.

Nope. We walked through all the isles several times and the closest we got was some kinda electric doodad that appears to shoot the cookies out one end...like playdough, only weirder.

So we ask the kid (maybe nineteen years old) at the housewares counter if he has them anywhere.

The response was right out of Beavis & Butthead: "Uhhhhh (...long pause...) you mean the electric thing?".

What? Do kids not know about how Christmas Cookies are made? They only come out of a tin, or something?

Better luck next year.

Merry Christmas everybody.

A weird year (for me) for jazz and instrumental music. I spent a lot of time combing through the bins in used record stores (did you know that Keith Jarrett has put out, like, a million records?), so the CD purchases were down a little. Here's the best of what I did buy.

Cassandra Wilson - Glamoured
What a voice. Not a traditional jazz thing. Not straight blues either. Wilson's voice is so sultry she could probably make Philip Glass sound sexy.
John Zorn - Masada Guitars
Ribot, Frisell and Sparks take songs from Zorn's Masada catalog and run 'em through the guitar twangilator.
(BlogCritics review here)
Nicholas Payton - Sonic Trance
Trippy. Jazzy. Fun. A little electric-era Miles given a modern update.
(BlogCritics review here)
David S. Ware String Ensemble - Threads
A volatile mix of strings and Ware's hella-horn. This is ensemble play outside of the 'normal' jazz context. Add a few 'modern' touches from labelmate Matthew Shipp and you're in for some kaleidoscopic listening.
(BlogCritics review here)
Matthew Shipp - Sorcerer Sessions
Probably the most interesting and multi-faceted 'jazz' record I've come by this year. Shipp, Parker & company put together an album that's challenging, ambient and thought-provoking. The more you listen, the more you hear.
(BlogCritics review here)
Pat Metheny - One Quiet Night
One guy, one guitar. Nobody tells a story like Pat.
(BlogCritics review here)

Ok, we're almost at the end of the road. Dick Clark will apply the magic faerie dust...the ball will drop and we will finish off that bottle of champagne.

But before that happens...before you get sick of eggnog, the A Christmas Story marathon, It's A Wonderful Life, or visits from relatives....read my list of favorite pop, rock & whatever records for 2003.

Cat Power - You Are Free
This one really grew on me. Articles here, there & everywhere about the mysterious Chan Marshall. I finally gave in after the New Yorker bio. You Are Free is full of interesting melodies, sparse instrumentation and Marshall's beautiful voice.
Richard Thompson - The Old Kit Bag
If Thompson releases music in any given year, chances are it'll be on my best-of list. This year's model is no exception. To go along with his classic wit you get piles of Thompson's guitar...one of the most singular guitar voices in rock.
Rickie Lee Jones - The Evening Of My Best Day
I've been listing to this lady for years and years and she never disappoints. For reasons I can't quite nail down, this record reminds me of Pirates-era Rickie Lee.
Dar Williams - The Beauty Of The Rain
I keep wondering when Dar's gonna run out of steam. Not here. Guest appearances from John Popper, Bela Fleck, Cliff Eberhardt, John Medeski and Allison Kraus really spice things up. So does Williams' textured and expressive voice. Her cover of The Band's "Whispering Pines" is just about perfect.
(BlogCritics review here)
Joe Jackson Band - Volume 4
A fun reunion of Jackson's original band. With so many years between now and the skinny tie era, I'm just amazed at the freshness of Volume 4. A big blast from a group of new wave geezers.
(BlogCritics review here)
Trey Anastasio - Plasma
Some Phish-y tunes getting a big-band (by way of New Orleans) treatment. Dismiss this as typical jam band fodder and you'll miss out on some skronky-good fun.
Ellis Paul & Vance Gilbert - Side Of The Road
Two old friends get together to make some contemporary folk magic. I called this the folk record of the year, and I think I'll stick by that.
(BlogCritics review here)
King Crimson - The Power To Believe
With Trey Gunn leaving the group and Tony Levin coming back home, The Power To Believe marks the end of an era. The well was sort of running dry on the previous ConstruKction Of Light, but they cranked things up a bit here. My wish for 2004? At the first show of the 'new' lineup, Tony Levin stops the proceedings to take a flash photo of Mr. Fripp.
Metallica - St. Anger
Yea, Yea...it sucked. They've sold out (again!). It's the worst thing they've ever done. Hetfield's voice is shot. The bass is lame. The guitar solos are gone. Lars' drums sound like crap, he's a jerk...and his mother dresses him funny.
Whatever.
St. Anger has a unique sound...and goddammit, it rocks!
Warren Zevon - The Wind
To me it's the most powerful record of the year. Zevon and his friends got together and really came up with something special.
The record of the year.

Yea, that's because we went to this tree farm...walked around a huge field in a foot & a half of snow, and picked out a beautiful (and large) tree. I cut that sucker down, and then realized we were about 300 yards away from the jeep.

Ooops.

Today, a U.S. appeals court told the RIAA that it's subpoena-rama is not lawful:

A U.S. appeals court said Friday the recording industry's methods for tracking down those who copy its music over the Internet are not authorized by law. The Recording Industry Association of America, a trade group, has sought to force Verizon Communications and other Internet service providers to reveal the names of customers it suspects may be copying music without permission. Verizon has argued that existing copyright law does not give the recording industry such authority. "In sum, we agree with Verizon that (the law) does not by its terms authorize the subpoenas issued here," Chief Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote.

I can't wait to see what comes next.

I don't know about you, but I can only deal with 'straight ahead' Christmas music for a little while. That's why every year I try to pick out some holiday music in a new style. Here's a list of my current favorites from that collection.

Roomful of Christmas - Roomful of Blues

Rhode Island's favored sons, Roomful of Blues turns in a Christmas set that's both swingin' and rockin. Their version of "Run, Rudolph, Run" will make you want to dance 'round that Christmas tree.

Yule Struttin! A Bluenote Christmas - Various Artists

Well of course I have to have a jazz collection! I've got a few others but this one contains a nice mix of traditional and contemporary jazz: from Count Basie's "Jingle Bells" and Dexter Gordon's "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" to Stanley Jordon's "Silent Night" and John Scofield's ultra-cool "Chipmunk Christmas". There's fun stuff here for jazz-lover's of all stripes (except for the free-jazzers...and if anybody knows of a Christmas record with some skronkitude, send me an email!)

World Christmas - Various Artists

This one is all over the place. Originally I was drawn to it because of "Go Tell It On The Mountain" - John Scofield and the Wild Magnolias. But there are other gems here: Bob Berg and Jim Beard are joined by Arto Tuncboyacyan and Zakir Hussain for a stunning "We Three Kings", Angelique Kidjo performs a nice "O Holy Night" and Deep Forest & Lokua Kanza bring "Ave Maria". For me, the real stunner is Mino Cinelu and Dianne Reeves doing "Twelve Days of Christmas": elegant and sexy!

We Three Kings - The Roches

Yes, the Roches can be an acquired taste. Maggie, Terre and Suzzy do produce some weird harmonies...but they're pretty sounds at the same time. Check out We Three Kings if you're up for some traditional holiday music presented in a distinctly non-traditional manner.

Ultra Loung: Christmas Cocktails, Part One - Various Artists

You can't go wrong with the Ultra Lounge series. Certainly not at Christmas time. Christmas Cocktails is a beauty: so put on your best silk pajamas, pour some eggnog into a martini glass and relax to: Peggy Lee, Julie London, Lou Rawls, Dean Martin, Jackie Gleason, Nancy Wilson and Les Brown & His Band of Renown. BlogCritics in the know agree, it's plain 'ole swank-a-licious fun. Or, as it says on the cover: "Hi-Fi Holiday Cheer From Santa's Pad".

Film Music, Volume II - Ennio Morricone

This second volume of Morricone's film scores is mostly comprised of a lot of fairly romantic and pensive music from films such as Once Upon A Time In America and The Mission.

I was feelin' kinda pensive this morning so this struck me as just the ticket. Yea, well...it worked out just fine...but I forgot about "The Man With The Harmonica" (from Once Upon A Time In The West). Man, that dude wrote some amazing, evocative music.

A couple of days ago I pulled out my pile of Christmas CD's (we had just experienced our second major snow thing up here in the northeast..so it got me into the spirit 'o the season). One CD in particular was missing. I remembered what the cover looked like and that it was vaguely Windham Hill-ish (in fact, the CD was Winter's Solstice, Vol. 1.and sure enough, it was on Windham Hill).

I spent a while browsing (for the 'ole memory jog) through the Amazon.com Christmas cd's (there are 6060 of 'em, yikes!) Man, there sure are some bizarre Christmas recordings out there. Not the jokey, Dr. Demento-type things. These records just make ya go "wha?" The funny thing is, I wanna get some of them:

Christmas Island - Leon Redbone

Maybe this one isn't so weird. Except that every time I hear Redbone's voice I can only think of all those "This Bud's For You" commercials. (I want it)

Southern Rock Christmas - Various Artists

Lynyrd Skynyrd, George Thorogood, BR-549, Foghat. Heck, this might be fun. (Want it)

Christmas Time Again - Lynyrd Skynyrd

They did "Run Rudolph Run" on the Southern Rock Christmas compilation. There's a whole bunch more here. Anybody need a stocking stuffer for Mr. Barger? (Want it but won't admit it)

A Wild-Eyed Christmas - .38 Special

Does the world need to hear these guys doing "Little Drummer Boy"? I don't. (Don't want it)

Carnival Christmas (CD-single) - Insane Clown Possee

Contains everybody's Christmas favorite: "Santa's A Fat Bitch". (Already own it...NOT)

And there you have it. I'd look for more but I only made it through about a thousand of the six-thousand...it's exhausting.

When I saw the producer's name (David Foster) my first thought was "Look out, here comes the cheese!" The man has produced Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, among others. Let's just say that I wasn't looking forward to Christmas music with layer upon layer of studio sheen.

Well, I was wrong. On Let It Snow, this guy swings in a way that reminds me of both Sinatra (it seems almost sacrilegious to be comparing a twenty-something to Frank, but Buble can sing!), Dean Martin and maybe even a little Bobby Darin. The arrangements, with some strings and swankin' jazz, frame Buble's voice nicely. It's all supported by bass phenom Brian Bromberg.

The future looks bright for Mr. Buble. With a voice that's both smooth and soulful, some good material could easily make him a household word.

This is my list of favorite "traditional" Christmas records. By "traditional" I mean that nobody asks me to shut the thing off after the first thirty seconds.

These are the ones I pull out every year as the family gathers to do things like: decorate the tree, bitch about not having our Christmas cards made out, eat dinner, open presents, daydream about possible re-gifting strategies, etc.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Along with shows like "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", "Rudolph" and "A Christmas Story", this particular TV show is required viewing. This music feels like it's now a part of me. Vince Guaraldi was the man.

December - George Winston

Call it 'new age' if you wish, but Winston does a lot of pretty things with the piano. "Carol of the Bells" shines every year.

Hymns, Carols and Songs About Snow - Tuck Andress

While Tuck & Patti might not be everybody's cup 'o tea, there's no denying that Tuck Andress knows his way around the fretboard. He puts some interesting spins on some traditional material here. Check out his "Ave Maria"...just beautiful.

Vol. 1 - Christmas Guitar - John Fahey

And speaking of fretboard knowledge, John Fahey knew no peer. Christmas music arranged for solo acoustic guitar...impossible solo acoustic guitar.

A Winter Garden (Five Songs for the Season) EP - Loreena McKennitt

Mmmmm, that voice. I never get tired of it. A little bit traditional, more than a little bit Celtic. This one is short (they don't call it an EP for nothin') but full of seasonal spice.

And there you have it. Next up: My Favorite "non-traditional" Christmas records.

So...I'm sittin' here pouring over some mind-numbing Java code while listening to Bela Fleck's "Live At The Quick".

...and I've come to the conclusion that his version of Copeland's "Hoedown" might just be the best I've ever heard. Certainly the snazziest anyway.

I am ashamed to admit that I've never owned a copy of The Ventures' Christmas Album...until just a couple of days ago. This past Saturday, in search of my yearly Christmas record, I wandered into Bull Moose Music in Portland, Maine (actually, the description would be more accurate as: wobbled into because, at 20 degrees with gusty winds, it was fricken' cold!)

Trans Siberian Orchestra? No, thank you.

December by the Moody Blues? Uh...not this year.

One Wish: The Holiday Album - Whitney Houston? No, don't think so.

Ashanti's Christmas? (It's probably a little bit immoral to get a Christmas CD just for the pictures).

For some reason, The Ventures' Christmas Album cried out to me.

I was not disappointed.

So much fun to hear the classics reinterpreted by these kings of surf. Even more fun to hear snippets of classic pop & rock hits of the 1960's sprinkled in: "Walk Don't Run" turns into "Sleigh Ride", "I Feel Fine" becomes "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty The Snowman" starts off as "Tequila".

Since last year's Christmas CD also had a surf orientation, I may have to break with tradition and go for The Yearly Christmas Record, Part 2.

We spent this past weekend up in Portland, Maine. Dang, it was cold! Part of me are still chattering.

Kodos to the rock band playing Christmas tunes outside on Exchange St. Those guys are there every year and they make the shopping experience a blast (a cold blast!)

Blues For Allah - Grateful Dead

What's the "best" Grateful Dead studio release? The ones I hear mentioned most often are American Beauty, Terrapin Station and Workingman's Dead.

For me it's definitely Blues For Allah. The Dead at their jazziest. I use the tune "King Soloman's Marbles" when I want to "trick" someone into liking the Dead. It's a great instrumental full of snazzy percussion, snakey bass, chiming rhythm guitar and lotsa Garcia's tangled guitar playing.

Just one interesting tidbit from a band beyond description.

A while ago I ordered a movie (a documentary actually) straight from the filmmaker. It took a while for my copy to arrive, mostly because said filmmaker had to get a new batch of duplicates made up.

At the end of last week the tape showed up at the house. I just had to save the customs label. What's the deal here? Canadians can't send porn to the United States? Would there have been extra charges for that? Really though...none of that matters. I just thought that the label was kinda funny.

Interplay & chemistry: two of my favorite words when discussing what works (and doesn't) on a record. Sometimes it's a fairly concrete set of things: Bo Ramsey's reverb-laden guitar winding its way around Greg Brown's gravelly baritone. Other times it's the sum of parts racing far past your expectations: at their live Cry,Cry,Cry shows, Richard Shindell, Lucy Laplansky and Dar Williams produced some otherworldly, tear-inducing harmonies.

Sometimes though, it's both.

Ellis Paul and Vance Gilbert have been best friends for quite a while now. Boston folk scene-watchers have known about them since 1990 or so. I discovered both guys in exactly the same way: while listening to Emerson College radio during the morning drive (thank you WERS...the list is amazing: Ani DiFranco, Loreena McKennit, Dar Williams, Lori McKenna, Mary Lou Lord, Catie Curtis...). As Ellis and Vance have grown and flourished, us long-time fans have been keeping our fingers crossed for a full-on collaboration.

Well, Side Of The Road came out this year and we were not disappointed. Ellis and Vance have put together some covers of their favorite artists' songs along with a few new tunes. With selections from artists as diverse as Lucinda Williams (the title track), Neil Young (a gorgeous "Comes A Time"), Woody Guthrie ("This Morning I Am Born Again") and Van Morrison ("Comfort You"), Side Of The Road's heart seems to be concerned with the current state of the world:

This project was the logical culmination of a few years of shows that we've done together - side-by-side, sharing the stage, chiming in on each other's songs - and a thirteen-year friendship. As we thought about what our "duo" album would sound like, we found ourselves reflecting on these troubled times. We have more than once been the friend that the other ran to when times were hard...These tunes are like that as well..They are written by artists who somehow managed to speak our minds and say things we often thought, but could never express ourselves. They remind us that we are not alone.

More than just a pretty-sounding record, the combination of these voices (plus some beautiful & sparse instrumentation) produces a kind of musical alchemy. It doesn't matter who takes the lead, who brings the harmonies. These old friends shine in each others' presence....and it seems effortless.

The folk music record of 2003.

I've been tossing around ideas about this review for weeks. A part of me wants to say that nothing much has happened since Blood Sugar Sex Magik...but that's not it. The thought is really closer to "I haven't gotten off on much of their stuff since BSSM." And while that may be true, it's not the whole story.

See, the Chili Peppers is one of those bands that I resisted. They were getting airplay from Mother's Milk ("Higher Ground", no doubt) and I just did not get it. Then Blood Sugar Sex Magik came out. This was the Peppers' London Calling, their Dark Side Of The Moon (and hopefully not their Frampton Comes Alive). The funk was undeniable: killer guitar riffs and powerful in-the-pocket drumming, all anchored by Flea's kinetic and soulful bass.

So one day at work I'm listening to BSSM and a co-worker asks me if I've heard the 'real' Chili Peppers. He offers up his LP copies of Uplift Mofo Party Plan and Freaky Styley. Cripes, this stuff is nuts! Now I can see how Mother's Milk made its way to Blood Sugar Sex Magik. These early records are all about the Peppers' roots.

Now, while I was pretty psyched to have discovered the Peppers' early funkitude, I was just a little suspicious of my co-worker's motives. This was a guy who only liked a band's early (and obscure) material. So if a band makes it big, they've 'sold out'. Sorry, but I think that's crap. "Give It Away" and "Under The Bridge" were pretty big hits. Does their popularity somehow diminish the actual music?

Don't think so.

So now that I've defended the success of the Chili Peppers (sure, like they need me to defend them) I've gotta wonder just what the heck was goin' on when this pile of "hits" was chosen. The 'older' material choices are fine(you'd be crazy to leave off "Give It Away", "Under The Bridge", "Higher Ground" or "Suck My Kiss"), but there's just too much mid-tempo stuff from Californication. All those sorta-power ballads and somehow they fail to include the killer funk of "Around The World". Similarly, One Hot Minute is represented by "My Friends" instead of "Aeroplane". Very curious.

I'm not ready to write these guys off. They've survived more than their fair share of VH-1 Behind The Music-moments. The bonus tunes added here, "Fortune Faded" especially, hint at future possibilities. We'll see. Maybe they've got another Blood Sugar Sex Magik in 'em.

The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The "Royal Albert Hall Concert"

Just a little while ago, I related my experience at the local EvilStarbucks cafe located inside of the local EvilBarnesandNoble. It was weird, and a little depressing.

Yea, well last night I'm thumbing through the newspaper's Arts insert and I come across an ad for an upcoming performance of a native New Hampshire singer/songwriter. He'll be playing at some place called "Blackbird Books & Cafe". I stared at this ad for a good minute or so. Yep, it's a bookstore. Yep, it's a cafe. Yep, it's in my town. I was not hallucinating.

The wife comes home not long after this and I show her the ad. Her response was, "I'll get my coat".

It's everything we could ask for (speaking as true book-a-holics). I picked up Arundati Roy's God Of Small Things (which has been on my "to be read" list since last summer), and the Bob Dylan bio Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisted. Took 'em home, popped in the second disc of the Zabriskie Point soundtrack, and had myself a good time.

As Mike Meyers' Dieter character used to say, "I'm as happy as a little girl".

The brilliant rock guitarist, satirist, composer and music curmudgeon passed away ten years ago today.

I still miss him...and I'd love to hear his take on the state of today's music scene/industry/mess.

You never know what you're gonna get on a Tzadik record. Klezmer-meets-Ornette Coleman? Pure improvisational avant-garde noise? Film music? A postmodern update of Fiddler On The Roof?

This project is the collaborative effort of composer/performers Dafna Naphtali & Kitty Brazelton. There's a nice parallel here between label head John Zorn's jump cut style (check out the first Naked City release) and the bizarre sound pairings created on What Is It Like To Be A Bat?

As they say on their website:

"...on a montage of extremes: textures hard/soft, noises white/red, harmony rooted/disembodied, silence"

Both performers sing, play guitar (or bass) and employ various computer-related boxes. Third (and crucial, I think) group member Danny Tunick plays drums/percussion and also samples the living bejesus out of everything. Just to give you an idea of what this stuff sounds like: the first track begins with a kinda funny vocal howl...going into some industrial rock...followed by a little ambient bit...then silence...then industrial...repeat. The second track sounds like the Roches on acid. The third, Praxis run through the computer blender. Track four constructs a jazz riff out of a voice/guitar pairing. Number five is purely ambient, with lots of layered, processed voices.

Somehow this all ends up being far more organic (and sexy!) then you can imagine. That's probably due to the incredibly beautiful voices of Naphtali and Brazelton. They can go from hair-raising screams back down to a sensual whisper to operatic trills.

Wanna expand your musical horizons?...or clear the room? Check this one out.

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