Music

[Bartender]

This subject is mentioned quite often within this forum, so I though I’d express a few of my opinions. Obviously we all have different tastes (fortunately). I was in the mood for rhythm and blues. I started out with Big Joe Turner and his ballad: After a While. After which I moved on to Fats Domino. There are great similarities between these two gentlemen, especially their ability to carry a tune with ease and a relaxed, carefree sense of power and jovial kind of self-assurance.

[Tea]

For some reason I seem to have got out of the habit of listening to music lately. I hardly ever put music on anymore, and when I do it often bugs me so I turn it down. I can't concentrate properly with all that noise going on. Even classical music does that to me these days.

But I did happen to put on a very old recording the other day: a best of, and the band was Cream. Most of it was the predictable stuff, but there are two or three tracks where EC gets to mellow out and play some proper blues. God damn it, that man was a genius! There is something very, very special about the way Clapton plays blues guitar, something indefinable that lifts his playing out of the "very competent but ordinary" category in to the "sheer bliss" class.

You know, I think EC is simply the best blues player that ever lived. But, of course, I never heard Robert Johnson.

[Mercutio]

I'm normally the type who comes home, turns a stereo on and does not shut it off until it's time to sleep. Lately I haven't listened to much of my music, though.

I've been listening to some of the music Amy has always liked. I have a bit of a hard time understanding pop vocals, but I'm straining to get through her collection. I don't much care for the music but there is a great deal of insight as to her feelings to be found in some of the lyrics.

[Prof.Wizard]

James Last rulez, Bartender, thanx! :wink:

[time]

You know, I think EC is simply the best blues player that ever lived. But, of course, I never heard Robert Johnson.
Hmmm, I think that's pushing it. EC is the best EC-style player that ever lived, but there are plenty of others with more blues in their soul.

In electric blues, Hendrix was obviously a standout, but then he excelled at every style he cared to try. Red House is a modern blues classic (which he also wrote).

In my opinion though, the best electric blues player was Roy Buchanan. You can feel the pathos in every note. It's tragic that his work is fading into obscurity. For anyone wanting an introduction, look for his rendition of Hey Joe. It's a knockout.

[Tea]

Hendrix and Roy Buchanan. Yes. Wondorful guitarists both. But hardly bluesmen. Unless you want to take a definition of blues that is so wide that it is almost meaningless. Or alternatively, unless Buchanan's later work was rather differenbt to the stuff that I'm familiar with.

I used to love Roy Buchanan's stuff. Thankyou for reminding me of him. I wonder if I still have a recording anywhere? Doubt it.

[time]

I really don't think I need to even bother defending Hendrix's status as a blues player. Go and check other people's opinions. :P

[flagreen]

Isn't "Blues" short for "Rhythm and Blues"? I believe that's where R&R has it's roots but I could be wrong. I know I've heard not only Hendrix play what I would call "Blues" but also Slow Hand and even Bill Wyman (SP?). OK so the last two are white. But as I heard The Giver say once, "They're blue eyed and pale but they sure can wail".

[Bartender]

James Last rulez, Bartender, thanx! :wink:

I don't know which songs you are listening to, but the albums I prefer are: James Last - Russland Zwischen Tag und Nacht, James Last - Kaept'n James bittet zum Tanz, James Last - Polka Party, and James Last - Sing mit 4. Unfortunately, the last album was only compiled and recorded as an 8-track tape, and has hence been worn out (if only I could find a remastered version on CD). There are other good albums from James Last, such as Fiesta Tropical and Party Power. The music appeals to me because I used to dance to it (polka, waltz, foxtrot).

James Last is a bit old now, and his band doesn't seem to have the same feeling as it once did, but he is still good to listen to.

[Bartender]

Isn't "Blues" short for "Rhythm and Blues"? I believe that's where R&R has it's roots but I could be wrong. I know I've heard not only Hendrix play what I would call "Blues" but also Slow Hand and even Bill Wyman (SP?). OK so the last two are white. But as I heard The Giver say once, "They're blue eyed and pale but they sure can wail".

Flagreen, I'm sure you meant R&B. When I saw you mention "wail", I thought of Louis Prima - many of his songs have great rhythm.

[time]

Continuing the blues theme, I'd like to recommend the "Mr Lucky" album from John Lee Hooker. It's a collaboration involving Albert Collins, Ry Cooder, Robert Cray, John Hammond, Johnnie Johnson, Booker T Jones, Van Morrison, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana and Johnny Winter.

It's not really a blues album, but it's a lot more accessible than purist blues, and it's hard for JLH to completely abandon his roots. :) And all those people bring such a spectrum of different colors to each song.

[Prof.Wizard]

James Last is a bit old now, and his band doesn't seem to have the same feeling as it once did, but he is still good to listen to.
Don't worry, it's the kind of music I wanna here after a long day of studying maladies... :D

[flagreen]

Isn't "Blues" short for "Rhythm and Blues"? I believe that's where R&R has it's roots but I could be wrong. I know I've heard not only Hendrix play what I would call "Blues" but also Slow Hand and even Bill Wyman (SP?). OK so the last two are white. But as I heard The Giver say once, "They're blue eyed and pale but they sure can wail".

Flagreen, I'm sure you meant R&B. When I saw you mention "wail", I thought of Louis Prima - many of his songs have great rhythm.
Actually I did mean Rock and Roll. But I don't know enough about music aside from what I like and dislike to say so. I'm not a fan of J L Hooker though I like his brand of music in general. I just don't care for his vocals or guitar playing. Not that I can do either. Keith Richards (actually when I said Bill Wyman above I was thinking of Richards) is very talented though as are the rest of the people time mentions. Clapton in particular is an excellent R&B man. Van Morrison is also one of my favorites.

[P5-133XL]

I have to admit that I definately have music opinions. I was brought up on Alice Cooper and what, at the time, was considered hard rock. I have gone through periods that I listen solely to classical, jazz, New-age, Techno, POP, and my current kick is, disgustingly, country (specificly female). I find as I get older, the less appeal anything hard and discourdant has to me. I detest hip-hop, loud fighting guitars, and rap.

[flagreen]

I used to detest country music when I was young. It has changed so much in the last 4 or 5 years though. I like some of the latest female C&W stars now although I don't listen to it much. And where do they find all these gorgeous women in Country these days? Every time I flip through the channels I'll spot a new as I pass the Country MTV station (or whatever it is) and stop to listen and watch. They sing with heart which I enjoy which I enjoy very much. That seems to missing from Pop these days.

[flagreen]

I'm not stuttering that's obviously a typo in the second to last sentence.

[James]

I thought your needle had hit a scratch in your record.

[time]

... my current kick is, disgustingly, country (specificly female).
That would be Shania, Mark? :wink:

Do you consider Shawn Mullins 'country'?

[time]

Hmmm, I hope that last post doesn't come across as cynical, because it's not meant to. I like Shania Twain and Shawn Mullins. That's why I'm asking. :oops:

[Prof.Wizard]

Shania Twain is gorgeous! :drl:

BTW, I thought she was Canadian...

[Bartender]

Isn't "Blues" short for "Rhythm and Blues"? I believe that's where R&R has it's roots but I could be wrong. I know I've heard not only Hendrix play what I would call "Blues" but also Slow Hand and even Bill Wyman (SP?). OK so the last two are white. But as I heard The Giver say once, "They're blue eyed and pale but they sure can wail".

Flagreen, I'm sure you meant R&B. When I saw you mention "wail", I thought of Louis Prima - many of his songs have great rhythm.
Actually I did mean Rock and Roll. But I don't know enough about music aside from what I like and dislike to say so. I'm not a fan of J L Hooker though I like his brand of music in general. I just don't care for his vocals or guitar playing. Not that I can do either. Keith Richards (actually when I said Bill Wyman above I was thinking of Richards) is very talented though as are the rest of the people time mentions. Clapton in particular is an excellent R&B man. Van Morrison is also one of my favorites.

You are right Flagreen, Rock & Roll does have its roots in R&B - they just took the rhythm section and ran! Elvis, Bill Haley, Johnny and the Hurricanes – great music from that era.

[Corvair]

I really don't think I need to even bother defending Hendrix's status as a blues player. Go and check other people's opinions. :P

Hendrix was without a doubt GREAT, but you'd be surprised just how much he "borrowed" from other electric guitarists before him. A short list of people Hendrix borrowed ideas / sounds / styles from would be: Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy, Albert King, Son House, Blind Willie McTell -- even Pete Townshend (guitar/amp smashing). What a lot of people miss is that Hendrix was also an excellent record producer.

[Corvair]

Isn't "Blues" short for "Rhythm and Blues"?...

uhhhh... NO!



...Keith Richards (actually when I said Bill Wyman above I was thinking of Richards) is very talented though as are the rest of the people time mentions...

Forget Keef. He's certainly good, but the best guitar player the Rolling Stones ever had was Mick Taylor. He was a member of the Rolling Stones from about 1969 ~ 1974.

[adriel]

I don't know anything about that rhythm and blues stuff, but if it is recorded well I can stand it. I usually close my eyes and concentrate when I listen to music so that I become part of it.

Currently, I've got these rotating in and out:

Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow
Blümchen
Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On
Chicane - Behind The Sun
Digable Planets - Reachin'
Eva Cassidy - Live At Blues Alley
Maná - Unplugged
My Fair Lady (SACD)

[Prof.Wizard]

Chicane - Behind The Sun

Maná - Unplugged

These two are pretty good! :wink:

[Corvair]

I don't know anything about that rhythm and blues stuff, but if it is recorded well I can stand it...


I rarely ever listen to blues music and basically never listen to R&B music. It's not that I hate any of these musicforms, it's just that I have little interest in them. I used to follow blues music a bit on and off a fairly long time ago (back in the late '60s), and I've seen a number of bona fide blues legends play live that are no longer with us now, such as Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Albert King.

[The Grammar Police]

Keef often used to be regarded as "the best rhythm guitarist in the world". So far as rock and roll goes, I'd find that claim pretty difficult to argue with. But if you are looking for the sort of lead guitar that makes your heart alternately sing and cry, then Mick Taylor was indeed the man.

I saw him live once, in a pickup band that toured here. Members, as I recall, were: John Mayal (sp), Mick Taylor, Mick Fleetwood and Steve McVie (i.e., the Fleetwood and "Mac" from Fleetwood Mac), and one other equally famous player. Was it Stevie Winwood? No. Can't remember.

But it was, alas, a great disappointment. There were five champion musicians, and they didn't put a note out of place. But as a band, they just didn't spark together. It was boring.

It was one of the most dissapointing concerts I have ever been to. But in hindsight I had unrealistic expectations. They were, after all, just a pickup band. And even musicians of their calibre need to play together a while and develop a spirit and a unique direction. I would have been better to go watch five unknown local kids with a dream and a vision of their own, five kids for whom playing a ~300 seat venue was a career-best event, not just a way to pay the rent.

But sometime I put on one of those mid-period Stones albums from the Seventies, close my eyes, and ....

He was the man.

[James]

Who'd have thought the Grammar Police would be so musical?

[The Grammar Police]

Music and grammar are very similar, I think.

(That is, of course, in my off-duty moments. While on duty I am naturally required not to think, but merely enforce the rules of correct English in as mindless and rigid a manner as possible.)

Do music and grammar not share a very similar underlying structure? A structure of many rules which are only rarely made explicit, or taught in a formal and organised manner. In both music and language the finest artists of any age are (generally speaking) superbly schooled in the rules that govern their chosen medium, are able to follow these rules almost without effort or conscious thought, and able to break them or re-cast them in new and creative ways. Consider Jimi Hendrix on the one hand, Dylan Thomas on the other.

Even if one chooses to restrict oneself to more-or-less complete compliance with the rules and structures as they stand, a true master in either field is not constrained to produce mere repetitious, rule-bound parroting. Consider Buddy Holly on the one hand, Winston Churchill on the other.

The structure of both language and music is remarkably well defined and surprisingly restrictive. From time to time composers and poets seek to lash out in glorious rebellion against the rules, all rules and usually produce a single inspired piece or two before they either lapse into well-deserved obscurity (consider 'most any forgotten radical poet on the one hand) or else erect themselves a new and equally restrictive but different set of rules (consider Schonberg on the other - or Johnny Rotten if you prefer).

I often wonder if the human flair for music is not very closely related to the human gift for language, in both evolutionary and psychological terms. The peculiar and distinctive type of "intuitive reasoning" (if I can coin that term for it) that one uses to construct a complex sentence or to improvise a bass line seem to me very similar.

But excuse me, I think my coffee break is over. Alas for he that has only one red pen, but a million punctuation errors to correct!

[time]

This may surprise or even alarm you, but I'm rather impressed with Malcolm Young as a rhythm guitarist. I realize the genre is somewhat limited, but the tightness of his playing and sense of rhythm are probably unsurpassed.

At the end of the day, he is the engine room of AC/DC, a band somewhat renowned for its strong rhythmic style. It's interesting to note that he has always been an accomplished lead guitarist as well, but has usually yielded the spotlight to his little brother Angus.

I went to college with a guy who thought Keef was the greatest guitarist ever. He nearly cried when he discovered his favourite RS leads were by Mick Taylor or Ronnie Wood. :)

But seriously, Keef is great. His contribution to the album I mentioned is one of my favourite tracks.

However, how many here reckon the Stones owe their fame and fortune to one Brian Jones, deceased?

[flagreen]

The best concert I was fortunate enough to attend was the Allman Brothers in Las Cruces N.M. in '71. Duane Allman & Dickie Betts playing guitar together were phenomenal. Best of all they played for hours until they were played out. No time schedual BS.

[Tannin]

Time is "rather impressed with Malcolm Young as a rhythm guitarist". Yes, I agree. Also, the guy from the Angels, though I can't remember his name. To me, that's half the secret of lifting a band out of the mediochre catogery: getting a really good sound in the first place, and then letting things build from there. I hesitate to admit this, but it is true: I still get a shiver down my spine when I hear the opening chords to "Take a Long Line".

Showing my age, I guess.

[time]

I dunno about that. My daughter was desperately seeking 'study music' a few days ago, and demanded punk or similar. I scratched around and came up with Radio Birdman (self titled) and The Angels - Face to Face.

She liked it a lot. But then The Angels were always before their time. In hindsight, it's hard to believe a band was producing this sort of music circa 1977.

Surely they were the quintessential Oz band, and therefore barely understood anywhere else?

This site (http://www.lastbandit.com/angels.html) came up on Google if anyone's interested.

As ever, excellent taste, Tannin. 8)

[Cliptin]

My daughter...

Age?
I'm not surprisd kids who may have never heard music played from the heart go looking for it. Most music today is crap.

[Cliptin]

I purchased a Who box set that I've been listening to for the last few days, "Thirty Years of Maximum R&B". 79 songs on 4 CDs. Quite a few of the songs I've never heard before give me the goose bumps.

[Tannin]

Ahh, how could I have forgotten Radio Birdman? Well do I remember reading some half-brained gig review in Juke or RAM or one of those rags I tremble to admit I used to consumme assidously as a younger man, and - seeing as I spent every spare penny on records in those days - figuring I'd give this unheard-of Sydney band a try: Radio Birdman, Radios Appear. One of the best $6.95 I've ever spent.

I should still have it somewhere about the place. Maybe. But it motivated me to go looking for The Hand of Law. Didn't find it, but I found this page (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/birdmanpage/JukeBox.htm) and relived Murder City Nights ('lived?' 'murder?" - whatever). Alas, it's a poor recording of a poor live performance, perhaps some of the other tracks hosted there are better.

(Note to mods: this, believe it or not, is the very first MP3 I have ever downloaded from the net. Oh, except for some bird calls. It seems to be public enough so I presume it's legal, but if not, please mutilate my URL suitably. I have no idea about this stuff. In general, the music I'm interested in these days has no copyright. Mozart has been deal a long while now.)

ALLRIGHT!!!! I just finished downloading Descent Into The Maelstrom (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/birdmanpage/Mp3/RadioBirdman.mp3), the one and only studio recording listed on that page. Much more like it. Apparently it's a 1995 digital remaster of the original 1976ish track from Radios Appear. Remaster? Or a different recording? Sounds more like the latter: I could swear the lead guitar is different (and inferior). Also, unless it's my ordinary-quality sound rig that's playing tricks on me, the mix is pox. It seems more spacious, more open, more accessible to the casual ear - and it's lost that vital key to any serious headbanging piece: the driving rhythm guitar that hammers at your brain until it turns to custard and dribbles out your ears.

Idiot! Good God! Do you play a Mozart serenade with a 105-man orchestra? Do you play Bach on electric guitar and Moog synthesiser? Do you try for a nice, clean, professional sound with strings and girl singers in the background when you do a digital remaster of Pretty Vacant? Seems to me like some moron in the booth tried to make the Birdman sound like a 90s band. Still, it's better than nothing.

[Tea]

Hey you old farts! Not every young person has had their musical taste destroyed, you know. I might be only seven (or is it three - I forget) but I like Buddy Holly a lot. Also the Beach Boys, Santana, Lynyard Skynard, and I even dragged out some of Tannin's old Dave Warner's From the Suburbs recordings. Sixties and Seventies music rocks!

PS: And my friend Kristi is 21 but she has never heard of any of these crap modern bands. She listens to The Who, the Stones, Bob Dylan, Led Zepplin, all that stuff, She's no dummy.

[Tea]

By the way, that Cream recording of Tannin's I mentioned right up near the top of the thread. I happened to play it because it happened to be laying around on top of a pile. A bit later on I happened to wonder what it was doing on top of the pile, and Kristi told me that she had forgotten to put it away after getting it out to make a strictly-legitimate-personal-backup-copy of it.

But then, Kristi never remembers to put anything away. It's lucky Tannin is around, otherwise we would be totally disorganised.

[Tannin]

Ahhh. It's about time you stood up for yourself.

[The Grammar Police]

You are right, Tannin. There is no doubt: it's a different recording, and an inferior one at that. It sounds to me like a band that is drugged out or shagged out or just pissed off and bored: they are trying to do different things, trying to recapture a feel, but it just doesn't hang together properly. The original recording was crafted - yes even chaos such as the Birdman explore requires supreme craftsmanship to express itself properly; indeed, sometimes I think it requires more paitence and restraint and finesse to portray serious frustration and anger than it does to produce a song about some more gentle topic.

By the way, you split an infinitive in your last post but one. Please pay more attention in future.

[timwhit]

I purchased a Who box set that I've been listening to for the last few days, "Thirty Years of Maximum R&B". 79 songs on 4 CDs. Quite a few of the songs I've never heard before give me the goose bumps.

The Who is coming to Chicago in August...if I have enough money I will go scalp some tickets and see them. Can't pass up seeing a group as good as The Who...

Oh ya and Rush is coming here in July...can't miss that either.

[Koggit]

Listen to this (www.penguinhosting.net/~koggit/mrbrown.mp3) while watching Gir. Perhaps I'm easily amused, but I was mesmerized for a full 5 minutes. Seriously.

http://www.penguinhosting.net/~koggit/girdance.gif

[Mercutio]

..."Bach on electric guitar and Moog synthesizer"...


So you've not heard the William/Wendy Carlos (don't ask) recordings of the Well-tempered Klavier on a Moog, then?

It's pretty remarkable. I mean, an organ is hard enough to play on its own, but have you ever seen a Moog?

[Mercutio]

Personally, I'm looking forward to the premier of Galileo Galilei - the new Philip Glass opera - in Chicago. Next week, actually. My ticket (geez I'm a loser) is for the 25th, the day after the opening.

[Onomatopoeic]

...She liked it a lot. But then The Angels were always before their time. In hindsight, it's hard to believe a band was producing this sort of music circa 1977.

Surely they were the quintessential Oz band, and therefore barely understood anywhere else?...

I guess not, cuz not even the all-knowing I has heard of "The Angels," which I'm sure is not the same as the crappy early '80s glitterrock metal band called Angel -- the one that Frank Zappa made fun of on "Sheik Yerboutti" (I believe it was that FZ album). There was a band called the Comsat Angels that I like slightly back in the early 1980s.

As far as obscure or semi-obscure Australian bands that I've actually seen live, I saw in 1975 as an opener for uh... Styx and or was it Foghat or... anyway, the Aussie band was called The Skyhooks. They were sort of a NY Dolls meets Bowie act; not very good at all. The other Aussie band on my list that I saw live once was the early punkrock band called The Saints. That was 1979 or '80.

[Onomatopoeic]

..."Bach on electric guitar and Moog synthesizer"...


So you've not heard the William/Wendy Carlos (don't ask) recordings of the Well-tempered Klavier on a Moog, then?

It's pretty remarkable. I mean, an organ is hard enough to play on its own, but have you ever seen a Moog?

>> William/Wendy Carlos (don't ask)
...that would actually be Walter / Wendy


Carlos' best is probably "Sonic Seasons."

[Mercutio]

My bad! I knew better, too.

Her Web Page (http://www.wendycarlos.com/gosurround.html) has some pretty interesting things to say about surround sound and speaker placement, by the way.

[The Grammar Police]

Quite so Onomatopoeic. The Angels had nothing to do with the American band of the same name. This is why they became "Angel City" in the USA, a market they had very little success in.

The Skyhooks were anything but obscure! They remain today the most famous and significant Australian band of all time - far more so than AC/DC or The Little River Band, or Air Supply or the Bee Gees or anyone else.

Why do I say this? Several reasons, but two stand out. First, they were the first band ever to break the longstanding Australian tradition of being a poor-man's home-grown imitation of an overseas band or artist and actually make money. Plenty of bands had written their own material before, of course, and quite a few had a distinctly Australian feel and content. But never before had any of them been a commercial success. The Hooks were the first and greatest of the successful Australian bands to actually be successful playing songs written in Australia abut Australia.

Secondly, they were incredibly successful. It is impossible to imagine the sumer of '75 without hearing Horror Movie or (when the sun sets over) Carlton, and equally ludicrous to picture the summer of '76 if not to the sound of Balwyn Calling. Those guys were huge. Last time I checked, the two best-selling Australian albums of all time were Living in the Seventies and Ego is not a Dirty Word - the first two Hooks albums.

Actual merit? That's a difficult one to call. The Hooks lived in that odd limbo in between pure commercial schlock on the one hand and genuine music on the other - like, say, 10 CC or Supertramp or perhaps even David Bowie. Their brief flirtation with makeup and stupid costumes tended to push them towards the former category and made them the darling of the teenie-bopper set, the quality of their material, their tightness and originality, and the delightfully quirky, understated lead guitar of Red Symonds spoke for the opposite case.

They were the quintessential Australian band, and their only real mistake was to take that tour of the USA - a market that they were never going to be understood by or successful in.

The Saints, on the other hand, were classic what you see is what you get. In their own way, they were excellent, and true pioneers of Punk - one of the very, very few bands to be playing punk before the English summer of '77 when the Pistols came to prominence.

[Pradeep]

This week it's the soundtrack to Shrek.

[time]

...Dave Warner's From the Suburbs...
You're kidding! I was a huge fan of Dave Warner.

Maybe we share so much common music because there really isn't much Oz music in the overall scheme of things? :wink:

I can understand why Skyhooks would go down badly in the US. To be fair, I'm not sure their live performances were always up to snuff, but both the lyrics and music would be largely incomprehensible in terms of US culture.


The Who is coming to Chicago in August
With or without Pete Townshend? You can count on Roger Daltrey to always give 110%, but last time I saw him he was accompanied by Pete's brother.

[Cliptin]

With or without Pete Townshend? You can count on Roger Daltrey to always give 110%, but last time I saw him he was accompanied by Pete's brother.

It'll never be the same with out Moonie. I really wish I could have been able to see a Who show live at the height of their fury. This is actually saying quite a bit because I mostly don't like live music. I place a lot of importance in hearing and understanding the lyrics and what the artist is trying to say. It's hard to get that at a live show.

The only other bands I would be interested in seeing live would be Rush and U2. U2 because I already know all of the words; and Rush because I already know it's not about the words. Pretty much like going to a Phish concert to listen to the words.

[timwhit]

Cliptin, Rush is touring this summer. I plan on seeing them if I can find someone to go with me. They are playing 4 miles from my house....

[Tannin]

Tea has the right of it, Time. I was a dedicated Dave Warner fan in the late Seventies. I saw the band live maybe six or seven times, bought the "official bootleg" tapes, the whole deal. I still have a lapel button.

Now you won't need reminding of this, but some of our temporally and/or geographically challenged members will. Back in '76 and '77, Dave Warner's From the Suburbs was an underground phenomenon. Great crowds everywhere they went, rave reviews ... and no record contract. Not one single record company was game to sign them. This wasn't the usual "I don't think these guys will sell enough records", nor even "what if they spit on the producer and trash the studio?" it was that no record company was brave enough to sign a band that openly despised TV shows like GTK and Countdown, and played no-holds-barred music with a lyrical content that was, not to put too fine a point on it, profane, irreverant, libelous, and (worst of all) very true.

I mean, what do you make of the following little gem:

Girls wank
So do the interviewers at GTK
They yank
They tug the best years of their lives away
(various and assorted other slander follows)

"Ahem... There, Mr Warner, goes our last chance of ever promoting you on TV" (says the record company executive).

Anyway, the band eventually recorded themselves live at a couple of Perth pubs and made the tapes available as "official bootlegs". Cassette tape or nuffin - there were no CDs in those days. I bought the three tapes and treasured them. I don't think I have ever heard such raw energy and such an extraordinary mix of talents. And this was not your mindless Sex Pistols/MC5 sort of brain-dead aggro-thrash. No: it was loud, it was rough, but it had structure and intelligence, and you could always hear Dave's incisive, irreverant words, stripping away the pretensions of the beautiful people.

Years later, in a press interview, he said: "The key element that rock'n'roll performances have, when they are working well, is this huge exchange of energy between the audience and the band. This raw energy you are putting out provokes an incredible response from the audience, and they start to go off their heads, which in turned spurs you to greater heights."

He should know: live those guys were awesome. Yes, boring old Tannin has been off his head at Dave Warner concerts several times. And those dreadful official bootleg tapes captured the whole experience wonderfully. Dreadful sound quality, but an immediacy you could cut with a knife.

Alas, some years later I'd taken them to work and some bastard broke into my locker and stole them. By this time they had toned down a little, or perhaps the music industry had grown up a bit and society had become more tolerant, and Mushroom Records had signed them to a contract. (Same record company that signed the Hooks, by the way: by this time Mushroom were swimming in Skyhooks money and were the power in Australian music. They could pretty much do as they liked.) This meant two things: (a) you could now buy Mug's Game on proper vinyl at any ordinary record shop, and (b) the bootleg tapes were no longer available. I bought Mug's Game, of course, but it had nothing like the power of the bootlegs. Most of it was studio recorded, and this was one band that just had to be live to work.

It's been years since I thought about Dave Warner's music now, but you have reminded me, Time. (Or was it Tea that brought Dave Warner up? Whatever.) At lunchtime just now I disd a search and turned up www.davewarner.com.au Whats more, they have a double CD that claims to be more or less the original bootleg tapes! Hoolie Doolie! I wrote a cheque for $50 on the spot. Guess I'll get it in the mail next week sometime.

I wonder if, 25 years after the event, I'll still like it?

Watch this space.

[GIANT]

The Suburbs... heehee. BTW, I'm thinking of an American band called the Suburbs. Oh well, I don't recall them very well other than seeing a few records by them about 15 years ago or so.

However, I actually saw once (1980-ish, maybe) a sort-of cutsie punk-rock outfit from LosAngeles with a girl singer called The Suburban Lawns, and I occasionally still hear a track of theirs on one of the couple of fine local radio stations that we have here -- a track called "Gidget Goes to Hell."

Mushroom Records: Yes, I had maybe 2 Australian LPs (vinyl) aeons ago that were on the Mushroom label, but I'm still trying to recall what the hell they were at the moment. I also had a few LPs on Albert Productions aeons ago as well (the first 2 or 3 AC/DC albums). I believe I also had an LP from a band called Mythos, which could've been one of those on Mushroom Records.

Let's see, these days I actually have several Australian pressed CDs, and these might be some that even YOU Mr. Teadrinker aren't familiar with (just a conjecture, of course!): Mo Boma, Shinjuku Thief, Paul Schütze, Lights In A Fat City, Pieter Bourke, and probably a couple of more artists.

[Tannin]

If it's on CD, Giant, you may be very confident that I have not heard of it! Mine was the era of the black vinyl, the cassette tape and even, dare I say it, the eight track cartridge. Not that I ever stooped to that singlar horror, of course, but I was around when it was around. I can only assume that the whole world would join me in thanking the Good Lord that I have lasted quite a few years longer than it did.

[GIANT]

As far as vinyl goes, I sold all of mine back around 1982/3 through about 4 auctions. I was anticipating getting most of the recordings that I was still interested in re-obtaining at a later point in time on Compact Disc. Yes, it was a fairly big gamble, but *most* of what I wanted eventually did get reissued on CD.


OK Tannin, here's a list of recording artists/groups that I have managed to collect over time on CD -- don't squint too hard now :cry: :

[list:d1df650519] 10CC, Älgarnas Trädgård, +N, A Small Good Thing, AFX, John Abercrombie, Agitation Free, Alison's Halo, Daevid Allen,Almost Digital, Amon Düül II, Amorphous Androgynous, Amp, Ian Anderson, Jon Anderson, Rob Angus, Aphex Twin, Arecibo, Ash Ra Tempel, Dr. Atmo, Atom Heart, Atomu Shinzo, Autechre, Baked Beans, Banco De Gaia, Syd Barrett, Bauhaus, Peter Baumann, Stevie Be Zet, David Bedford, Bedouin Acsent, Peter Benisch, James Bernard, Heidi Berry, Between, Bevis Frond, Biosphere, Bitniks, Black Dog, Tim Blake, Blue Cheer, Brainticket, Branca, Breeders, Michael Brook, Steve Brown, Harold Budd, Cabaret Voltaire, John Cage, Can, Lisa Carbon, Wendy Carlos, Caustic Window, Centipede, Chapterhouse, Chris & Cosey, The Clash, Cluster, Billy Cobham, Cocteau Twins, Bill Connors, Control X, Cosmic Jokers, The Cult, Culturcide, David Cunningham, The Cure, Holger Czukay, The Damned, David Darling, Datacide, Miles Davis, Dead Can Dance, Deep Space Network, Delerium, Deuter, Al DiMeola, Dif Juz, Disjecta, Djam Karet, Doctor Rockit, Dome, Doors, Durutti Column, Dzyan, Earth To Infinity, Einstürzende Neubauten, Electric Prunes, The Enid, Enigma, Brian Eno, Escape Tank, FFWD, FM, Facil, Jad Fair, Fanger & Siebert, Faust, Thomas Fehlmann, Felt, Flowchart, Flying Saucer Attack, Kim Fowley, Fripp & Eno, Robert Fripp, Edgar Froese, Future Sound Of London, Führs & Fröhling, Peter Gabriel, Jan Garbarek, Gas, Ptrick Gauthier, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Lisa Gerrard, Gila, Giles/Giles/Fripp, Gilgamesh, Gilles Zeitschiff, Egberto Gismonti, Global Communication, Godley & Creme, Sergius Golowin, Gong, Jean Philippe Goude, Peter Green, Jeff Greinke, Friedrich Gulda, Trilok Gurtu, Manuel Göttsching, Steve Hackett, Half Japanese, Peter Michael Hamel, Peter Hammill, Herbie Hancock, Harmonia, Hart/Wolff/Hennings, Jon Hassell, Hawkwind, Graham Haynes, Heavenly Music Corporation, Heldon, Jimi Hendrix, Henry Cow, Higher Intelligence Agency, Ralf Hildenbeutel, Steve Hillage, Michael Hoenig, Dave Holland, Haruomi Hosono, Steve Howe, Human Mesh Dance, Zakir Hussain, Hüsker Dü, In The Nursery, Tetsu Inoue, Intermix, International People's Gang, Jade Warrior, Jandek, Japan, Keith Jarrett, Joy Division, KLF, Edward Ka-Spel, Ingrid Karklins, Kid Spatula, Killdozer, Killing Joke, Jin Hi Kim, King Crimson, Danny Kirwan, Kraftwerk, Thomas Köner, Land, Laraaji, Lard Free, Bill Laswell, Thomas Leer & Robert Rental, Lejeune, Becker Lenhoff, Oliver Lieb, Lights In A Fat City, Love Sculpture, Love Spirals Downwards, Loveliescrushing, Lush, Lustmord, MC5, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Main, Steve Mallinder, Phil Manzanera, Marscape, Nick Mason, Masters Of Psychedelic Ambiance, Matching Mole, Material, Mauve Sideshow, McLaughlin/Santana Band, Chris Meloche, Pat Metheny, Miasma, Mike & Rich, Minus Infinity, Mir, Miranda Sex Garden, Mixmaster Morris, Mo Boma, Dieter Moebius, Meredith Monk, David Moufang, Movietone, Mu-Ziq, Muslimgauze, Robert Musso, My Bloody Valentine, Mysteries Of Science, Mythos, Pete Namlook, Bill Nelson, Neu !, Neutron 9000, james Newton, Nico, Pieter Nooten & Michael Brook, Ken Nordine, O Yuki Conjugate, Vidna Obmana, Mike Oldfield, Om, Omicron, Orange Cake Mix, The Orb, Jochem Paap, Pale Saints, Irene Papas, Passport, Daniel Pemberton, Jean Jacques Perrey, Barre Phillips, Photek, Richard Pinhas, Pink Floyd, Pino & Wildjammin, The Pixies, Polygon Window, Popol Vuh, Propeller Island, Public Image Ltd., Qubism, Quiet Sun, Ramases, Rapoon, Really Red, Red Crayola, Red Crayola/Art And Language, Red Krayola, Redeye, David Reeves, Achim Reichel, Vini Reilly, Graeme Revell, Jorge Reyes, Rhythm And Irrelevance, Robert Rich, Ride, Steve Roach, Roedelius, Rolling Stones, Michael Rother, Roxy Music, Terje Rypdal, Sacred System, Saddar Bazaar, Oskar Sala, Santana, Scala, Irmin Schmidt, Conrad Schnitzler, Eberhard Schoener, C. Schulz, Klaus Schulze, Paul Schütze, Seed, Seefeel, Seti, Adham Shaikh, Shakti With John McLaughlin, Jonah Sharp, Djen Ajakan Shean, Peter Sinfield, Single Cell Orchestra, Slapphappy, Jake Slazenger, Slowdive, Snowpony, Soft Machine, Victor Sol, Solitaire, Somma, Spacecraft, Spacetime Continuum, Spice Barons, Spicelab, Laurie Spiegel, Spyra, Chris Squire, Stars Of The Lid, Steeple Of Fyre, Stereolab, Stoa, Karlheinz Stockhausen, The Stooges, Andy Summers & Robert Fripp, Sun Electric, Sun Ra, Super Secret Orchestra, Superficial Depth, Surgeon, John Surman, David Sylvian, Synergy, TUU, Talking Heads, Tangerine Dream, Martin Taylor, Tele:Funken, Terrace Of Memories, Thirteenth Floor Elevators, This Mortal Coil, Mayo Thompson, Three Day Stubble, Steve Tibbetts, David Torn, Ralph Towner, Transient Waves, Trial Of The Bow, Robin Trower, Tube Bar, Tuxedomoon, U.K., Ultravox, Un Drame Musical Instantané, Undark, Uzect Plaush, Van Der Graaf Generator, Vangelis, Suzanne Vega, Velvet Underground, Massimo Vivona & Bela Cox, Voice Of Eye, Collin Walcott, Warsaw, Chris Watson, Weather Report, White Noise, Windy & Carl, Wire, Jah Wobble, Woob, Dominic Woosey, Richard Wright, Robert Wyatt, XTC, Xymox, Yatha Sidhra, Yes, Young Marble Giants, ZNR, Joe Zawinul, John Zorn. [/list:u:d1df650519]

[Tannin]

:)

And here is a list of of the recording artists/groups that GIANT has managed to collect over time on CD that I have heard of!

10CC, Ian Anderson, Jon Anderson, Syd Barrett, Bauhaus, The Clash, The Cult, The Cure, The Damned, Miles Davis, Al DiMeola, Doors, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Godley & Creme, Peter Green, Herbie Hancock, Hawkwind, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Howe, Keith Jarrett, Joy Division, King Crimson, Kraftwerk, MC5, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Phil Manzanera, Nick Mason, McLaughlin/Santana Band, Nico, , Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd, Public Image Ltd., Rolling Stones, Roxy Music, Santana, Shakti With John McLaughlin, Soft Machine, Chris Squire, The Stooges, Talking Heads, Tangerine Dream, Robin Trower, Ultravox, Van Der Graaf Generator, Vangelis, Suzanne Vega, Velvet Underground, Weather Report, Yes.

Does that date me?

[GIANT]

And here is a list of of the recording artists/groups that GIANT has managed to collect over time on CD that I have heard of! [***LIST***] Does that date me? YES, (Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman, White) I THINK IT COULD. 8)


OK, now from that list of Tannin-recognisable artists/groups, these are the one that I've seen live in concert:

[list:22c4c958e0] Ian Anderson (with J.Tell in 1971), Jon Anderson (with Yes 1978), Bauhaus (1984), The Cure (1989), The Damned (1985), Miles Davis (1990), Al DiMeola (1979), Robert Fripp (1972 with K.C., 1973 with K.C., 1979 solo, 1981 with K.C.), Peter Gabriel (1987), Steve Howe (with Yes 1978), Keith Jarrett (1978), King Crimson (1972, 73, 81), Mahavishnu Orchestra (1973), Nick Mason (with PF 1977), Pink Floyd (1977), Public Image Ltd. (1980), Santana (1972, 1978), Chris Squire (with Yes 1978), Robin Trower (1977), Ultravox (1981), Van Der Graaf Generator (1977), Weather Report (1978), Yes (1978). [/list:u:22c4c958e0]

[time]

If you set out to establish beyond doubt who has the most impressively diverse CD collection ... you have succeeded. :o

My recognition percentage isn't significantly different from Tannin's, but I noticed a couple of interesting things:

You have albums by Nick Mason and Richard Wright, but not Dave Gilmour?

I was thrilled to see you have an album by Billy Cobham. How did you find out about him?

What a pity you aren't my neighbour. :mrgrn:

[Splash]

You have albums by Nick Mason and Richard Wright, but not Dave Gilmour?I don't have a David Gilmour (guitar player for Pink Floyd, for those whom may not know) *only* because I haven't gotten around to buying his first solo album yet on CD. When the itch to get it occurs, I'll do so. I had a nice Japanese LP pressing his first solo album way back when. Also, I only like his first album, not his later one.


I was thrilled to see you have an album by Billy Cobham. How did you find out about him? I've been aware of Billy Cobham since about 1971 or '72, actually, because he played for Mahavishnu Orchestra. IMO, one of the best drummers ever! I also like Bill Bruford's drumming (Yes, King Crimson, U.K., and solo). Both Bills are similar high-efficiency power / jazz drummers. I might also say that Billy Cobham is probably the LOUDEST drummer I've ever heard -- I'm talking natural acoustic loudness. The guy is a very hard hitting drummer even when he's playing normally.


What a pity you aren't my neighbour. :mrgrn: And so says an old friend of mine that could be your neighbour -- he works at QIT.

[Splash]

Mushroom Records: Yes, I had maybe 2 Australian LPs (vinyl) aeons ago that were on the Mushroom label, but I'm still trying to recall what the hell they were at the moment.
Well well. I finally got home (from doing yet-another god-forbidden midnight ~ 8AM shift) and look through a xerox copy of my old ancient LP auction list from 1982/83 and the reason that I can't recall the Mushroom Records label is because I didn't have any! But, I almost immediately figured out what I was REALLY thinking of: Pilz Records, a German record label. Pilz is mushroom auf deutsche.

Anyway, these WERE the significant Australian LPs that I had:

On Missing Link Records: The Birthday Party, Boys Next Door.
On Clear Light Of Jupiter Records: several albums by Cybotron.
On Neutron Star Records: various albums by Ian McFarlane and one by Mythos.

I also had a Jimi Hendrix "doll cover" Band Of Gypsys album, which was the same as the Japanese cover. And then it shows a few odds and ends on EMI Records, Virgin Records, Beggars Banquet Records, and Island Records -- all Australian pressings -- which I might add used to be somewhat cheap here in the USA back in the late '70s and early '80s and usually were available when the USA, Canadian, or UK pressings were out-of-print.

[The Grammar Police]

Ahh, now I see Tannin making connections. He could almost have left Billy Cobham in his list. But then, that would not have been quite honest. In general, drummers are a waste of space.* A non-instrument that contributes little to the sound and could just as easily be left out. This modern fashion to mix the drums way, way up, and have the backing musicians dominate the entire sound was refreshing when it first came into vogue, and it stayed refreshing for quite a long time, all things considered. Gosh, it must have been almost a week. Then it became tiresome.

* Except when the drummer happens to make a real and vital contribution. For an excellent example, download Into the Malestorm from that Radio Birdman link Tannin gave above. Now there is a tune that I find it difficult to imagine without drums.

But whatever gives drummers the idea that they have to play all the way through every song? Do they think that it s impossible for a tune to have rhythm unless they mindlessly pound out the obvious? Have they never heard a really good solo accoustic guitarist play with enough rhythmic fire to make most bands with two drummers sound flat? (I'm not talking fancy musicianship here, merely timing and a touch of pasion: listen to Bob Dylan's solo tracks on Before the Flood, for example, or a little Billy Bragg. Nor need it be a guitarist: next time you hear a good performance of one of the major virtuoso violin concerti - the Beethoven or the Brahms, lets say - mentally subtract the orchestra and just listen to the rhythm of the soloist. No need for any drum-pounding whatever. And finally, consider what can be done without any instrument at all: I have never particularly cared for the quality of a singer's voice (at least not in this context) anywhere near so much as I care about what he does with it: the timing is everything: consider the rhythmic force of a Dave Warner monologue (remember Mug's Game, Time?), or Bob Dylan at his best, or - if it comes to that - a good reading of a Banjo Patterson poem.)

[time]

I don't have a David Gilmour (guitar player for Pink Floyd, for those whom may not know) *only* because I haven't gotten around to buying his first solo album yet on CD. When the itch to get it occurs, I'll do so. I had a nice Japanese LP pressing his first solo album way back when. Also, I only like his first album, not his later one.
The first is 'Wet Dream', isn't it? It's not even on the import lists in Oz. :(


I might also say that Billy Cobham is probably the LOUDEST drummer I've ever heard -- I'm talking natural acoustic loudness. The guy is a very hard hitting drummer even when he's playing normally.
That's no surprise considering his physique! He looks like he could carry a roadie under each arm. But one of the things I like about his drumming is the light and shade, something you don't normally get. I guess being able to hit hard helps, as does incredible physical control.


And so says an old friend of mine that could be your neighbour -- he works at QIT.
Do you mean "QUT"?

[bahngeist]

There is no doubt that all of the guitarists mentioned are great, but I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Buddy Guy--if you like blues guitar, he is a must to see if you ever have the chance. In Calgary every year during the Calgary Stampede he plays at a local biker bar called the 'King Eddy', which is an 'interesting' venue to say the least ;)

Further to Giant's listing of the concerts he's attended, I can add the following: T Rex/Blue Oyster Cult ('74); Genesis ('80); Fleetwood Mac (Tusk tour); The Tubes/Peter Gabriel/David Bowie ('82 or '83) ; in Toronto (84-87): Pyschedelic Furs, Simple Minds, Ricki Lee Jones, New Order, The Cure (twice), Siouxsie and the Banshees, John Cale (Velvet Underground fame) ; 88-89: New Model Army, Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music vocalist), Robert Plant, Cowboy Junkies (in a bar, before they became 'kinda popular).

My taste in music is almost as eclectic as Giant's, which partially comes from the fact that past friends of mine owned a used record store. By hanging out there, I naturally widened my interests (one friend had over 3K albums in his personal collection). However, for the past while I have preferred silence and rarely play any music at all (part of that is due to the fact that my wife wrecked our tape deck, and most of my collection is on tape --someday soon I need to transfer the recordings over to CD before the tape deguasses significantly).

[time]

Can you remember what Blue Oyster Cult was like live?

I may still have a live album of theirs. Years ago, I used to listen to it with friends. With a 150mS delay feeding rear speakers, the experience was stunning.

Admittedly, this may have been helped by us being either drunk, stoned or both. :drinka:

[bahngeist]

Can you remember what Blue Oyster Cult was like live?

I may still have a live album of theirs. Years ago, I used to listen to it with friends. With a 150mS delay feeding rear speakers, the experience was stunning ...
Vaguely, Blue Oyster Cult did however blow T Rex off the stage though, both in presence (rather understated) and the power of their music (excellent and straightforward). What was strange was that BOC was lined-up as the warm-up band, but they played after T Rex. That probably was for the best, since Mark Bolin (T Rex frontman) was on his downward slide by then -- chances are he was on a different planet at the time.

What is 'kinda scary to me is that almost as much time has passed since then and now as did between that concert and Glenn Miller's death (roughly 2 years shy of 3 decades). No real point there, but it does set a context given the generational differences: the gulf isn't as apparent between the Rock of the early 70s and now as there is between Rock and Swing.

[Bartender]

I decided to play my Blues Brothers album for wistful reasons. The Ray Charles song: Shake a Tail Feather, has great funk – I almost forgot about it.

I also mixed in some Fats Domino again. Strangely enough, many of the songs I like are not written by him – instead they are written by a D. Bartholomew and others. Although, one of my favorites songs: Ain’t That a Shame, has writer-ship shared by A. Domino and D. Bartholomew.

One thing I have been reminded of, is that my Aretha Franklin collection is sadly lacking. A recent visit to a friend’s house and now this Blues Brothers album has therefore reminded me of this gap in my music collection.

[Tannin]

At lunchtime just now I disd a search and turned up www.davewarner.com.au Whats more, they have a double CD that claims to be more or less the original bootleg tapes! Hoolie Doolie! I wrote a cheque for $50 on the spot. Guess I'll get it in the mail next week sometime.

I wonder if, 25 years after the event, I'll still like it?

Watch this space.

Arrived tonight! Whoohoo! Can't complain about the service. The parcel arrived with the double CD, plus another Dave Warner album This is your planet and one of his detective novels, together with a hand-written note ""hope you enjoy the bonus book"!

Hey! It's autographed! I didn't notice it til just now. A real one too - i.e., it has my name and everything. Now Tea is going to be really jealous.

[time]

Finally got around to checking out the website, and I recognize the album I had as "Mug's Game", released in 1978.

The bad news is I suspect that many years ago I thought I had outgrown it, and consequently sold it. :cry: I should still have it on tape somewhere, except I've lost about 30 tapes along the way and I think that was one of them.

The good news is that now I can replace it on CD and recapture my youthful innocence (it's rather hysterical to use that word to describe anything to do with Dave Warner. :) )

[time]

Bartender, do you feel like swapping a song? I'd be interested in sampling Fats Domino, if you'd like an example MP3 of Roy Buchanan.

[Bartender]

Time, no need to swap. I'll see if Buck can arrange this. Hopefully we can do this in the morning AU time.

[Buck]

As my first contribution to this thread, I'm presently listening to Ledward Kaapana (Hawaiian slack-key guitar).

With the warm and humid weather I'm experiencing, the music seemed appropriate. I can picture myself in the Outrigger Waikiki, sitting at Duke's Canoe club during lunch, or Chuck's Steakhouse for happy hour, overlooking Waikiki and the Pacific Ocean - beautiful. Bartender, another Mai Tai please.

[Bartender]

Uh, Buck, you're drinking Rum and Cokes. But, if you want a Mai Tai, no problem. Hana Bay rum ok?

[Buck]

Hana Bay? Fantastic! Hana Bay is only rivaled by Mount Gay Rum. Oh, and while you're at it, can you get a few Pupus?

[Bartender]

Coming right up. Some garlic bread, deep-fried Calamari, and grilled Ahi skewers ok?

[Buck]

You read my mind.

[Bartender]

Imagine that.

[.Nut]

Quote = "Splash" I don't have a David Gilmour (guitar player for Pink Floyd, for those whom may not know) *only* because I haven't gotten around to buying his first solo album yet on CD. When the itch to get it occurs, I'll do so. I had a nice Japanese LP pressing his first solo album way back when. Also, I only like his first album, not his later one.

The first is 'Wet Dream', isn't it? It's not even on the import lists in Oz. :(

No, "Wet Dream" is Richard Wright's (P.F. keyboards) album. It's typically available in the USA for a measly US$8.99 or $9.99 (on CBS / Sony).




...I might also say that Billy Cobham is probably the LOUDEST drummer I've ever heard -- I'm talking natural acoustic loudness. The guy is a very hard hitting drummer even when he's playing normally...

That's no surprise considering his physique! He looks like he could carry a roadie under each arm. But one of the things I like about his drumming is the light and shade, something you don't normally get. I guess being able to hit hard helps, as does incredible physical control.

I had forgotten -- when I posted -- that I actually saw him once in 1990 or 1991 at a drum clinic. Yep, he was still a strong drummer (weightlifter, whatever)!



And so says an old friend of mine that could be your neighbour -- he works at QIT.

Do you mean "QUT"?

Yes and no. QIT is nowadays QUT -- after the merger about 3 years ago, and still located on Queen Street, if I recall correctly.

[.Nut]

Ahh, how could I have forgotten Radio Birdman? Well do I remember reading some half-brained gig review in Juke or RAM or one of those rags I tremble to admit I used to consumme assidously as a younger man, and - seeing as I spent every spare penny on records in those days - figuring I'd give this unheard-of Sydney band a try: Radio Birdman, Radios Appear. One of the best $6.95 I've ever spent...

I've never own a Radio Birdman album, but I have heard cuts from the "Radios Appear" album many a time on a couple of local radio stations for years.

And, just to show that it's a small world, I've actually met Radio Birdman's (and The Saints') sound engineer -- a chap named Andy Bradley. He was both group's sound engineer in the recording studio and on the road. He emigrated to the USA in 1980 or '81 to work at one of the earliest full-digital recording studios, a place called ACA Studios here in Houston. I met him 4 or 5 times there at ACA Studios when I was hanging out with a band called Really Red, which he was recording. I picked up on many a recording engineering tip from him when I was there. He was also working on mixing the sound for an upcoming movie (then) called "Killing Fields." I've met up with Andy a couple of times since, but not in -- oh, uh -- maybe 12 years. I believe he's still working around town here at an upscale recording studio called Sugar Hill.

[slo crostic]

Radio Birdman are one of the best bands ever IMHO.
Their album 'living eyes' is one of my all-time favourites. Why is it that so many bands break up after releasing two or three masterpiece albums?

BTW 'radios appear' was released in two versions; the Australian version, and the 'overseas' version. The overseas version contained the classic 'Aloha Steve and Danno' the classic rock version of Hawaii Five-0.

[.Nut]

Radio Birdman are one of the best bands ever IMHO...

Being the ever-growing brain that rules from the centre of the ultraworld (OK, I stole that line from The Orb's first EP), absorbing all sorts of musical knowledge and pablum along this journey called life, I recall the term "radio birdman" off of an old Stooges album called Funhouse. I forget if it was "TV Eye" or another selection off of that album.

But, anyway Slo, does this below ring a bell???
http://www.cdconnection.com/covers/50035.jpg

[slo crostic]

I'm unsure about the radio birdman reference on the stooges album, but I do know radio birdman covered TV Eye on the australian version of 'radios appear'...........and what a version too!
Aaaahhhhhh......Fugazi, are you familiar with their work?
These guys are the masters of off-beat music and their roots are buried deep in the era of the early 80's DC punk scene.

[.Nut]

I'm unsure about the radio birdman reference on the stooges album, but I do know radio birdman covered TV Eye on the australian version of 'radios appear'...........and what a version too!

Well, you're stirring up some slightly ancient memories. I'll probably have to pickup the "Radios Appear" CD this weekend to refresh me noggin' with what all's on that album. I do hear the occasional track from that album on the local radio (KTRU-FM or KPFT-FM).

I've somewhat recently been "re-buying" '80s music that I once had on vinyl; the last was 4 albums by Jesus & Mary Chain. :erm:



Aaaahhhhhh......Fugazi, are you familiar with their work?
These guys are the masters of off-beat music and their roots are buried deep in the era of the early 80's DC punk scene.

I've not actually owned any of their CDs, but I have listened to others' CD / LP releases from Fugazi or in certain record stores. I have seen them live either 2 or 3 times back in the late 1980s -- I think for free once. They used to play here about every 4 months it seemed back then.

[The Grammar Police]

On the matter of Radio Birdman and the Stooges referance to the name, as I recall it was actually the other way around. The Birdmen took their name from the line in the song, and named themselves "Radio Birdman" in tribute to the Stooges.

[time]

No, "Wet Dream" is Richard Wright's (P.F. keyboards) album.
Thanks for that correction. I'm now confused over whether or not its Richard's or Dave's album that impressed me all those years ago!


QIT is nowadays QUT -- after the merger about 3 years ago, and still located on Queen Street, if I recall correctly.

I'll admit that I knew that, but wanted to see if you did. :) We always pronounced it 'quit', so when they changed the name we called it like it's written, "qut". These days, no-one seems to have any idea what we're on about. :roll:

Oh, and although Brisbane City is infested with streets named after British monarchs (such as Queen, Elizabeth, George, Edward, etc), QUT fronts on to Alice St. :)

It's very good indeed to have you back, *a*y.

[The JoJo]

....zzzz....rum.....zzz.....RUM???

Did someone mention RUM?

Ah, Hana bay rum? Never seen it in the Finnish liquer store. Mount gay yes, but not Hana.

Could you give me some info on Hana bay rum? Where is it made?

Bartender, give me some Hana!

I'm deffinitely a rum man...

[Bartender]

Hana Bay Rum is made in Hawaii by Hawaiian Distillers. They used to have a website, but it has been out of commission for almost two years. Nevertheless, the company still exists, and their products still get circulated. My favorite from them is their Premium Gold. The taste is very similar to Mount Gay. This is the closest that I could get for you when it comes to online documentation for them:

http://www.rum.cz/ascii/galery/nam/us/hawaiiandist/

As you’ll note, the link on this page for Hawaiian Distillers doesn’t work.

The first time I tried this rum, I couldn’t believe how smooth it was in comparison to Bacardi Dark. It certainly reminded my of Mount Gay and why I like rum. It is still not the perfect rum, but it certainly satisfies my taste. I first sampled this rum in Kona, Hawaii. Later on, when I found myself in Waikiki, I asked the bartender at Chuck’s Steak House in the Outrigger Waikiki, if they used that rum in their Mai Tais (which are delicious), and she said, “No, we prefer to use Diamond Head rum instead, because the extra bite of the cheaper rum makes its way through the fruit juice, whereas a smooth, good quality rum would be over powered and never appreciated. Which makes perfect sense; hence, I usually drink Hana Bay rum on the rocks, or with a splash of Diet Coke.

Another tasty Hawaiian rum is Whalers. They make a delicious dark rum that is robust enough to make itself known, regardless of what you mix it with. Don’t get me wrong, it is not strong in the sense of an alcohol taste like with light rums or 151, but it has the complex flavor that handily overpowers colas and fruit juices. When you mix it with Coke, you can see it sink to the bottom and separate from the cola.

[.Nut]

On the matter of Radio Birdman and the Stooges referance to the name, as I recall it was actually the other way around. The Birdmen took their name from the line in the song, and named themselves "Radio Birdman" in tribute to the Stooges.

That's what I said (I thought). Yes, the Stooges released their albums in 1969, 1970, and 1973. The later two ("Funhouse" and "Raw Power") were the best in my opinion, though I've met a few people who though their first was their best (?!?). Radio Birdman came along after the Stooges.

[time]

In fact, there is this line in 'Do The Pop' from Radios Appear:

We saw the Stooges and the MC5
Drove themselves insane alive
Nova, blow torch, A-bomb eyes
The Pop's the way, the truth and the light

[Mercutio]

After hearing it on infinite repeat for about three hours today, I have concluded that "Yellow Submarine" is without question a leading candidate to replace "Being force-fed my own scrotum" in my recurring nightmares.

[.Nut]

In fact, there is this line in 'Do The Pop' from Radios Appear: ...

I may very well run into someone this weekend who is, I believe, a bit of a Radio Birdman expert that works at a local record store.

No, he's not an Australian, even though I seem to know quite a few by chance -- both here and in Oz -- but someone that I recall seeing wearing a black and white Radio Birdman T-shirt fairly often many years ago.

[Cliptin]

Merc, that's a vivid image. Rocky Mountain Oysters, anyone.

[Buck]

Time, I heard that you got a brief sampling of Fats Domino. Any impressions of him after a few weeks of hearing his music?

[Bartender]

As many times as I have heard the song: An der schoenen, blauen, Donau, and as many different orchestras that I've heard play the song, nothing has, of yet, out done the version played by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the reigns of Eugene Ormandy at the Broadwood Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 27, 1959. No, I wasn't there in person (although that would have been superb to hear in person), but I have the recording.

I've heard many different versions played by orchestras from around the world, but as far as listening pleasure goes, the speed of the rhythm and the timing set by the conductor makes this version the most pleasant to listen to. This version is not the most ideal for dancing, but instead the feeling of the conductor and the orchestra truly comes out in such a relaxing and soothing rhythm. Some versions almost border on a polka style when they play waltzes (to fast). But a waltz is supposed to be relaxing and easy. Ormandy’s version has this relaxed feeling, however, since it was played for listening, certain steps are played longer then you would normally dance to. However, having these long steps makes the music so calming and soothing.

[Buck]

For all those interested in Clash or Seventies punk, Joe Strummer had died. BBC News - World Edition (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2600669.stm)

[Cliptin]

When I'm cooking or something where I'm not really "listening" to the music I play this (http://152.2.63.108:8000)shoutcast station, WUNC 91.5 FM, Chapel Hill, NC.

I wanna sample some Buddy Guy. Any one have access?

[fool]

Pretty sure I've got an album called "Damn right I've got the blues" by Buddy Guy, but I think its on cassette :( .
If I can find it ( my music collection is of labyrinthesque filing, eclectic, and large enough that I'm reconsidering my opinion that one can never have too much vinyl) I'll try and mp3 a few tracks for you cliptin. As far as I remember it's a late 70's or early 80's recording, electric blues, and, for my taste, somewhat too smoothly produced. Buddy however plays a guitar that’s worth the price of admission in spite of these limitations.

BTB if you’re looking for blues stuff you could do a lot worse than checking out some Keb Mo or Eric Bibb stuff. Also, although their classic status and the exemplary erudition of those posting here probably renders this recommendation redundant, you simply must hear Muddy Waters “Folk singer” and Albert Kings “Born under a bad sign”.

On a different tack has anyone else heard/ heard of Chip Taylor ?
If so what do you think if not IMO you should rectify the situation in short order.

Although gratified to see the distinction between Hip Hop and Rap I can’t agree with the seeming consensus that the former genre ( and even to a limited extent the latter) is of no musical value. Of all the music I have come across in these twenty eight years of mine NOTHING else comes close to the sheer unbridled and unbreakable life affirming energy of the finer HH records. And, as may be apparent from the purple hue of this, and doubtless all my other, posts, I like words, I like to play with them to make them dance and stretch them to the point of breaking. So when I hear a line like
“ I saw the new day coming,
it looked just like me.
Sunburst through the clouds,
my photo ID”
I can’t help but smile so hard my cheeks hurt.

Hmm, purple, Prince, from Controversy to Lovesexy(i.e. all through the 1980s) I don’t think anyone else could hold a candle to him.

[GIANT]

>> Catch Ty live........Only a few more dates left! <<

Come and see Ty play LIVE!
Don't forget to send in your favorite pictures of you and Ty or Ty live
to TyLongley@TyLongley.com so we can post your pictures on the website!
Ty will be performing with Jack Russell's Great White featuring Mark
Kendall, David Filice, and Eric Powers.

FEBRUARY
February 20-West Warwick, RI-The Station
February 21- Springfield, VA-Jaxx
February 23-Hartford, CT-Webster Theater
February 25- Indianapolis, IN-8 Second Saloon (free radio show)
February 27-Madison, WI-Luther's
February 28- Coal City, IL- Batta Boom
March
March 3-Saint Robert, MO-The Rockin R
March 4-Oklahoma City, OK-The Classic Rock Cafe
March 6- Amarillo, TX- South Beach
March 7- Hidalgo, TX-Borderfest
March 8-Beaumont, TX-Antones


http://www.tylongley.com/

[Explorer]

The 639 year long concert is still proceeding...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2728595.stm


Fortunately, I saw John Cage when he was still alive in 1991 or so here at Rice University.

[LiamC]

.Nut - only arrived at Jesus and Mary Chain about the time of Head On. Sisters of Mercy by any chance? Early R.E.M., Smiths, Cure, Age of Chance?

On a side note, anybody heard of Sunny Koll?

In the 90's I was listening to Pearl Jam, Garbage and the Offspring - but after giving up Dj'ing, I rarely listen to anything anymore, and if I never hear

You took the words right out of my mouth,
Summer of '69,
Hurt So Good,
Khe Sahn, or Working Class Man

again, I'll be a happy man (Sunnyboys?)

[Explorer]

.Nut - only arrived at Jesus and Mary Chain about the time of Head On.

Well, that was years later for me ("Head On" ...er, actually "Automatic" was the name of the LP). My first exposure to J&MC was their excessively feedback-driven first album called "Psychocandy" on local radio. I didn't really care for it much, but I eventually came around at some point -- sorta. I like the later ones better, up until "Honey's Dead," but that was it for me. I didn't like any of their stuff from the '90s.

Though I've largely caught up with replacing certain albums that I had in my past vinyl LP record collection with compact discs, I've done a bit more "catching up" since that message last year. As far as catalogic-type additions, I've since added a few CDs from a group fromm the '70s called The Strawbs, a few '70s albums from Utopia and Todd Rundgren, and some from a group that still exists called Spiritualized. There were a few single CDs as well and maybe another "catalogue" addition, but I'm trying to remember what they were at the moment.



Sisters of Mercy by any chance?
Bwaahaahaa! I kinda liked a bit here and there from Mr. Andy, but overall not particularly. "Floodlands" was basically it for me.

I know there were a raft of Sisters copy cats that came along shortly afterwards. Jeez, talking about fetid musical territory, the whole post-Sisters "goth" movement was nothing but unmitigated crap!



Early R.E.M., Smiths,

All REM and The Smiths suck hard. :skepo:




Cure,
I like The Cure only from about, er... [hand banging on side of head] er... "Head On The Door" all the way straight through to "Wish." I like bits and pieces of some of the earlier albums, and basically no post-"Wish" except "Bloodflowers."



Age of Chance?

Who??? Got any background on 'em?




On a side note, anybody heard of Sunny Koll?

Who???





In the 90's I was listening to Pearl Jam, Garbage and the Offspring...

Well, I pretty much avoided all 3 of them -- then AND now.

[Buck]

As posted by the Bartender earlier in this thread, listening to Johann Strauss is beautiful. I have been playing a mix of his songs over and over again for the past two weeks - fantabulous!

[Howell]

I've been listening to Kate Rusby (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/recs/radio/krex/-/album/B00007G77E/ref=pd_krex_dp_a/102-7642235-2352907) lately.

[Mercutio]

Interesting Blues Track (2.2MB, MP3) (http://www.geocities.com/athens/stage/1089/blues20.zip).

I heard this on the radio on the way home from a job the other day. The steelworkers in my classes think it's fairly profound.

[Corvair]

jeez... what an image!


Keith Richards should have died eight years ago, according to a health expert...


http://www.ananova.com/images/web/64531.jpg

http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/story/sm_874409.html

[ddrueding]

Interesting Blues Track (2.2MB, MP3) (http://www.geocities.com/athens/stage/1089/blues20.zip).

I heard this on the radio on the way home from a job the other day. The steelworkers in my classes think it's fairly profound.

Very nice just ordered the album (http://www.electrofi.com/blues2.0.htm) listenting to music like this @ 128kbps MP3 is such a tease.

[Pradeep]

The latest Offspring CD is pretty good.

[time]

Keith Richards should have died eight years ago, according to a health expert...

Yeah, but that assumes he didn't sell his soul to Mick.

[Platform]

Yeah, but that assumes he didn't sell his soul to Mick.

From that lovely photo above, it looks like the Wax Museum owns his soul.

Nowadays, that's Sir Mick. It looks as if Keef will stay a humble, but dangerous, serf in the Kingdom of things.

[ddrueding]

I'm really enjoying Röyksopp right now. I think it's more difficult to make interesting, engaging music that is slow and simple. Merc's selection above is another example.

[Buck]

Crazy musician: horns (http://www.hugi.is/hahradi/bigboxes.php?box_id=51208&f_id=681)

[Mercutio]

Very nice just ordered the album (http://www.electrofi.com/blues2.0.htm) listenting to music like this @ 128kbps MP3 is such a tease.

Actual blues music isn't broadcast much any more. You can say someone like Eric Clapton gets his time in the sun, but calling his music blues is like calling a twinkie "wedding cake".

Anyway, I'd like to know whether you liked the album.

I've been listening to lots of Samuel Barber. His Collected Songs (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000001GH2/qid=1078953299/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-0524318-5144849?v=glance&s=classical). Learning those songs is something that very literally imparted me with a love of poetry. Barber selected texts from all over the literary world, and his choices really do show the depth of the written word.
Also his First Symphony and Essays for Orchestra (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004T6KQ/qid=1078953714/sr=1-65/ref=sr_1_65/002-0524318-5144849?v=glance&s=classical) and his Concertoes for Piano and for Violin (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000003D25/qid=1078953892/sr=1-135/ref=sr_1_135/002-0524318-5144849?v=glance&s=classical).
Barber was a composer of the 20th century, but his idiom was hopelessly lost in the romanticism of the late 19th. It's very delicate, beautiful music.

[OT: Polizei]

Nena - 99 Luftballons

[ddrueding]

For some reason it hasn't shipped yet...I'll let you know.

[Buck]

Heart and Boston

[Mercutio]

George Szell's Wagner Excerpts on SACD.

[Buck]

Jimmy Buffett.

[Howell]

Suzanne Vega

[The JoJo]

Hmm, I've been listning to the soundtrack from the movie "The Rock", and I like it.

Also been listning to Andrew W.K. This fella seems to have som psyco words...Perhaps they wouldn't sound so negative if I'd bother to get the lyrics and read through them (or then the music will get REALLY weird in, that's the other possibility...).

Damm this "rock" music is good!

[The JoJo]

For those that like rock, The Darkness seems pretty ok.

[Dïscfärm]

For those that like rock, The Darkness seems pretty ok.

Well, methinks they are a bunch o' wöösies.

[The JoJo]

Älgarnas Trädgård?????? Swedish?

[The JoJo]

AC/DC for me, anytime, anywhere. My favourite. Iron maiden is pretty good also.

[Fushigi]

Hayashibara Megumi (http://www.tcp.com/~doi/seiyuu/hayashibara-megumi/) and Namie Amuro (http://www.avexnet.or.jp/amuro/disco/index.htm) lately on the j-pop side of the house. Why do I think few forum members will have even heard of them? :)

For US music, my wife recently got me the Billy Joel 1973-1997 Comeplte Hits (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005NNM8/qid=1079797794/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3/103-7825155-5159006) set, which is pretty decent. Radio in the car, when not news, is classic rock on The River (http://959theriver.fm/index.cfm).

I haven't been in the mood for classical music much lately.

[Jan Kivar]

Iron maiden is pretty good also.
Bruce, Blaze or both?

Oh, and has anyone ever heard Royal Hunt?

Cheers,

Jan

[timwhit]

Hmm, I've been listning to the soundtrack from the movie "The Rock", and I like it.

Also been listning to Andrew W.K. This fella seems to have som psyco words...Perhaps they wouldn't sound so negative if I'd bother to get the lyrics and read through them (or then the music will get REALLY weird in, that's the other possibility...).

Damm this "rock" music is good!

I've been listening to that soundtrack since the movie came out in 1996, still as good as ever.

[GIANT]

Älgarnas Trädgård?????? Swedish?

Yes, Swedish!!! Back in the '70s, I had their first album (vinyl LP). Later on, I got the CD reissue.

They are not exactly a Top 40 band by any stretch of the imagination! They are sort of a Nord "tribal" band actually, with some electric guitars present here and there.

I've had other Swedish albums (vinyl LPs) in the past, and, as far as that goes, some other Norwegian, Danish and Finnish albums as well (i.e. -- the 1970s and some in the 1980s). One of my favourite Swedish albums that has yet to be reissued - and probably never will -- is from a group called Anna Själv Tredje ("Tussilago Fanfara").

I had, for a period, some other albums on that same record label, Silence Records, from a group called Samla Mammas Manna, as well as a few Bo Hansson albums, but I don't really care for them anymore. On the other hand, I have long since replaced all of my old Terje Rypdal vinyl LPs and a few Jan Garbarek LPs with compact discs.

I could go on and on here, but I'll cut it short with a few Finnish albums I had -- once again in the 1970s -- from some people like Pekka Pohjola, Jukka Tolonen, Wigwam, er... (taxing my memory here), and er... I can't recall what else I had, but I did just remember that I received a promo from a Finnish group called Panasonic (!) back about 6 or 7 years ago -- not that good, actually.

[Mercutio]

Passages (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000000K4/103-4113182-0198222?v=glance). Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar. Very exotic and atmospheric.

While I'm thinking about it, has anyone else noticed a huge increase in middle-eastern and Indian themes in movie/TV soundtracks lately? A couple of examples off the top of my head are the scoring to "the Hulk" and HBO's "Carnivale", but it's something I've been picking up all over the place just in the last year or so. I'm hearing more sitar and arabic-influenced vocal lines that remind me of Adhan, the Muslim call to prayer, even in places where there's really no reason to score in that type of music.

[.Nut]

The eBAY Song...

http://www.gary-hendershot.com/flash/

(requires Macromedia Flash for audio playback)

[Mercutio]

Why don't people like classical music?

[.Nut]

Once upon a time, I liked "Roll Over Beethoven."

[Mercutio]

At least you didn't say "A Night on Disco Mountain".

I was asking a serious question. Try to tell someone that you don't know who xyz top-40 flavor of the month is because you only listen to classical music, and you get a look like you have 3 heads.

Try to explain the appeal of, say, a Beethoven symphony, and the number of heads grows to five or six.

This reaction in my experience is damned near universal.

[ddrueding]

At least you didn't say "A Night on Disco Mountain".

I was asking a serious question. Try to tell someone that you don't know who xyz top-40 flavor of the month is because you only listen to classical music, and you get a look like you have 3 heads.

Try to explain the appeal of, say, a Beethoven symphony, and the number of heads grows to five or six.

This reaction in my experience is damned near universal.

Well, not around here. The blues festival is massive, KBOQ (k-Bach) is one of the more popular radio stations (at least of the people that matter).

Then again, I'm currently listening to "The Who" doing Pinball Wizard....

[ddrueding]

But don't listen to me...I have bad taste. Current playlist follows:

Cassius - Music Sounds Better
CJ Bolland - Electro Power
Collective Soul - Gel
Collective Soul - December
Cracker - Low
Craig David - Key To My Heart
The Cranberries - Salvation
The Crystal Method - The Crystal Method Dubiliscous Groove
The Crystal Method - Magic Carpet Ride
The Crystal Method - Wild, Sweet And Cool
The Crystal Method - Name of The Game
Danny Tenaglia - Music Is The Answer
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
David Gray - Sail Away
DJ Shadow - Building Steam With A Grain of Salt
Don't Look Down - Still The One
Dynamite Hack - Anyway
Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight
Elvis Presley - A Little Less Conversation
3 Doors Down - Better Life
311 - Amber
4 Non Blondes - What's Up
The Who - Pinball Wizard
The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl
Violent Femmes - Blister In The Sun
Veruca Salt - Volcano Girls
US3 - Cantaloop
Unified Theory - Breathe
U.N.K.L.E. - Eye 4 An Eye
Twisted Pair - Vampyros Lesbos
Tracy Chapman - All That You Have Is Your Soul
Tool - Opiate
Tokyo Ghetto Pussy - I Kiss Your Lips
Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
Toad The Wet Sprocket - All I Want
Texas - Say What You Want
Sublime - Saw Red
Stroke 9 - Little Black Backpack
Stone Temple Pilots - Wicked Garden

[timwhit]

Why don't people like classical music?

That's all I used to listen to when I was younger, because that is what my parents listen to.

My Dad was seriously pissed when 97.1 (Chicago station) changed programming a couple years ago.

I don't listen to any real classical music, but I listen to a lot of movie scores, if that is any conciliation. Just picked up The Hulk soundtrack, after you mentioned it in another thread.

[Howell]

Why don't people like classical music?

I listen to it occasionally. I prefer songs that tell a story. Poetry set to music. Music that's personal. That's not to say classical music doesn't fit those criteria just that its not easy to see it.

If its any consolation, I bought the Samuel Barber double CD you recommended and I didn't throw it away.

FWIW, I don't know any top-40. For three years I didn't even have a radio in my car and even now that I have a new one I don't listen to the radio.

I have immpecable taste:
Beth Orton
Catie Curtis
Cristine Kane
Cindy Morgan
Cowboy Junkies
Frente
Gillian Welsh
Jan Krist
Jill Phillips
Kate Wolf
Kelly Willis
Kim Hill
Kristy MacColl
Loreena McKennit
Lucinda Williams
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Merril Bainbridge
Over the Rhine
Patty Loveless
Sam Phillips
Sara Groves
Shawn Colvin
Innocence Mission
Suzanne Vega
Victoria Williams

FWIW, I only recognize 7 groups in David's playlist (as in have any idea what they sound like):
The Cranberries
David Gray
Elvis Presley
The Who
Violent Femmes
Tracy Chapman
Toad The Wet Sprocket

[Mercutio]

Toad the Wet Sprocket was the name of a band that kept changing its name in a Monty Python routine.

It isn't like I made some kind of conscious effort to be different on the matter of music. My brothers have musical tastes that run to mainstream (80s stuff, techno and depresso-alterna-whatever, I guess).

Movie soundtracks are probably as close as I get to mainstream-anything, if only because I can say other people have heard them, unlike most of the stuff I listen to.

So for movie soundtracks, the ones I listen to most often:
Last of the Mohicans
Solaris (2003)
The Hours
Cider House Rules
The Lord of the Rings movies
Schindler's List
Glory
Koyaanisqatsi
Blade Runner
The Thin Red Line
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Kundun
Punch Drunk Love
The Red Violin


Probably no surprises on that list. Basically classical-type scores, to a one.

For the rest, I have to ask if classical music is something that people just aren't exposed to, or if there's real distaste. Too stuffy? Dispassionate? Several folks here have copped to at least an occasional foray into classical music. I don't think it's entirely foreign to people.

When I get my broadband connection back, maybe I'll set up a slimserver (http://www.slimdevices.com/su_downloads.html). I'd love to share some of the music I enjoy.

Howell, you really bought "Secrets of the Old"?
I learned all those songs (really, all of them. They were collected in a single folio edition) when I was seriously studying voice.
Several of those are real favorites for me: "The Crucifixion", "Un Cygne", "Beggar's Song", "Nuvoletta".
I don't remember the origins of all his songs, but I found a lot of joy in moving from the linguistic contrariness of Joyce to the descriptive beauty of Agee to the stark prose of the medieval Hermit Songs (the whimsy of "The Monk and his Cat", in particular).

[Mercutio]

A slightly more accessible CD of art songs is probably Long Time Ago (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000000SHU/qid=1081049316/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-4113182-0198222), collecting some great American Folk Songs ("I Bought Me a Cat" and the lullaby "All the Little Horses") and Hymns ("At the River" and "Simple Gifts") and Copland's settings of Eight Poems by Emily Dickinson, along with his incidental music for the ballet "Billy the Kid", which may, in fact, have established the idiom of movie music for Westerns.

If anyone is interested, I could make a short list of pieces that might do well to expose one to classical music.

In fact, it might be fun to swap those lists for different genres, if anyone is interested in making one.

[Buck]

Elvis Presley!

[Mercutio]

I don't know if anyone saw my post about Slimserver (http://www.slimdevices.com/su_downloads.html), but this is a remarkably cool program for anyone who has any kind of decent internet connection, effectively letting you (or whomever connects to your server) browse and play anything you've got in your collection.

It requires port 9000 to be open to the world and you need to connect with both a web browser and something that supports MP3 streaming (winamp, xmms whatever).

[SteveC]

I don't know if anyone saw my post about Slimserver (http://www.slimdevices.com/su_downloads.html), but this is a remarkably cool program for anyone who has any kind of decent internet connection, effectively letting you (or whomever connects to your server) browse and play anything you've got in your collection.

Yes, thanks for pointing it out. A very nice program.


It requires port 9000 to be open to the world and you need to connect with both a web browser and something that supports MP3 streaming (winamp, xmms whatever).

You can change the port, password protect it, and only allow certain IP addresses under the "Additional Server Settings" (bottom of the Server Settings page).

[Mercutio]

Yeah. I noticed that. But the port still has to be open.

My DSL may be back tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have a few GB of stuff available by then, if anyone's interested.

[Howell]

I'm interested but short on time these days.

[Mercutio]

I have a slimserver up and running at http://mercutio.dnsalias.com:9000/

Note that you have to connect to port 9000, and you need to connect with a client capable of accepting an MP3 stream (e.g. winamp).
If you'd like to create/adjust the playlist, the login name for the server is mercsmp3s. PM me for the password.

[ddrueding]

Great, thanks Merc. I'll be putting mine up again tomorrow (T-1 Time!)

[Handruin]

Alright, I need help trying to get it to play. I have winamp installed, but when I click on "play this song" nothing happens.

[Mercutio]

In Winamp - tell it to "Open URL" type http://mercutio.dnsalias.com:9000 in the little box, and it should bring up an empty playlist.

[Handruin]

It tried. It says "error syncing tp mpeg"

I also tried the full url path to a single song and it said the same thing.

[Mercutio]

Try it now.

[Handruin]

Sorry man, I can't get it to work. I setup my own and I can't even connect to my local music using this.

After I copy the URL, I paste it into winamp and then it asks for username and password in the following format:

username:password

After I enter the information, it gives me the error I posted above...

[Mercutio]

Well, let's try it without the l:p.

It was working before I turned it on...


Incidently, I exposed some pop and jazz tracks as well as classical.

[Handruin]

I figured it out...

I need to open winamp to:

http://mercutio.dnsalias.com:9000/stream.mp3

It will begin to play silence and then once I pick songs, they will stream...sorry, I'm slow.

[Handruin]

I'm listening to Fanfare for the Common Man ... but it is breaking up a bit...

[Mercutio]

Did quality ever get any better?

[Handruin]

Yes, the song I'm listening to know is better, I'm going to try fanfar again and see if it is any different.

[Handruin]

I'm organization illiterate with my MP3's. How did you get yours in such need categories? play-lists?

[Mercutio]

I ripped them from the source CDs using CDex and specified the system of organization I prefer.
The pop stuff is largely scavenged from "My Shared Folders" on various PCs I've worked on.

ID3 tags are pretty much inadequate for classical stuff.

[Handruin]

How do you get them to show as albums, is that from the ID3 tag?

[Mercutio]

Sorta, I guess. On the FS level, the scheme is Composer or Performer as root folder name, with each album as its own subdirectory. I think that's the default for CDex. CDex also retreives ID3 tags automatically from CDDB, which is what gives me category names like "Classical" and "ska" (WTF is "ska" anyway?), album title and what generates the track names for the rips. CDex is a really cool program.

[Mercutio]

Part of the reason I say sort-of is that I end up being the person who submits about half the stuff I decide to rip. CDDB doesn't know classical albums very well.

[Handruin]

I used CDex also. If you connect to my slimserver, you will find complete rips for Barenaked Ladies Rock Spectacleand and Linkin Park Meteora. I did the same as you and let the CDDB name everything...but I do't get the sense it is organized as well as your music... I'll work on it to see if I can make it better.

ska is good stuff if you like a bit of brass with your rock. I have some good stuff I can rip if you're interested in listening.

[Handruin]

I can't figure out why it says "Your music library contains 1 album with 39 songs by 2 artists." I created 2 folders, one for each album, but it doesn't recognize it that way.

[ddrueding]

I can't figure out why it says "Your music library contains 1 album with 39 songs by 2 artists." I created 2 folders, one for each album, but it doesn't recognize it that way.

Does it create the directory structure from the ID3 tags?

[The JoJo]

Do you mind if I try this when I get home, Merc?

[Mercutio]

You can try. My upload bandwidth is pretty limited. I think I can handle one WAN connection at a time. You just got up, right, JoJo?

The structure represented is in facted based on ID3. I just did some tests and it's all ID3. You could dump everything in one big folder and let the program sort it out, if you're a wildman.

[Handruin]

I can't figure out the directory structure yet. :-?

[Handruin]

Ya know, I kinda like the device they sell... $249 is a bit steep, but it's cheaper than building a wireless laptop...
http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_overview.html

[The JoJo]

Yup, the sun is just rising here.

And I just remembered that I didn't put sshd up at home, so I can't configure gentoo until this evening....:(

What is you upload bandwidth? Mine was just upgraded to 512kb.

[The JoJo]

Doh, my usual luck. Just when I get online and logged in here everyone leaves and goes to sleep :)

[Mercutio]

128k, unfortunately.

[ddrueding]

1.5Mbps ;)

But due to construction delays, the server's won't be up until later this week. Might not be until the weekend.

[Onomatopoeic]

...Philip Glass and...
I first became familiar with Phillip Glass back in... maybe... 1977 or '78. I bought an "Einstein On The Beach" LP box and the album "North Star" pretty closely together in time.

Then, a few years later, about 1984 or '85, I was throwing out Phillip Glass for good after owning maybe a couple or three more of his albums. The guy just seemed to be stuck in a repetitive rut. By 1984/85, the "Einstein On The Beach" album was a pretty rare comodity (long out-of-print at that point in time) and I sold it in one of my LP auctions for a decent amount.

[Onomatopoeic]

Why don't people like classical music? I don't *hate* classical music, per se, I just prefer its derivatives -- same thing with blues, jazz, and various "ethnic" musics.

I had classical music pounded into me during my youth. Now, I have rebelled.

[Onomatopoeic]

Current playlist follows:
Cassius - Music Sounds Better
CJ Bolland - Electro Power
Collective Soul - Gel
Collective Soul - December
Cracker - Low
Craig David - Key To My Heart
The Cranberries - Salvation
The Crystal Method - The Crystal Method Dubiliscous Groove
The Crystal Method - Magic Carpet Ride
The Crystal Method - Wild, Sweet And Cool
The Crystal Method - Name of The Game
Danny Tenaglia - Music Is The Answer
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
David Gray - Sail Away
DJ Shadow - Building Steam With A Grain of Salt
Don't Look Down - Still The One
Dynamite Hack - Anyway
Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight
Elvis Presley - A Little Less Conversation
3 Doors Down - Better Life
311 - Amber
4 Non Blondes - What's Up
The Who - Pinball Wizard
The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl
Violent Femmes - Blister In The Sun
Veruca Salt - Volcano Girls
US3 - Cantaloop
Unified Theory - Breathe
U.N.K.L.E. - Eye 4 An Eye
Twisted Pair - Vampyros Lesbos
Tracy Chapman - All That You Have Is Your Soul
Tool - Opiate
Tokyo Ghetto Pussy - I Kiss Your Lips
Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway
Toad The Wet Sprocket - All I Want
Texas - Say What You Want
Sublime - Saw Red
Stroke 9 - Little Black Backpack
Stone Temple Pilots - Wicked Garden

From your list, the only one's I'm NOT familiar with:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cassius - Music Sounds Better
CJ Bolland - Electro Power
David Gray - Sail Away
Don't Look Down - Still The One
Dynamite Hack - Anyway
Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight
Unified Theory - Breathe
Tokyo Ghetto Pussy - I Kiss Your Lips
Stroke 9 - Little Black Backpack







Beth Orton
Catie Curtis
Cristine Kane
Cindy Morgan
Cowboy Junkies
Frente
Gillian Welsh
Jan Krist
Jill Phillips
Kate Wolf
Kelly Willis
Kim Hill
Kristy MacColl
Loreena McKennit
Lucinda Williams
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Merril Bainbridge
Over the Rhine
Patty Loveless
Sam Phillips
Sara Groves
Shawn Colvin
Innocence Mission
Suzanne Vega
Victoria Williams

And, from your list, the only one's I'm NOT familiar with:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catie Curtis
Cristine Kane
Cindy Morgan
Frente
Jan Krist
Jill Phillips
Kelly Willis
Kim Hill
Over the Rhine
Sara Groves

[ddrueding]

Cassius - Music Sounds Better - Mid-Tempo modern dance (house music)
CJ Bolland - Electro Power - Mid-90's Hi-Energy Electronic (definatly dated, but I'm nostalgic)
David Gray - Sail Away - Beautiful "Soft Rock". Great voice/piano. Fairly popular
Don't Look Down - Still The One - Grunge/Punk cover of a country song
Dynamite Hack - Anyway - Grunge/Punk song, fairly depressing. There is a beautiful acoustic/vocal version as well.
Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight - Quite pop-ish, but well done. Good feelings.
Unified Theory - Breathe - Blind Melon re-incarnate (http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2001/01/2404.cfm).
Tokyo Ghetto Pussy - I Kiss Your Lips - Classic asian-electronic. Worth hearing ONCE, good for a laugh.
Stroke 9 - Little Black Backpack - Modern punk, but with definate skill.

[Mercutio]

...Philip Glass and...

Then, a few years later, about 1984 or '85, I was throwing out Phillip Glass for good after owning maybe a couple or three more of his albums. The guy just seemed to be stuck in a repetitive rut. By 1984/85, the "Einstein On The Beach" album was a pretty rare comodity (long out-of-print at that point in time) and I sold it in one of my LP auctions for a decent amount.

I can sit and listen to all 3 discs of "Music in 12 parts", which is probably his most visciously minimalist piece, and be entertained. But if you get the urge to try his music again, I'd suggest tracking down his scoring for "Dracula", the album he did with Uatki (a lot like Blue Man Group, uses found objects for instruments) or his Solo Piano CD. Whatever else you might think, Einstein on the beach is a really unique experience. :)

[Howell]

http://mercutio.dnsalias.com:9000/stream.mp3
I connect but then it just "buffers" to 100% over and over again.

Did any body else open the link in a web browser? Interesting.

[Handruin]

I did now. That is very interesting...

[Explorer]

I can sit and listen to all 3 discs of "Music in 12 parts", which is probably his most visciously minimalist piece, and be entertained...

Yes, I recall having that one as well back in the late '70s. I bought it on the cheap, something like $4.99, new, on Virgin Records (UK), or their budget Caroline label. It seemed like it had a gaudy orange jacket with white artwork -- orchestral charts, maybe. I half way kinda liked that one, actually. You say 3 discs, I know that this one was only one disc (LP). "Einstein..." was a 3-LP set (box actually) on Tomato Records (Netherlands).

I have a printout from about 1984/5 of all the vinyl I owned, then, before I auctioned it all off. I was at maybe 2400 LPs, then. None of it common crapola. I'll have to dig it out and see what Phillip Glass I had.

[Mercutio]

You're thinking of "Music in Changing Parts". I don't know what the album looked like; the Nonesuch CD issue is a cool silvered photo of the composer.

[Howell]

Merc, at what bitrate do you rip?

BTW, I use Audiograbber and it creates the same directory structure as you describe.

[Mercutio]

It depends. 160kpbs, most recently. 192k, typically.
I could go back and encode a bunch of stuff at 128k or 96k to see if that would make my slimserver run better over the internet...

[Howell]

It depends. 160kpbs, most recently. 192k, typically.
I could go back and encode a bunch of stuff at 128k or 96k to see if that would make my slimserver run better over the internet...

Do you use variable bit rate encoding?

[Mercutio]

Yu. And I'm using LAME for a codec, if that matters.
I probably ought to switch to OGG. IMO 128k OGG sounds better than 192k MP3.

[Howell]

Howell, you really bought "Secrets of the Old"?

That's the one I bought.

[ddrueding]

Merc, I have to ask...what can use more cowbell? I can think of many things that could use less, but more?

[ddrueding]

Thanks for the hint, but I'm still having issues....BOC is not my strong point...

[Howell]

http://mercutio.dnsalias.com:9000/stream.mp3
I connect but then it just "buffers" to 100% over and over again.

Am I supposed to have opened any ports on my firewall?

[Mercutio]

Not on the client end. You're requesting traffic. Usually that's something that's explicitly allowed.

Probably you're just not getting enough of a stream to actually play anything.

I need more DSL lines.

[ddrueding]

Jungle sounds so much better after 2AM.

Dieselboy - Invid

Awesome

[tealeaf]

Isn't "Blues" short for "Rhythm and Blues"? I believe that's where R&R has it's roots but I could be wrong. I know I've heard not only Hendrix play what I would call "Blues" but also Slow Hand and even Bill Wyman (SP?). OK so the last two are white. But as I heard The Giver say once, "They're blue eyed and pale but they sure can wail".

Flagreen, I'm sure you meant R&B. When I saw you mention "wail", I thought of Louis Prima - many of his songs have great rhythm.
Actually I did mean Rock and Roll. But I don't know enough about music aside from what I like and dislike to say so. I'm not a fan of J L Hooker though I like his brand of music in general. I just don't care for his vocals or guitar playing. Not that I can do either. Keith Richards (actually when I said Bill Wyman above I was thinking of Richards) is very talented though as are the rest of the people time mentions. Clapton in particular is an excellent R&B man. Van Morrison is also one of my favorites.

You are right Flagreen, Rock & Roll does have its roots in R&B - they just took the rhythm section and ran! Elvis, Bill Haley, Johnny and the Hurricanes – great music from that era.

Not forgetting Chuck Berry - the man acredited with inventing R & B?

[.Nut]

Jungle sounds so much better after 2AM.

Dieselboy - Invid

Awesome

Back in 1997/98, I liked jungle / drum'n'bass. By 1999 I was sick of it. Still am.

[.Nut]

You're thinking of "Music in Changing Parts"...

I went back and looked at my old LP listing, and it was "Music in 12 Parts, Parts 1 and 2" on the Virgin / Caroline (UK) record label.

[Howell]

Leo Kottke

[Mercutio]

Dear lord yes. That man can play guitar.

[Howell]

I can't believe nobody meantioned him before. I just heard him in the last couple of weeks and I can get "Vaseline Machine Gun" out of my head.

[Corvair]

I can't believe nobody meantioned him before...

I met up with Leo K. almost 30 years ago ('77 / '78-ish). I did an interview with him. Anyway, I recall that he was out promoting his "Burnt Lips" album at the time, because I recall bringing back a box of 20 promo LPs to the radio station. I believe I've known of him since about '73 or so.

He's mostly a 12-string (acoustic) player. In fact, when I saw him play on his "Burnt Lips" tour, that's basically all he played -- 12-string - and very little 6-string. If you know something about playing a 12-string (acoustic or electric) guitar, it's harder to press down the strings to the frets. Well, I recall hearing some rumours, a while later after I saw him play, that he had to take a rather extended break to allow his newly-acquired carpal tunnel syndrome wear off. :o

Yes, he's one of the best 12-string acoustic players ever! Even then, he's hardly a household name (e.g. -- Clapton, Page, Hendrix, Beck, etc.).

[Corvair]

OK! Here's my entire audio compact disc collection. I'm posting it for informational / educational / discussional purposes only! None are for sale, and... erm... I'm not gonna burn copies of anything either.

I dumped all my vinyl LPs back during the 1982 ~ 1984/5 time frame. Then, as they became available, I began replacing the vintage vinyl LP titles that I wanted to have again (maybe 85%) with compact disc equivalents. Most of that 85% has been reissued on CD, but there are still a few that haven't. I also picked lots of mid-80s - to - present-day titles along the way as well.

Every once in a while I'll dump a few titles or even whole groups that I don't listen to anymore or that I now dislike. Example: I recently dumped all my "In The Nursery" (a group) CDs and I also whittled my 5 or 6 "Damned" (The Damned -- a group) CD titles down to just the 2 that I still care anything about. I store the titles in a database to keep track of them.

NOTE: It might take a number of seconds for it to load 8)


The CD Listing:

http://www.gary-hendershot.com/cd_list/

[timwhit]

One artist caught my eye and that was Durutti Column. Durutti was a Spanish Anarchist that lead a division called the Durutti Column in Aragon during 1936. What kind of music is this anyways?

[Onomatopoeic]

One artist caught my eye and that was Durutti Column. Durutti was a Spanish Anarchist that lead a division called the Durutti Column in Aragon during 1936. What kind of music is this anyways?

Yep. Buenaventura Durutti, I believe.

The music of Durutti Column is pretty unique -- sort of electric guitar chamber music that at times meets jazz with maybe a touch of Brazilian, Spanish, or Jamaican influence. A couple of the last 2 D.C. releases weren't very good in my opinion (I don't own them for that reason) as they were sort of "normal" rock recordings. But, the first 4 albums especially ("Return of The Durutti Column," "LC," etc) and a few after that were quite amazingly good. Those were from 1979, '80, and '81, then some bright spots in the mid 80s including the first "solo" Vini Reilly album.

The amazing fact is that Durutti Column actually started off as a *really* grating punk band around 1978/9. Then one by one everybody left except its founder, Vini Reilly. Once everyone was gone, he wiped the slate clean. Fortunately, the first Durutti Column release didn't come out until Vini was in control. I bought those early releases after I heard the two D.C. tracks on the various artist album "A Factory Sampler" (Factory Records, UK) released in 1979.

[ddrueding]

This is a great song from a local in Eugene, OR (ftp://ddrueding.dyndns.org/Nicole Barrette - God Damn You.mp3). I'd love to get music from her, but she isn't on the internet at all. I'd be interested to know what you guys think.

[ddrueding]

eh, whatever, too tired.

Paste this in your address bar and save it:



ftp&#58;//ddrueding.dyndns.org/Nicole Barrette - God Damn You.mp3

[Groltz]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/groltz/bb.gif
Credit to benryves @ b3ta

[Groltz]

Just finished watching an 823MB mpeg of Pink Floyd playing at the Live 8 festival in London.

To see them playing together with Roger again is fantastic. It made my day, seeing this clip.

[Handruin]

I haven't really followed Pink Floyd. Is that a recent event? I didn't know they were still around. The only CD I have from them is a 24 carat gold Atom Heart Mother CD I bought years ago. It's one of those Original Master Recording series Ultra Disc II. It's a decent disc, but I'm not a huge fan of their style.

[Groltz]

The charity concert was yesterday. (http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/12/pink.floyd.reut/)

Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in 1981 after fighting with David Gilmour over control and direction of the band. This is the first time the guys have played a show together since then.

I've seen Pink Floyd twice in concert during the post-Waters era for the Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell albums. They've always been a favorite of mine although they're on the farthest end of the mellowness spectrum in terms of what I typically listen to.

[iGary]

I haven't really followed Pink Floyd. Is that a recent event? I didn't know they were still around. The only CD I have from them is a 24 carat gold Atom Heart Mother CD I bought years ago. It's one of those Original Master Recording series Ultra Disc II. It's a decent disc, but I'm not a huge fan of their style.

"Atom Heart Mother" is one of the earlier Pink Floyd albums -- about number 4 or 5. It's an alright album, but it's hardly representative of the "classic" Pink Floyd. Classic Pink Floyd would be -- in order of release -- "Meddle," "Dark Side Of The Moon," "Wish You Were Here," "Animals," and "The Wall."

"Dark Side Of The Moon" has the all-time world record for staying in the Billboard Top 200 chart -- about 11 years straight, beating out Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" EP along the way. "Dark Side Of The Moon" re-entered the Billboard Top 200 chart several months later and stayed there around the bottom somewhere for a about 3 more years!

In my snotty opinion, everything went to hell in a handbasket after "The Wall." The Pink Floyd albums that came later, such as "The Final Cut" and the albums that Groltz mentioned are not up to the earlier albums' (from the 1970s) standards.

The individual members all had solo albums as well. The only one I liked a lot was David Gilmour's first album called "David Gilmour." I kinda sorta liked Nick Mason's "Fictitious Sports" and Richard Wright's "Wet Dream" albums to some degree. All of these were out of the 1970s as well. Roger Water's solo albums never did anything for me.

Anyway, here's an interview done with Roger Waters in the past week or so. He talks about the Pink Floyd reunion at Live 8 and other things.


http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7504168/?rnd=1123043231938&has-player=false


Below are the Pink Floyd CDs that I own: Pink Floyd "A Saucerful Of Secrets" EMI BRIT
Pink Floyd "Absolutely Ambient" New Directions GER
Pink Floyd "Animals" EMI BRIT
Pink Floyd "Animals Ltd. Edition Trance Mix" -??- GER
Pink Floyd "Atom Heart Mother" Mobile Fidelity USA
Pink Floyd "Atom Heart Mother Ltd. Edition Trance Mix" -??- GER
Pink Floyd "Dark Side Of The Moon" Mobile Fidelity USA
Pink Floyd "Dark Side Of The Moon Ltd. Edition Trance Mix" -??- GER
Pink Floyd "Meddle" Mobile Fidelity USA
Pink Floyd "Meddle - Ltd. Edition Trance Remix" -??- GER
Pink Floyd "More" Capitol USA
Pink Floyd "Obscured By Clouds" EMI BRIT
Pink Floyd "Obscured By Clouds - Ltd. Edition Trance Mix" -??- GER
Pink Floyd "Relics" EMI BRIT
Pink Floyd "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" EMI BRIT
Pink Floyd "The Wall" EMI BRIT
Pink Floyd "Ummagumma" EMI BRIT
Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" EMI BRIT
Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here - Ltd. Edition Trance Mix" -??- GER


SOLO Albums:

David Gilmour "David Gilmour" (1st album) Columbia USA
Nick Mason "Fictitious Sports" Sony Special Product USA
Richard Wright "Wet Dream" One Way / Sony USA

[time]

Re the Roger Waters interview: he's still an arrogant SOB, I see. :)

Actually, I fell out with Pink Floyd over The Wall. The only track I really liked was "Comfortably Numb", so I never bought the album.

I agree with you about the solo albums, although I haven't listened to Nick Mason's effort.

[tazwegion]

That's interesting Time 'The Wall' was actually what introduced me to the Pink Floyd phenomenon ;)

"Hey teacher!... leave them kids alone..." :boom:

[time]

"Hey teacher!... leave them kids alone..." :boom:
Just more really stupid ravings from Roger Waters, along with "we don't need no education". His mother was a teacher, BTW.

He wrote most of the lyrics, and most of them are pretentious drivel.

[tazwegion]

Hmmm... different horses, for different courses ;) I actually liked "The Wall" and found the movie intriguing, however my musical taste spans from popular classical to Hard Rock & Heavy Metal :lol: I just can't stand modern R&B though, all about me, me & me... name dropping + bling! bling! :roll:


Viva La ABBA! :aok:

[Splash]

Re the Roger Waters interview: he's still an arrogant SOB, I see. :)

Yes., that *immediately* hit me. In fact, I was quite surprised that Pink Floyd even did that reunion show at all (i.e. -- the Waters problem). I had read more than once that the director of the movie "The Wall" declared Roger waters a giant pain in the @ss to work with. This part of the interview pretty much summed it up well: "I don't keep anything. No T-shirts or backstage passes -- I have nothing at all of my past. I've been divorced so many times and moved so often...


Actually, I fell out with Pink Floyd over The Wall. The only track I really liked was "Comfortably Numb", so I never bought the album.

Are you from the camp who referred to "The Wall" as "Disco Floyd" when it came out? I don't count "The Wall" very high up my Pink Floyd album list, but its alright for the most part. Heck, now that I'm talking about this sort of thing, I'll just sort them in about the order that I like them (top = best):
Pink Floyd "Meddle"
Pink Floyd "Dark Side Of The Moon"
Pink Floyd "Obscured By Clouds"
Pink Floyd "A Saucerful Of Secrets"
Pink Floyd "Animals"
Pink Floyd "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn"
Pink Floyd "Ummagumma"
Pink Floyd "The Wall"
Pink Floyd "Atom Heart Mother"
Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here"




I agree with you about the solo albums, although I haven't listened to Nick Mason's effort.
Well... (chuckle) it's not really Nick Mason, it's actually Carla Bley's band and he is simply fulfilling the role as drummer.

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the grand old "Canterbury scene" from the late 60s / early 70s, but Robert Wyatt (of Soft Machine, Matching Mole, and solo fame) is vocalist on the whole "Fictitious Sports" album, and the rest is pretty much Carla Bley's regular band with Nick Mason playing the drums! If it wasn't for the fact that it's actually a pretty decent album, it would be panned by many as a rip-off.

Carla Bley's music is, in a nutshell, melodic artsy fartsy avant-garde jazz. Carla plays piano. Nick Mason's "Fictitious Sports" is NOTHING like Pink Floyd!

[Splash]

That's interesting 'The Wall' was actually what introduced me to the Pink Floyd phenomenon...

I'm pretty sure the first Pink Floyd album I heard (and subsequently bought) was the 2-LP set "Ummagumma" in 1970 -- though, I sometimes think that I might've actually heard either "Saucerful Of Secrets" or "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" before that and (for some reason) wasn't somehow impressed. About a year later, I bought the "Meddle" LP when it came out. "Dark Side Of The Moon" didn't come out until early in '73.




Hmmm... different horses, for different courses ;) I actually liked "The Wall" and found the movie intriguing,...

I saw the movie "The Wall" at a cinema house somewhere way back when. However, I had a couple of friends who were able to go see one of Pink Floyd's 6 or 7 or 8 scheduled "The Wall" concerts in 1980 in the Nassau County Colosseum out on Long Island (NYC). "The Wall" concerts were really theatrical events as much as concerts and only occurred in London, New York, and Los Angeles (and maybe one other place), because the huge and complicated stage setup was such a hassle to un-assemble and reassemble -- not to mention the typical multiple-truckloads of quadrophonic PA and music hardware they would usually haul around for a concert event.




...however my musical taste spans from popular classical to Hard Rock & Heavy Metal.

Well, I've got some wacky tastes in music.

Here's my (not updated) CD list. I know that I've added a few CDs and ditched a few more than I added since ast June. <chuckle> You might want to avoid most of these:


http://www.gary-hendershot.com/cd_list/

[i]

Well, I've got some wacky tastes in music.

Here's my (not updated) CD list. I know that I've added a few CDs and ditched a few more than I added since ast June. <chuckle> You might want to avoid most of these:


http://www.gary-hendershot.com/cd_list/



Is Harold Budd's "Pavilion of Dreams" any good?

[Splash]

Is Harold Budd's "Pavilion of Dreams" any good?

Hell ya! I wouldn't keep it around if it wasn't. :lol:


I don't particularly care for most of his later albums, though. However, I suspect I will like his recently-released album with Robin Guthrie (of Cocteau Twins fame) titled "Mysterious Skin" -- which I believe is a soundtrack to a movie.

And, I also hear that Harold Budd has decided to retire permanently from performing due to arthritis (I believe he's about 70 years old nowadays).

[Buck]

Dear musicians et al.,

I do not have a technical understanding of music, so I'm appealing to this group for an explanation of a riff. I've looked online for definition, and I believe that I have some idea. However, is a riff required to play through an entire song? Could (Is) a riff be one short segment? For example, is the beginning of Heart's Barracuda or Joe Walsh's Life's Been Good a riff? Thanks for your help.

[mubs]

Interesting Reuters News Story on Yahoo (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050923/music_nm/television_dylan_dc) about Scorsese's two-part documentary on Bob Dylan to be aired Monday and Tuesday on PBS: "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan". Supposedly very good. Paramount has also released this as a double-DVD set. Guess it's a must for Dylan fans.

[time]

Dylan fans still exist?

[time]

Buck, didn't see your post. Answers are No, Yes and Yes.

May your music be merry. 8)

[CityK]

Music, Nonestop. Technopop.
Nonestop.

[Splash]

I do not have a technical understanding of music, so I'm appealing to this group for an explanation of a riff...

A riff is simply the main theme of a pop song, or a song's "hook." It doesn't necessarily show up in the beginning of a song, but it will at least show up somewhere early. People that write riff-driven songs usually compose the riff -- usually by sitting around composing and polishing a riff, or stringing two or more riffs together to make a complete song. I usually hate riff-based rock, as half the time it’s just a sign that the composer ran out of original ideas.

There are a lot of common guitar riffs, such as a certain bunch that involve playing a note followed by lower-pitched note that’s rapidly bent up in pitch to the previously-played note. These riffs are what I’ve always called “ChuckBerry–isms,” which can be heard in “Johnny B. Goode” and about a million rock’n’roll songs since 1958. Other riffs may be much more complex than these ChuckBerry-isms.

[Buck]

I do not have a technical understanding of music, so I'm appealing to this group for an explanation of a riff...

A riff is simply the main theme of a pop song, or a song's "hook." It doesn't necessarily show up in the beginning of a song, but it will at least show up somewhere early. People that write riff-driven songs usually compose the riff -- usually by sitting around composing and polishing a riff, or stringing two or more riffs together to make a complete song. I usually hate riff-based rock, as half the time it’s just a sign that the composer ran out of original ideas.

There are a lot of common guitar riffs, such as a certain bunch that involve playing a note followed by lower-pitched note that’s rapidly bent up in pitch to the previously-played note. These riffs are what I’ve always called “ChuckBerry–isms,” which can be heard in “Johnny B. Goode” and about a million rock’n’roll songs since 1958. Other riffs may be much more complex than these ChuckBerry-isms.



Sorry this took so long Splash . . . thanks for the explanation. I'm of the school that likes some of that riff-driven music from the 50's and 60's.

Lately I've been playing songs from ELO -- glad I keep my albums around so I can always play them later in time.

[GMac]

ELO have come back into vogue over here of late also - their 2003 "Light Years" compilation (which I picked up on the cheap 18 months or so ago in a second-hand CD shop) is near the top of my iTunes favourites playlist. Jeff Lynne certainly knew how to write a good tune.....

GM

[Buck]

Currently listening to a nice Mozart piano concerto by Mitsuko Uchida released though Philips. It is an 8 CD set. Mitsuko recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra.

[P5-133XL]

Recently, I've gotten into Martina McBride.

[iGary]

Dylan fans still exist?

I thought "Dylan" was a crappy programming language that Apple invented in the '90s. ;)

http://osteele.com/museum/apple-dylan

[iGary]

http://garyhendershot.com/sf/YngwieHussein.jpg

[mubs]

Too bad he quit his day job. Not my cup o' tea - too guttural.

[Mercutio]

Over the weekend I found a CD of classical music composed specifically for performance on a theramin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theramin).
I am getting a kick out of it, even though it all sounds like it came out of an Ed Wood feature.

[GIANT]

Over the weekend I found a CD of classical music composed specifically for performance on a theramin...

Yep. Theramin. I've played a few briefly over the years. The last one I played was a couple of years ago, and it was the best one of the bunch.


http://www.moogmusic.com/detail.php?main_product_id=14

[GIANT]

A couple of *essential* videos for those learnng to play geetar.. <snicker>



http://www.youtube.com/v/evTTHS9hwvU


http://www.youtube.com/v/EpbpbaN0a5s

[.Nut]

So-called "classic rock" meets the latest twist in novelty acts:



http://www.acdshe.com/

http://www.cheapchick.com/

http://www.lezzeppelin.com/

[Mercutio]

Sting, the guy whom I remember from the movie version of Dune and everyone else remembers as an 80s rock star, has released an album of Elizabethan Madrigals. (http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Labyrinth-Sting/dp/B000HXDESU/sr=8-1/qid=1161009393/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-1591228-4607916?ie=UTF8)

WTF?!?

It sounds like he's doing it for serious/non-ironic reasons.

Which already makes it better than anything Paul "I have no talent and never ever did" McCartney's classical efforts.

But still... who the hell records 16th century Lute music?

[Mercutio]

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Complete Score (http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?r=1&ean=093624437628) will be released November 7th.

The Fellowship of the Ring complete score is amazing. Can't wait for the new one.

Also: Bear McCreary's scores for the (modern) Battlestar Galactica are extremely cool. Seriously. I've been buying the soundtracks as they came out (there are three, one for the mini-series, and one for each of two full seasons) but yesterday was the first time I listened to them. They make great "gaming music" - very dramatic, atmospheric stuff. The composer makes frequent use of non-traditional instruments, incorporates lots of non-Western music... and vocals are sung in, of all things, Esperanto.

[Sol]

That's what that is... I always wondered what language that was when I was watching BSG... Then it got kinda boring and I stopped, but it did always have pretty cool music...

[Mercutio]

In what horrid, post apocalyptic world do you live in that Battlestar Galactica is "boring?"

Oh. Australia.

Sooo... How are Mad Max and Master Blaster these days?

[Gilbo]

I was camping in Cape Breton this weekend. Literally, the first thing I did when I got back was download the torrent for this last weekend's Battlestar Galactica episode.

Boring? I haven't watched TV in two years! After watching Season 1 on DVD & Season 2 off torrents, I'm turning on the old tube every Saturday since Season 3 started up. Battlestar is science-fiction in its most true and its greatest tradition: displacing humanity and our culture into a setting to better examine serious social and political issues --and most of all, to bypass people's natural fingers-in-the-ear response to criticism of things they long ago decided were good/necessary. Oh, and I do have to admit the music is terrific; I hadn't considered buying the soundtrack --didn't even know they were available-- but I think I might check out at least one of the discs. I distinctly remember that the percussion in some of the Vyper scenes has definitely affected my heart rate. Any recommendations on which disc to buy if I was just going to get just one at Merc?


(I do have to admit there was a brief period in Season 2 where things were a little less awesome.)

[Gilbo]

Battlestar is science-fiction in its most true and its greatest tradition...
Bleh... Just had a very nice dinner with my girlfriend and polished off a bottle of wine in 30 minutes. I think she only had one glass. (Most true... jesus...)

How about, Battlestar is science-fiction in the true tradition of the best works of the genre.

[Stereodude]

I'm listening / watching BT's This Binary Universe DVD that comes with the Audio CD. It's got DTS 5.1 and some trippy video synced to the music.

[Mercutio]

Gilbo, PM me and we'll work on that soundtrack thing. ;)

[Sol]

I guess all the political/emotional issues towards the end of season 2 bored me. The politics and emotional factors are part of what made the series worth watching in the first place but when it got so there was nothing else for a few episodes it was like watching a soap opera in space and I stopped really caring about what happened to the characters...

[Mercutio]

Sol, you need to track down and watch the most recent two episodes of BSG. The three episodes of season three leading up to the most recent have been what I would call the extended foreplay leading up to a HOLY SHIT OH MY GOD OH MY GOD YES YES YES climax.

[Clocker]

I like this music, especially at very high volume on an excellent stereo....

http://www.kevandshan.com/music/gladiator.zip

[Mercutio]

Hans Zimmer has some AWESOME film music to his credit.
My personal favorite is the piece called "Journey to the Line" from The Thin Red Line, but he's also responsible for Crimson Tide, Backdraft and The DaVinci Code (which is nice but rather more repetitive than I expected).

The first track on the Gladiator soundtrack is a theme that's basically ripped whole from Henryk Gorecki's Third Symphony ("The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"). As it happens I wrote something about that particular work just a few days ago...


Henryk Gorecki's Third Symphony is unique in classical music. In a world where contemporary classical music is a niche even less visible than sub-genres of gospel music, broke on to the charts. No, not the classical charts, the Pop charts. The ones that usually feature Madonna and Britney Spears. Composed in 1976 and recorded in 1991 with a very young soprano named Dawn Upshaw as the vocal soloist, The Symphony of Sorrorful Songs somehow made enough of an impression that it came to be known outside the small remainders of the classical music-buying public.

Simply put, Gorecki's Third symphony is the musical evocation of grief. Not grief in in a country music sense. Pain in a "They are committing a mass genocide of my people"-sense. Which is fitting, because Gorecki wrote the symphony as a rememberance of the end of Hitler's occupation of Poland.

Each of the three movements in the symphony includes a lengthy soprano solo - a prayer or plea, voiced by a mother or a child, for a child or a parent. The soloist is grieving and haunted, but her voice swells to transcend pain, into something that is wrought with righteous purity. The words are sung in Polish and in Latin, and their meaning, even without language, is clear from the swelling bass drama beneath them and the pleading anguish in every note formed on the soloist's mouth. Grieving mothers, children lost to brutality, are a thing more universal than any language.

I am literally transfixed by this music. The emotional response I have to it is a wellspring of tears. Tears! I cry as I listen, every time. How can one not respond, knowing that the words sung in the second movement are a farewell letter, found scrawled on a wall at Birkenau, to the mother of a young woman about to be sent to the gas chambers?

I do not know why this piece of music captivated public imagination so. There's no dancing pop diva, nor a pounding bass line nor an amplified electric guitar. It is a symphony orchestra, a young woman with a powerful voice and some utterly heartbreaking words that must be sung.


If you're going to crib a heavily emotional piece of music, you might as well start with something that has an appropriate gravitas.

Anyway... Film music.

I really like James Newton Howard's stuff. He did the scoring for Unbreakable.

Not even gonna mention Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings stuff, beyond this.

A score that I really like, oddly, is Vangelis' Bladerunner. Vangelis is basically a cheesy new age-type composer, but the mixed sensibilities of near-future noir and synthesized jazz really work.

Clocker, you'd probably go for Basil Poledouris's Conan the Barbarian score if you like Gladiator's. Lots of bombastic, basso-profundo stuff.

I really like Ennico Morricone's film work. Morricone wrote the positively iconic themes for Clint Easywood's spaghetti westerns, among other things.

Heat was the movie that featured the first on-screen meeting of Pacino and DeNiro. It also has an uber-cool mix of avant-garde classical and electronica tracks.

Wanna know a great movie score? Last of the Mohicans. It's usually ranked as one of the all-time top selling CDs on Amazon.com (Amazon sales rank 1221 as of this writing).

Whenever I talk about soundtracks I also wind up mentioning Solaris, cause it is also a damned cool score.

Anyway, that's a start.

[ddrueding]

Just bought the first album of a new band from SF called Honeycut. Not really the style of others here; but I really enjoy it, and I think the production is brilliant. I've been reading a book called "This is your brain on music"; and this band works all the right emotional angles in their songs.

[Stereodude]

You can't forget "The Rock".

[Clocker]

Merc-
I will definitely check that out. Thanks for the suggestions.

Bombastic...definitely a word I need to start using. Nice.

[Stereodude]

The first track on the Gladiator soundtrack is a theme that's basically ripped whole from Henryk Gorecki's Third Symphony ("The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs").

Gorecki must have ripped off Gustav Holst's The Planets then too, because the whole Gladiator soundtrack borrows heavily from it. In fact the Gustav Holst Foundation is suing Zimmer. http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/4750.html

[Mercutio]

That would not surprise me a bit.

Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughn Williams each have an extremely litigious estate; both produced Anglican hymns that were printed in the standard CoE hymnal until British law extended copyright to some new and unreasonable number of years after the author's death.

[Stereodude]

Did Disney go bribe their gov't too?