Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Jazz list
Below is my previous picks , but with the fascist brian Doyle rules for vinyle toofers applied....this totals 31 picks
Steve Colman -Resistence is Futile
Anita oday-Cool heat
Frank Sinatra - The wee small hours
Getz Gilberto- Getz Gilberto
Shepp & Waldron- Left alone revisited
Jim Hall - Concerto de Aranjez (spelling ??)
McCoy Tyner -the real McCoy
Miles Davis's score (Ascenseur pour l’échafaud )
Miles Davis - Cooking
Miles davis- Relaxin
Miles davis - kind of blue
Wayne Shorter ...Speak no evil
Louis Armstrong meets Oscar Peterson
Monk- -Theolonius monk trio (prestige)
Monk- Monk w sonny Rollins(prestige)
Monk- Monk- alone in san francisco (riverside)
Monk - Brilliant corners
Monk- Monk & Coltrane at carnegie hall
Oliver nelson- the blues and the abstract truth
Blossum Dearie- Once upon a summertime
Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, Dizzie Gillespie- Sonny Side up
Coltrane-Love supreme
Hancock-maiden Voyage
Billy Holiday-Lady sings the blues
Keith jarett-Koln Concert
Bud Powell-Amazing Bud Powell on blue note volumes 1
Bud Powell-Amazing Bud Powell on blue note volumes 2
Ben Webster and Joe Zawinul-Soulmates
Sonny Rollins-Tenor madness
Sonny Rollins-Saxophone Colossus
Dextor Gorden-Go
Moving on from here I add the following
Miles davis- miles smiles
John Coltrane- Giant steps
john Coltrane- my favorite things
Chet Baker- chet
cannonball Adderly- something else
Mingus-mingus mingus mingus
Mingus- ah um
Bill evans trio -portrait in jazz
sarah vaughn- lullaby of birdland
Dexter Gorden - getting around
The greatest jazz concert ever ( at massey hall)
Duke Ellington - the blanton webster years ( this is a comp but there was no original album as it is from so long ago)
Below is my previous picks , but with the fascist brian Doyle rules for vinyle toofers applied....this totals 31 picks
Steve Colman -Resistence is Futile
Anita oday-Cool heat
Frank Sinatra - The wee small hours
Getz Gilberto- Getz Gilberto
Shepp & Waldron- Left alone revisited
Jim Hall - Concerto de Aranjez (spelling ??)
McCoy Tyner -the real McCoy
Miles Davis's score (Ascenseur pour l’échafaud )
Miles Davis - Cooking
Miles davis- Relaxin
Miles davis - kind of blue
Wayne Shorter ...Speak no evil
Louis Armstrong meets Oscar Peterson
Monk- -Theolonius monk trio (prestige)
Monk- Monk w sonny Rollins(prestige)
Monk- Monk- alone in san francisco (riverside)
Monk - Brilliant corners
Monk- Monk & Coltrane at carnegie hall
Oliver nelson- the blues and the abstract truth
Blossum Dearie- Once upon a summertime
Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, Dizzie Gillespie- Sonny Side up
Coltrane-Love supreme
Hancock-maiden Voyage
Billy Holiday-Lady sings the blues
Keith jarett-Koln Concert
Bud Powell-Amazing Bud Powell on blue note volumes 1
Bud Powell-Amazing Bud Powell on blue note volumes 2
Ben Webster and Joe Zawinul-Soulmates
Sonny Rollins-Tenor madness
Sonny Rollins-Saxophone Colossus
Dextor Gorden-Go
Moving on from here I add the following
Miles davis- miles smiles
John Coltrane- Giant steps
john Coltrane- my favorite things
Chet Baker- chet
cannonball Adderly- something else
Mingus-mingus mingus mingus
Mingus- ah um
Bill evans trio -portrait in jazz
sarah vaughn- lullaby of birdland
Dexter Gorden - getting around
The greatest jazz concert ever ( at massey hall)
Duke Ellington - the blanton webster years ( this is a comp but there was no original album as it is from so long ago)
Monday, August 28, 2006
item 3) sixties list....well i hate to say it, but Brian you have pretty much nailed my thoughts on it, and while I tend to want to make sure the main bands are covered , (even while it is a list of songs , not bands), I think they did get out of shape on it as you point out ....so being a lazy ass, and since you did most of my work for me, Ill quibble with your account rather then theirs.....I agree that the beatles should be way ahead of the rest in song count, Id have to put Dylan and the stones a much closer tie for 2nd ( so if you give the beatles 15, to 20 give dylan and the stones 10 to 15 each, at least thats my personal reality....I could pick those songs for you but im getting damn sick of lists for some reason now and Ill let you all chose your own fucking songs. I just dont get the beach boys knighting in the press at all and to a lesser degree ray davies...they simply are not even in 3rd or 4th place for me .....not even close, but again lists ........ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
ahhhhhhhhh...too many lists.....ok so I need closure on some of these outstanding issues....The love decapo debate.....- so Brian if you admit that side 2 is a failed experiment, then for you to consider this albnum so highly the songs on side 1 must rank as exceptional to compensate for the failed single song experiment on the flipside...I have listened to those songs repeatedly over the last 3 weeks and while I have always thought half of them to be quite good ( Orange skies, Ique Vido, she comes in colours) I have never thought that the side as a whole was exceptional. So by my math 1/2 of 1/2 an album = 25 percent of the record being quite good...
I have so many other albums that meet this standard that if this was my benchmark for a great album I would concider most of my collection to apply....In short, you are wrong once again....2)my jass list : to be completed very soon
I have so many other albums that meet this standard that if this was my benchmark for a great album I would concider most of my collection to apply....In short, you are wrong once again....2)my jass list : to be completed very soon
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Yet another interesting list to review.....and so I will, but first a couple of more thoughts on the sixties list.
I did a quick count of how many times some of the major artists appear on the list, and was interested to see that each of The Kinks, The Stones, The Beatles, The Velvets, The Beach Boys, and Dylan are each given five songs. Simon and Garfunkel and The Who were good for four appearances, and Led Zeppelin (from its first two records only) and The Zombies were there three times.
It reinforced a thought I had as I read through in increasing frustration, that the list was done almost on a quota basis, to ensure that they couldn't be accused of missing the big names, but also to create room to over-emphasize the P/F critical darlings of the moment (far beyond their merit in my view), who would appear to be the Beach Boys and the Kinks. So, I may as well just say it, I think the Beatles probably deserve ten to fifteen spots on the list, not just for their genre busters that P/F has chosen like Eleanor Rigby, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Tomorrow Never Knows, I am the Walrus (a terrible choice in my opinion), but more importantly for the songs that they wrote and played better than anybody at the time or likely since. Early period stuff like She Loves You, Please Please Me, All My Loving, Can't Buy Me Love, slightly later stuff like Hard Day's Night, I Feel Fine, And I Love Her, If I Fell, Eight Days a Week, Help, Ticket to Ride, Hide Your Love Away, mid-period gems like Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, In My Life, Michelle, I'm Looking Through You, Yesterday (the most covered song in the history of music, incidentally), Day Tripper, Paperback Writer, almost any freaking song off of Revolver (and to be fair they chose two), and the psychedelic era stuff (Day in the Life is there thank God) like Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane (which I personally think exemplifies Brit pop best of all to this day), All You Need is Love, Fool on the Hill, and late period classics like Hey Jude, Come Together, Something, Here Comes the Sun, Across the Universe, and Let it Be. Just to name a few. I'm sure y'all have your own favourites, and I'm sure that not all of you agree, but in my view no band has ever written and performed so many songs of such magnificence. All in seven years. Incredible. Any sixties list should be laced with the Beatles, literally stuffed with them. They changed the rules forever and for everybody. And yet, apparently The Kinks, The Beach Boys, and even the Velvet Underground had as many songs that needed to be on the list (Dylan and the Stones I'm OK with, though I argue with the choices). I absolutely love the Kinks and VU (more on the Beach Boys in a minute) but come on....what utter nonsense.
So someone please help me with the concept of the Beach Boys as the best / most important band of the sixties. I'm serious - help.
I get that they explored innocence and loss, that they therefore captured a particular zeitgeist, that their vocal arrangements are out of this world, but it stops there for me. Definitely a top twenty band of the sixties for BD. No question. But I truly doubt that the BB's were listened to as seriously or as widely at the time (particularly not the Pet Sounds period, which was after they were at their most popular) as the Beatles, Stones, or Dylan, they participated in none of the defining musical events of the sixties, and many of the songs have dated terribly in my view - the lyrics are often puerile, and the Phil Spector-ish Wall of Sound production style on Pet Sound though important in its time is a relic compared to the cleaner, fuller sounds of the same period by the Beatles (Revolver) and Stones (Aftermath). I won't deny they had a shining moment in Pet Sounds, but it sure as hell doesn't warrant two songs from the record being in the top seven. And Good Vibrations (#21) is their greatest single.
I'm running on a bit here, so a couple more quick thoughts - a sixties list without Satisfaction is a joke. In fact, all of the Stones songs chosen were post 1966, thereby ignoring a fantastic (and important) period that included 19th Nervous B/Down, Get Off My Cloud, The Last Time and numerous others.
Mixing modern composition (Reich, Axelrod), country, and jazz into the list is silly. These things are largely incomparable, and ruins the purity of the list that simply looks at the pop charts. Just for example, Coltrane is there with Favourite Things (but not Love Supreme), but no Miles Davis, no Wayne Shorter, no Lee Morgan...and yet there's room for the Shirelles, the Shangri-Las, yadda yadda. Ok sure.
Nice to see Nico at 31 with These Days. Great song.
Three Zombies tracks (which is great), but not Time of The Season. Again, don't try so hard Pitchfork.
Re Dylan, I get that his early electric period (Highway 61 and Blonde on Blonde) is uber-cool as we sit in 2006 (and yeah it's great) but his early folk period, which influenced so many songwriters and inspired people in the social movements of the day have got to be there - choose from Blowin' in the Wind, Times They are a Changin', Masters of War.... Don't Think Twice is a great little ditty but misses the point.
Eight Miles High at 109 is just silly. It's a top tener. And not having either or both of Mr. Tambourine Man or Turn Turn Turn doesn't cut it.
And finally, I Want You Back is sure as fuck NOT the second best song of the sixties. And the Sam Cooke song as #3, though well-intentioned, is equally comical.
I did a quick count of how many times some of the major artists appear on the list, and was interested to see that each of The Kinks, The Stones, The Beatles, The Velvets, The Beach Boys, and Dylan are each given five songs. Simon and Garfunkel and The Who were good for four appearances, and Led Zeppelin (from its first two records only) and The Zombies were there three times.
It reinforced a thought I had as I read through in increasing frustration, that the list was done almost on a quota basis, to ensure that they couldn't be accused of missing the big names, but also to create room to over-emphasize the P/F critical darlings of the moment (far beyond their merit in my view), who would appear to be the Beach Boys and the Kinks. So, I may as well just say it, I think the Beatles probably deserve ten to fifteen spots on the list, not just for their genre busters that P/F has chosen like Eleanor Rigby, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Tomorrow Never Knows, I am the Walrus (a terrible choice in my opinion), but more importantly for the songs that they wrote and played better than anybody at the time or likely since. Early period stuff like She Loves You, Please Please Me, All My Loving, Can't Buy Me Love, slightly later stuff like Hard Day's Night, I Feel Fine, And I Love Her, If I Fell, Eight Days a Week, Help, Ticket to Ride, Hide Your Love Away, mid-period gems like Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, In My Life, Michelle, I'm Looking Through You, Yesterday (the most covered song in the history of music, incidentally), Day Tripper, Paperback Writer, almost any freaking song off of Revolver (and to be fair they chose two), and the psychedelic era stuff (Day in the Life is there thank God) like Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane (which I personally think exemplifies Brit pop best of all to this day), All You Need is Love, Fool on the Hill, and late period classics like Hey Jude, Come Together, Something, Here Comes the Sun, Across the Universe, and Let it Be. Just to name a few. I'm sure y'all have your own favourites, and I'm sure that not all of you agree, but in my view no band has ever written and performed so many songs of such magnificence. All in seven years. Incredible. Any sixties list should be laced with the Beatles, literally stuffed with them. They changed the rules forever and for everybody. And yet, apparently The Kinks, The Beach Boys, and even the Velvet Underground had as many songs that needed to be on the list (Dylan and the Stones I'm OK with, though I argue with the choices). I absolutely love the Kinks and VU (more on the Beach Boys in a minute) but come on....what utter nonsense.
So someone please help me with the concept of the Beach Boys as the best / most important band of the sixties. I'm serious - help.
I get that they explored innocence and loss, that they therefore captured a particular zeitgeist, that their vocal arrangements are out of this world, but it stops there for me. Definitely a top twenty band of the sixties for BD. No question. But I truly doubt that the BB's were listened to as seriously or as widely at the time (particularly not the Pet Sounds period, which was after they were at their most popular) as the Beatles, Stones, or Dylan, they participated in none of the defining musical events of the sixties, and many of the songs have dated terribly in my view - the lyrics are often puerile, and the Phil Spector-ish Wall of Sound production style on Pet Sound though important in its time is a relic compared to the cleaner, fuller sounds of the same period by the Beatles (Revolver) and Stones (Aftermath). I won't deny they had a shining moment in Pet Sounds, but it sure as hell doesn't warrant two songs from the record being in the top seven. And Good Vibrations (#21) is their greatest single.
I'm running on a bit here, so a couple more quick thoughts - a sixties list without Satisfaction is a joke. In fact, all of the Stones songs chosen were post 1966, thereby ignoring a fantastic (and important) period that included 19th Nervous B/Down, Get Off My Cloud, The Last Time and numerous others.
Mixing modern composition (Reich, Axelrod), country, and jazz into the list is silly. These things are largely incomparable, and ruins the purity of the list that simply looks at the pop charts. Just for example, Coltrane is there with Favourite Things (but not Love Supreme), but no Miles Davis, no Wayne Shorter, no Lee Morgan...and yet there's room for the Shirelles, the Shangri-Las, yadda yadda. Ok sure.
Nice to see Nico at 31 with These Days. Great song.
Three Zombies tracks (which is great), but not Time of The Season. Again, don't try so hard Pitchfork.
Re Dylan, I get that his early electric period (Highway 61 and Blonde on Blonde) is uber-cool as we sit in 2006 (and yeah it's great) but his early folk period, which influenced so many songwriters and inspired people in the social movements of the day have got to be there - choose from Blowin' in the Wind, Times They are a Changin', Masters of War.... Don't Think Twice is a great little ditty but misses the point.
Eight Miles High at 109 is just silly. It's a top tener. And not having either or both of Mr. Tambourine Man or Turn Turn Turn doesn't cut it.
And finally, I Want You Back is sure as fuck NOT the second best song of the sixties. And the Sam Cooke song as #3, though well-intentioned, is equally comical.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Just catching up on my NPR: All Songs Considered podcasts and came across a discussion of Paste Magazine's 100 Best Living Songwriters so of course I've linked to it here and you're, as always, welcome to leave your comments.
What struck me in hearing this list read out and then looking through it online:
-NPR podcasts are awesome...really, you need to subscribe
What struck me in hearing this list read out and then looking through it online:
- so many great living musicians, so few great albums these days
- Cat rates two below Sufjan, in the Battle of the Stevens department
- seeing Ray Davies at #41 must have the denizens of Pitchfork media in a tizzy, given the number of Kinks songs they included in the Top 200 singles from the 60s
- hurray for the inclusion of Public Enemy and its location in the same bracket as Loretta Lynn
- i'm so addicted to these lists and can't really help but link to them
I'm an 80s guy so I'm thinking Robert Smith (The Cure) should have been included.
Any glaring omissions for you?
--NPR podcasts are awesome...really, you need to subscribe
Monday, August 21, 2006
geeze louise list mania.....i dunno , picking songs is much more difficult then records for me, but any list that included wichita lineman,( glen campbel) cant be all that wrong...though , I sure wouldnt pick any jackson 5 song at number 2, and fortunate son as the best CCR song????....its also way too american focused (notwithstanding the obligatory stones, kinks, zeppelin and beatles)....
Ill have to take a closer look.....
s
Ill have to take a closer look.....
s
Friday, August 18, 2006
Hey cool list and great subject for debate. Looks like the top 20 just got posted too. I've done a once through and will comment in nauseating detail later, but let me begin by saying, TWO SONGS OFF OF PET SOUNDS IN THE TOP FIVE IS COMPLETELY FUCKED!!!
God Only Knows is the greatest song of the sixties?!?!? I'll say it again.....God Only Knows (oh never mind). I will allow (without rancour) that God Only Knows is the best song on Pet Sounds.
Something about these dudes at Pitchfork is really beginning to bug me.
Re DaCapo. I await my vindication. (And if you don't like it, keep listening until you do, or until you're tired of the record and don't feel like blogging on it).
Derek reminded me to post my top ten jazz. Comin' up.
God Only Knows is the greatest song of the sixties?!?!? I'll say it again.....God Only Knows (oh never mind). I will allow (without rancour) that God Only Knows is the best song on Pet Sounds.
Something about these dudes at Pitchfork is really beginning to bug me.
Re DaCapo. I await my vindication. (And if you don't like it, keep listening until you do, or until you're tired of the record and don't feel like blogging on it).
Derek reminded me to post my top ten jazz. Comin' up.
As luck would have it, some tech savvy Love fans have seen fit to upload a copy of 'Da Capo' at Torrentbox so i'll soon be able to listen to it and figure out a) what the hell you're both going on about and b) which of you two is more full of shit.
Speaking of music from the 60s, what do you all think of Pitchfork's 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s ? Surely some teeth-gnashing and rending of garments will ensue...
Speaking of music from the 60s, what do you all think of Pitchfork's 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s ? Surely some teeth-gnashing and rending of garments will ensue...
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Stuart, you miserable bastard.....I would have thought a man of your, let's say, sensibilities would have appreciated the melodic, romantic, psychedelic-flamenco-flavoured genius of side one of Da Capo. Da Capo, Orange Skies, Stephanie Know Who, and especially She Comes in Colours would make up a greatest hits record for any other band. Side 2 I grant you is a failed experiment in 60's boundary-expanding album concept - a full side of fairly mindless jamming which likely seemed a cool idea at the time (again, those hallucinogens). Listen to Side 1 and get back to me.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Hate to interrupt my vacation but I can't just sit idly by while Arthur Lee is unfairly discounted.
Stuart - Good God man!
Conceiving and recording Forever Changes (sure, Bryan Maclean wrote two great songs on the record, but it is AL's project by and large) in and of itself is enough to justify a spot in the annals of recording history, it is that good (but I'll hold off on a full disertation), and truly unique....trivia question, name a band inspired by Love? (good luck.....). BUT, FC's predecessor, Da Capo, is a fantastic record. And Four Sail, the album immediately after FC (after Lee famously fired the entire band), is incredibly strong as well, if quite different. Taken as a three album set this puts Love right up there. Shame AL was burnt out at the age of 25, but hey, he was not alone in the sixties. And maybe psychedelic drugs weren't so fucking freeing after all.
Re Lemonheads, I've always been a big fan, but have considered them a bit of a guilty pleasure, given Evan's status as a rock hotty in the early nineties. I saw them live about seven or eight years ago and it was a very memorable show (except in one respect, who was with me, one or more of you guys?). Shame About Ray is a delightful record filled with great songs...time for me to re-listen, fave songs off the top of my head are Confetti, Ray, Rudderless, Hannah and Gabi, and Alison. Like Stu the Lou-Rawls-loving-Arthur-Lee-hating asshole, I also downloaded a bunch of songs from Baby I'm Bored and thought it was really solid, well worth investigating. Come on Feel the Lemonheads (the one after Ray) is also a pretty strong record.
OK, back to my suburban Ottawa holiday. Corona anyone?
Stuart - Good God man!
Conceiving and recording Forever Changes (sure, Bryan Maclean wrote two great songs on the record, but it is AL's project by and large) in and of itself is enough to justify a spot in the annals of recording history, it is that good (but I'll hold off on a full disertation), and truly unique....trivia question, name a band inspired by Love? (good luck.....). BUT, FC's predecessor, Da Capo, is a fantastic record. And Four Sail, the album immediately after FC (after Lee famously fired the entire band), is incredibly strong as well, if quite different. Taken as a three album set this puts Love right up there. Shame AL was burnt out at the age of 25, but hey, he was not alone in the sixties. And maybe psychedelic drugs weren't so fucking freeing after all.
Re Lemonheads, I've always been a big fan, but have considered them a bit of a guilty pleasure, given Evan's status as a rock hotty in the early nineties. I saw them live about seven or eight years ago and it was a very memorable show (except in one respect, who was with me, one or more of you guys?). Shame About Ray is a delightful record filled with great songs...time for me to re-listen, fave songs off the top of my head are Confetti, Ray, Rudderless, Hannah and Gabi, and Alison. Like Stu the Lou-Rawls-loving-Arthur-Lee-hating asshole, I also downloaded a bunch of songs from Baby I'm Bored and thought it was really solid, well worth investigating. Come on Feel the Lemonheads (the one after Ray) is also a pretty strong record.
OK, back to my suburban Ottawa holiday. Corona anyone?
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
I read about arthur lee and in contrast to lou rawls, here is a guy who certainly got his critical dues....While I do love forever changes, I have some other stuff which isnt nearly as good, and while not to rain on his parade ( or funeral march as it were) , I wonder that he didnt get almost too much acclaim.. ( i hear fists smaking Brians desk top) .......
quelle coincidence...I just bought lovey last week.....Marc introduced me to the lemonheads some years ago and its a shame about ray is an absolute stunner.....along with lowest of the lows shakespeare for straight ahead but wistfull rock/ pop/ roots. I also bought Evan Dandos solo record ..baby im bored...of a few years ago which is also terrific.....unfortunately I dont get anything like this out of lovey, but ive only played it twice so far.....is there anything else in the back catalogue worth pursuing.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Not quite sure what that last stream of conciousness post was so I'll just ignore it.
Being the rather anal fuck that I am I spent a fair bit of time today tidying up some space in order that the baby to be would have some space for its collection of stuff. Figure it's always easier for the guy than asking the woman to ditch the clothes she's collected over the last two decades.
Part of the fun of throwing away old junk is playing music to jibe with your nostalgic mood. When I put on the Lemonheads "It's A Shame About Ray" it was like I was hearing it for the first time. What a brilliant, if extremely truncated, record. Loved "My Drug Buddy", "Bit Part" and "Alison's Starting to Happen" especially. I think I'll have to go back and give "Lovey" another spin as perhaps I didn't give these guys the credit they deserved.
And in case you didn't hear Arthur "Love" Lee passed away last Thursday.
Being the rather anal fuck that I am I spent a fair bit of time today tidying up some space in order that the baby to be would have some space for its collection of stuff. Figure it's always easier for the guy than asking the woman to ditch the clothes she's collected over the last two decades.
Part of the fun of throwing away old junk is playing music to jibe with your nostalgic mood. When I put on the Lemonheads "It's A Shame About Ray" it was like I was hearing it for the first time. What a brilliant, if extremely truncated, record. Loved "My Drug Buddy", "Bit Part" and "Alison's Starting to Happen" especially. I think I'll have to go back and give "Lovey" another spin as perhaps I didn't give these guys the credit they deserved.
And in case you didn't hear Arthur "Love" Lee passed away last Thursday.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Since when did this site become e-bay? Was that Saab promo aimed at me by any chance?
As for the Pitchfork best of the 70s list that was one of my starting points in compiling the CDs. However given the relative obscurity of many of the choices it didn't really help all that much. And I don't know if you noticed Stuart but they've somehow managed to leave out picks #21-30. The list has been posted for over 2 years you would think somebody at Pitchfork might have noticed by now.
As for the Pitchfork best of the 70s list that was one of my starting points in compiling the CDs. However given the relative obscurity of many of the choices it didn't really help all that much. And I don't know if you noticed Stuart but they've somehow managed to leave out picks #21-30. The list has been posted for over 2 years you would think somebody at Pitchfork might have noticed by now.
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