You really think there is a meaningful comparison between Blossom Dearie and Inara George? Based on your post I've listened to several of her recordings and, quite frankly, while she has a pleasant voice, she is just a barely competent pop singer, like maybe she could do a commercial or a soundtrack for a TV show on FOX. By contrast, Blossom gigged with Clifford Brown. She had a contract with Verve in the 1950s. Blossom sings Cole Porter in a manner indicating she understands what was intended by the composer. Inara George and Blossome Dearie is an oddball comparison, like Kenny G versus John Coltrane or Celine Dione versus Billy Holiday, or Yanni versus J.S. Bach. Just don't do it, and we'll all feel better.

Rrrreow!

Of course we're talkin' apples n oranges(or david and goliath) here. But, that frission offers unique opportunities for flux, alchemy, the sacred marriage ov thee banal and thee exalted.

The s/o received Inara George for Christmas. I'd never heard of her. We popped her cd into the rentacar and I was decidedly nonplussed...until we hit "No Poem" thru "Pull Things." Yeah, before that string of great writing/performance I was groaning, "NPR Starbucks Cat Power wishuponastar."

The aforementioned string of songs are as credible, inviting, and intelligent as any self-aware pop I've grokked in several years. It's bookended by fluff. It's not necessarily timeless. It shuffles my deck, wraps me in fat and felt, busts my box, the orgone evaporates, penetrates those atmospheres that the most lauded, embalmed cabaret denizens creak and crack when they try to remember; velvet, summer, the forgiveness of bartenders, street lights gone all hazy pulsing messages: Mars needs guitars.

anyway...

...I am impelled to offer that I neither listen to NPR(and so remained untainted by their contextualization of yuppie tastes) nor do I patronize Starbucks(because I prefer tea). Maybe I came to Ms. George fresh. When NPR puts Kiss the Anus of the Black Cat, Patty Waters, and Francis Fay(gay, gay, gay) into heavy rotation then I'll lend a severed ear.

his hipness christopher gordon wrote:Just a few observations: the surviving members of This Heat have formed a new label specifically to distribute their seminal recordings(huzzah for me cuz I've only ever gotten my hands on bits here and there).

what is the label called?

Totally agree with the Feldman "for Bunita Marcus" pick. YUM.

why is it unshocking that many of us here are also music obsessive?

Queijo wrote:

his hipness christopher gordon wrote:Just a few observations: the surviving members of This Heat have formed a new label specifically to distribute their seminal recordings(huzzah for me cuz I've only ever gotten my hands on bits here and there).

what is the label called?

Totally agree with the Feldman "for Bunita Marcus" pick. YUM.

why is it unshocking that many of us here are also music obsessive?

oh dear lord, I'm anything but hip:

I hate to do this to you, but the This Heat info I found skimming the most recent domestic issue of The Wire(the one with the attatched cd). 10 bucks gets you new music !?!...hence I can't find it online...and can't remember the specifics, but, if I recall, it'll be a fairly widespread relaunch. I've heard more Charles Hayward than This Heat and I SO want to get a good listen.

Nothing's Shocking-Jane's Addiction

if I wanted to read the wire i'd poke my eyes out and have the true under-25 hipsters read it to me. Or maybe I'd just steal their copy.

I think you are referring to This Is! distributed by ReR Megacorp, as mentioned in my first post?

Christopher Gordon wrote:Ever play out?

No plans right now. I'm much more of a hermetic producer-type than a performer. Thanks for the kind words; it means a lot.

Queijo wrote:if I wanted to read the wire i'd poke my eyes out and have the true under-25 hipsters read it to me. Or maybe I'd just steal their copy.

I think you are referring to This Is! distributed by ReR Megacorp, as mentioned in my first post?

Oh...give The Wire a break(really, some of us have been reading it post-Option(woohoo...Mekons) for a long time...it wasn't always that way(remember when they fellated Steve Lacy?). And, yes...I believe This Is! is the first scheduled release. Also...that's why I skim most Wires in the record store.

tapler wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:Ever play out?

No plans right now. I'm much more of a hermetic producer-type than a performer. Thanks for the kind words; it means a lot.

I gotta go to bed..I'm glad to lend an (attached) ear. I played your links for some friends. Please post more if when.

okay...I can't resist(haven't I seen them mentioned on here before?):

http://www.gemueseorchester.org/anfang_e.htm

gute nacht

JimInLoganSquare wrote:I've tried and failed to get in tune with Morton Feldman; but I want to get him. I have a couple of "played once" Feldman recordings in my collection (e.g., "For Samuel Beckett" performed by Klangforum Wien on Kairos). Erik, where do you think I should start to develop my taste?

Oh, Jim, you've gone about it all wrong.

It's simple, really:

Throw Webern's Symphony Op. 21 on the hifi and stare at Guston's Zone.

That will take you right to the heart of the matter.

I (only kinda) kid.

You might find some of these "texts" interesting. Particularly, Dore Ashton's essay, "New York - Feldman's Music," Molly and Paul Paccione's essay, "Did Modernism Fail Morton Feldman?," Peter Gena's conversation with Felman from 1982 (originally published in TriQuarterly), and Kyle Gannon's essay, "Almost Too Beautiful."

And, we can talk off-list.

E.M.

For people who rave about down-home, old-fashioned cooking, your musical tastes are awfully artsy-fartsy.

For me, stick to rootsy, oft-acoustic music such as Glen Phillips, Nickel Creek, Blue Merle, John Hiatt, Los Lonely Boys, Rachel Yamagata, The Grateful Dead, with forays into the great sarcastic lyricists: Pat MacDonald/Timbuk3, Joe Jackson, and Elvis Costello.

Has anyone tried http://www.pandora.com ? It creates a 'radio station' based on a few choices of yours, and, TiVo-like, starts finding other music it thinks fits your mood. It's best to set up different 'channels' for different styles of music you like: otherwise you get a generic mystery meat average, if you say you like both Black Sabbath and Fiona Apple.

haven't tried pandora but listen to launchcast (yahoo) uk at work - my personalized station rocks! The one problem is that everything is major label, and as you might surmise, for those of us with 'ahtsy-fahtsy' taste might find some of our favorites not included on the play list. But my taste in music is like my taste in food -- I enjoy things across the spectrum (I've become more open minded as I've aged) and so there is always something good to hear.

Queijo wrote:haven't tried pandora but listen to launchcast (yahoo) uk at work - my personalized station rocks! The one problem is that everything is major label, and as you might surmise, for those of us with 'ahtsy-fahtsy' taste might find some of our favorites not included on the play list. But my taste in music is like my taste in food -- I enjoy things across the spectrum (I've become more open minded as I've aged) and so there is always something good to hear.

Have you tried listening to Radio Paradise? It's my current favorite online "radio" station.

some old off air recordings of Triad..for those that remeber..WXFM in Chicago circa 1973

and while we are at it, how about WFMU?

Mike G opened his mouth and drooled the following onto the keyboard wrote:Although it's disappointing that she doesn't do Keith Moon's drum part in "I Can See For Miles," which is pretty much the only thing justifying the existence of the drum in human history.

Hey, what's this...? Getting a psychic response from... yes! Carnak! He says, "May Art Blakey show your wife his paradiddle..." HEYYY-OHH!!!

I guess this is one of those Wichita-style jokes that my stupid East Coast sensibility just doesn't get, like Pizza Hut or Kansans. As far as the Who, I always thought they were overblown, pretentious, pseudo-rock at its worst - hearing Sell Out (points for being sampled by Tortoise included) did nothing to change this opinion. I'll lay 6-5 that Daltrey will be the next one to go to Armenia, City in the Sky (let's hope).

Listening to: Nurse With Wound, Rock N Roll Station; Tocotronic, Es ist Egal, Aber; Howlin Wolf, Cadillac Daddy: the 1952 Sessions; Dana Gould, Funhouse ("Milk: Enjoy it, or, try suckin' my ass!"); Silvio Rodriguez, Mujeres.

"Those kids at the park today were FIFTY times better than you guys on the bandstand tonight. ASSHOLES!!!" - Bernard "Buddy" Rich

Listening to hold music.

Sigh.

HR,

Oh, I didn't mean your drumming, of course.

Here's the Buddy Rich story that my friend Scott told Joe at Bucket o' Suds once:

Buddy Rich drops dead and one of his old bandmates calls up his widow. "Is Buddy there?" The widow says, gently, "I'm afraid Buddy passed away the other day." The guy expresses condolences, hangs up.

Next day he calls the widow again. "Hey, can I talk to Buddy?" Thinking she's talking to someone who's lost it, she gently explains again that Buddy is dead. He expresses his condolences, then hangs up.

Next day he calls again. "Hey, is Buddy there?" he asks. Angry now, she says, "Look, why do you keep calling, I told you Buddy is dead!" He says, "I know, but I just like hearing it."

The other thing drums are good for.

hungryrabbi wrote:

Mike G opened his mouth and drooled the following onto the keyboard wrote:Although it's disappointing that she doesn't do Keith Moon's drum part in "I Can See For Miles," which is pretty much the only thing justifying the existence of the drum in human history.

Hey, what's this...? Getting a psychic response from... yes! Carnak! He says, "May Art Blakey show your wife his paradiddle..." HEYYY-OHH!!!

I guess this is one of those Wichita-style jokes that my stupid East Coast sensibility just doesn't get, like Pizza Hut or Kansans. As far as the Who, I always thought they were overblown, pretentious, pseudo-rock at its worst - hearing Sell Out (points for being sampled by Tortoise included) did nothing to change this opinion. I'll lay 6-5 that Daltrey will be the next one to go to Armenia, City in the Sky (let's hope).

Listening to: Nurse With Wound, Rock N Roll Station; Tocotronic, Es ist Egal, Aber; Howlin Wolf, Cadillac Daddy: the 1952 Sessions; Dana Gould, Funhouse ("Milk: Enjoy it, or, try suckin' my ass!"); Silvio Rodriguez, Mujeres.

"Those kids at the park today were FIFTY times better than you guys on the bandstand tonight. ASSHOLES!!!" - Bernard "Buddy" Rich

schwet

Denn gute Dinge sind drei...

Three recent plucks from the private collection, thematically germane to the site's alleged focus:

Ensemble Gilles Binchois: "Le Banquet du voeu 1454"

Eric Dolphy: "Out to Lunch"

Gentle Giant: "Octopus"

...Nicht will ich
Die Bilder dir stürmen.*

Antonius

Hölderlin

JoelF wrote:Has anyone tried http://www.pandora.com ? It creates a 'radio station' based on a few choices of yours, and, TiVo-like, starts finding other music it thinks fits your mood. It's best to set up different 'channels' for different styles of music you like: otherwise you get a generic mystery meat average, if you say you like both Black Sabbath and Fiona Apple.

HMPH! I love the idea of pandora.com, although I forgot the son has the most music d/l on the computer. Hence, "Kanye West Radio" while my taste runs more to John Hiatt, The Stylistics, Celia Cruz, George Jones, Kid Rock. Sigh. I'm going to play with it a bit more and make it do a "mom radio" station.

No offense, or anything, but I worked at record stores all through high school and college, and you all sound like the hipster doofuses who came in and tried to impress us with the hipper-than-thou stuff. Zzzzzzzzzz.

Sorry. I'm still not impressed. The music you enjoy doesn't make you a better person than someone else who enjoys something less esoteric.

Thanks Sundevilpeg, for reassuring us who are sitting here whipping our heads around as this conversation goes by saying "what?" and "who?" and "hunh?" and feeling terribly un-hip. Me, I'm listening to Grassy Hill Radio like the old folk music fogie that I am.

sundevilpig, I don't get it -- where was judgment implied in the posts? Can you cite the posts that made you react like that?

And how is this discussion of music different from the frequently erudite/obscure discussion of food found here?

I once walked into the Rose Records on Broadway, only to hear one of the clerks shout at another in a voice of bottomless disgust, "Telarc isn't a record label, it's a device for extracting money from the uneducated!"

Since then, I've never worried that I, as a customer, might be more of a pretentious pseud about music than the staff from whom I'm buying it.

Mike G wrote:I once walked into the Rose Records on Broadway, only to hear one of the clerks shout at another in a voice of bottomless disgust, "Telarc isn't a record label, it's a device for extracting money from the uneducated!"

Since then, I've never worried that I, as a customer, might be more of a pretentious pseud about music than the staff from whom I'm buying it.

Which is why I make most of my music purchases online:

http://www.aquariusrecords.org/

http://www.forcedexposure.com/

http://www.volcanictongue.com/

http://www.vhfrecords.com/


In Chicago, I've had decent luck at the Milwaukee Reckless. It's rare that I've perceived any "record store employee" attitude.

I could go on vis a vis sundevilpegs misapprehension of why people listen to the music they do...

I agree that there's a strong amicability between seeking interesting, stimulating sounds and searching for new(to you) foods to excite the palate.

If only for the aforementioned resonances I enjoy this thread.

I think it's time to read Harry V's disquisition on how to find hipness again. It can never be read too often.

Mike G wrote:I think it's time to read Harry V's disquisition on how to find hipness again. It can never be read too often.

Funny, just yesterday, ReneG and I were just discussing the writings of the august Harry the Fifth (the first actual member, after GWiv, of this forum). One of those guys who wrote best when writing about the worst.

Hammond

Christopher Gordon wrote:In Chicago, I've had decent luck at the Milwaukee Reckless. It's rare that I've perceived any "record store employee" attitude.

As someone who spends an unhealthy percentage of his income on CDs and LPs, I am very familiar with the record store employee attitude. But I think Chicago offers a few happy exceptions:

I think the staff at Dusty Groove are generally polite. Their inventory may lead one to believe that they are snobs, but I get more of a labor-of-love feeling there.

Deadwax on Lincoln and Grace, Groovin' High on Belmont and Kenmore, and Record Emporium on Paulina and Lincoln are three stores staffed primarily by their kind, music-loving owners.

Chicago Digital in Oak Park has some kinda strange folks behind the counter, but definitely not snobbish or judgmental. Any fan of classical or jazz should set aside (literally) an hour or two to check out their massive quantities of used CDs.

tapler wrote:Chicago Digital in Oak Park has some kinda strange folks behind the counter, but definitely not snobbish or judgmental. Any fan of classical or jazz should set aside (literally) an hour or two to check out their massive quantities of used CDs.

I guess I don't hang around music stores enough to be bothered by the clerks (though I am familiar with the type from Jack Black's portrayal of same in High Fidelity). That said, I have spent some time in Chicago Digital, one of the first places in the area to offer CDs, and they do have a fabulous and selective offering of used CDs.

Hammond