What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIV)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 31 December 2017
On the eve of a new year, it's time for a new thread.
Last year's thread can be found here:
Now Playing......
Don Henley - Inside Job
via CD player........ Turning to Don for some late afternoon tunes..... opening track also has Glenn Frey & Stevie Wonder making a contribution, very nice.....
Kenny Wheeler - Songs for Quintet
Released 2015
801 provided Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera with one of his most intriguing side projects. Although the band only played three gigs in August and September 1976, this album captures a night when everything fell right into place musically. That should only be expected with names like Eno and Simon Phillips in the lineup. The lesser known players like bassist Bill MacCormick, keyboardist Francis Monkman and slide guitarist Lloyd Watson are in exemplary form too.
The repertoire is boldly diverse opening with "Lagrima", a crunchy solo guitar piece from Manzanera. The band undertakes then a spacey but smoldering version of "Tomorrow Never Knows", definitely among the cleverest of Beatles covers. Then it's on to crisp jazz-rock ("East of Asteroid"), atmospheric psych-pop ("Rongwrong") and Eno's tape manipulation showcase "Sombre Reptiles". And that's only the first five songs. The rest of the gig is no less audacious with no less than three Eno songs including a frenetic "Baby's on Fire", "Third Uncle" and the dense, syllable-packed verbal gymnastics of "Miss Shapiro". There's an unlikely cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me" while Manzanera turns in another typically gutsy instrumental performance on "Diamond Head."
This album marks probably one of the last times that Eno rocked out in such an unself-consciously fun fashion but that's not the only reason to buy it, 801 Live is a cohesive document of an unlikely crew who had fun and took chances. Listeners will never know what else they might have done if their schedules had been less crowded but this album's a good reminder.
Styx. The Grand Illusion. On original vinyl from 1977. An excellent progressive rock album that I find stands the test of time. I'm surprised I don't see it mentioned here more often.
Stray Cats. Built For Speed. On original vinyl from 1982. The band's US debut, essentially a compilation of their first two UK albums. Rockabilly plays great late on a Saturday night.
1st run promising so far
Sounds a bit different than the usual Pieranunzi disc, but very enjoyable. The joy and energy of playing comes across in a combination of instrumental and vocal numbers, give it a try, you might be surprised....
A promising look at the newly coming album...
Perhaps I have over 50 different version of this piece of music. I always buy more - always interested how a violin player is executing this one. Podger does a great job, sounds different from the supermarket versions....
Christopher_M posted:Joe Jackson - I'm The Man
Pompey lad makes good :-)
What a record, so fresh, great tunes.
Always good to see. 
I remember Joe playing the piano at school assembly. He didn't too badly in his career, did he?
Nothing like a bit of obscure 70s/early 80s Eurosynth on a Sunday, is there?
The fourth disc of a 4-CD survey of a most fruitful era in non-mainstream popular music. This is probably the best of the four - it contains music by the likes of Conny Plank and Holger Czukay, Der Plan, Front 242, Minny Pops, Bernard Szajaner, Monoton, Walt Rockman, etc...
Carolyn Sampson & Robin Blaze - Handel
A collection of wonderful duets from Händel’s English oratorios and odes. If you like vocal baroque music, you will like this one.
Just downloaded from eclassical.com. It's the deal of the day.
