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:
Playing on Cassette on TDK SA C60 - Rocking out in the office for the last couple of hours until freedom - if you could bottle up energy from a performance it would have to come from this Bon Scott era recording.
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Released 2001 - Mark Eitzel is one of the best singer/writers around. Love all his solo work and the stuff he did with American Music Club. It’s a delight to listen to his music and this album doesn’t disappoint. ????
Amanda Shires - "To The Sunset" (2018)
Fay Claassen - Luck child
Good vocal jazz.
Personnel: Fay Claassen: vocals; Olaf Polziehn: piano; Peter Tiehuis: guitar; Ingmar Heller: bass; Paul Heller: reeds.
Listening to this in anticipation of this evenings concert
...
Ben Harper And The Blind Boys of Alabama - There Will Be A Light
Mercy......praise the Lawd.
Paul Simon - "In The Blue Light" (2018) First listen to new release
Playing on Cassette on Maxell UL C60 - The end of the working day - what better to Rock out the door with this than this gem from 1971
Released 2014 - Superb jazz improvisation of Floyds DSOTM. ????
Nguyên Lê - Electric guitar, electronics
Youn Sun Nah - Vocals
Gary Husband - Drums
Jürgen Attig - Electric fretless bass
NDR Bigband conducted by Jörg Achim Keller
Laura Veirs - "The Lookout" (2018) have not connected to this release as quickly as I typically do to Laura's music. Will keep workin' it.
Philip Glass: Jenny Lin, piano
Complete Etudes for Piano
As far as musical ideology goes, it follows that I do not ascribe necessarily to the textbook answer as to how each composer 'should be played.' I tend to go for the personal flavour, rightly or wrongly, which means, today, this is how I would like to play this work. Tomorrow or yesterday, might bring a different result. The liberty to do this is very important to me as well as the liberty of others to exercise their freedom of interpretation. By definition, this makes me a libertarian.
So I am fine with Jenny Lin's interpretation here, however, my first impression is that she has chosen to paint these Etudes as maybe musically indifferent, literal and perhaps even a little on the cold side. For some pieces this works but for a few I see it differently. Perhaps this is what Philip Glass envisioned? Easy to call up a living composer and ask or even interview him (see below)? And yes, Philip Glass did say that Jenny Lin comes pretty close to how he does things.
Where I find myself today is more in line with the views of Vikingur Olafsson and his last recording. Although, he did not record the complete Etudes, I find his small selection recently recorded spot on with tempos, colouring, and dynamics. The effect transcends into a deeper, darker, and dreamier outcome and consequently much more musically satisfying for me.
All in all, a fine recording and valuable insight from a piano I happen to like very much.
Fresh perspectives on 10 of PS favorite songs...CD
(2014)
Robert Plant - Lullaby and The Ceaseless Roar
Not had this one out for a while and I fancied a bit of Percy, so to speak. "It’s really a celebratory record, powerful, gritty, African, Trance meets Zep," Plant says.
Released 1999 - Astounding interplay - Astounding album. ????
John Prine - "The Tree Of Forgiveness" (2018)
with a new album due to be released in November (which I am very much looking forward to), I thought that I would revisit an earlier live album from Dead Can Dance
Art Tatum & Ben Webster quartet
Jazz from 1956.
- Bass – Red Callender
- Drums – Bill Douglass
- Piano – Art Tatum
- Tenor Saxophone – Ben Webster
Digging the crates
(2012)
Samsara Blues Experiment - Revelation & Mystery
SBE have a great mix of heavy rock mixed in with spacey blues, this is a good German outfit who, across all their albums to date have not put a musical foot wrong (for me).
Keith Urban - "Graffiti U" (2018)
Giving this another outing today as I forgot how good it was.
Fleetwood Mac - Tango in The Night
A very MDS-ian opening to the evening if I may say so, and none the worse for it 
Got home from work and was pleased to discovered that Amazon had delivered this, as promised. So have just unwrapped it and popped it into the CDX2. Early impressions are positive and, wow, there's some pretty prodigious bass lines here.