What are your recommended al***s of 2005

[QUOTE]Originally posted by fred simon:
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Hey Fred, are ya getting snowed in ?

I have family in Cleveland area and they say it is nasty there.

Ahhh ... lake effect .... I remember it well.

Perfect reason to stay inside and listen to Fred-music .... or consider movin' back to the NW

Best regards
Jeff A

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quote:

Originally posted by graham55:
I keep thinking that I need to try Fred Simon's two Naim CDs, but I'm still trying to work out how to obtain autographed copies. Are you planning any UK dates next year, Fred?

Graham, you could always stop by the house, although perhaps a bit out of the way.

Even better, I should get a few UK gigs, which I would be thrilled to do. The problem is I'm shy and need to be asked ... I don't have a single booking-agent gene in my DNA. Please feel free to launch a campaign to urge Naim to bring me over ... as I've always said, if they build it, I will come.

Failing either of these two scenarios, you could always buy them, send them to me for autographs, and I'll send them back. Or order them from Pro Musica in the States and I'll drive down there and sign a few before they send them.

Anyway, thanks for asking.

Fred


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quote:

Originally posted by nicnaim:
Fred,

Sounds good to me, so I've just ordered them. Perfectly justifiable plug when you can "walk the walk" as well as "talk the talk"

Nic

Excellent, Nic. Thanks for taking the plunge ... I hope you dig them. Please report back after you've had a chance to digest.

All best,
Fred


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quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Anderson:


Hey Fred, are ya getting snowed in ?

I have family in Cleveland area and they say it is nasty there.

Ahhh ... lake effect .... I remember it well.

Perfect reason to stay inside and listen to Fred-music .... or consider movin' back to the NW

Best regards
Jeff A

Hi, Jeff. Gratefully, not one flake of snow in Chicago ... all the snow is east of the lake. However, it is pretty damn cold ... 18F.

But hey, any reason is good enough to stay inside and listen to some Fredmusic.

All the best,
Fred


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quote:

Originally posted by HR:
Fred,

Tell us a bit about your music playing and compositions. Where can I hear your music?

Haim

Haim, thanks for asking. You need look no further than right here at Naim:
http://www.thenaimlabel.co.uk/artists/simon_main.htm

Fred,

Thank you for all the information.
I listened to 'Remember The River' and loved it. I am going to get it, first chance, from ProMusica.
If you perform around Chicago (I live 45 miles north of the city), please let me know, and I will come to hear you.

Best regards,

Haim

Haim, so glad you dug it. I think you'll really dig the whole album. Paul McCandless told me he thinks it's some of his best recorded work ever.

I have an email list. If you want to be notified of upcoming gigs, send your email address to info@naim-audio.com and ask them to forward it to me.

All best,
Fred

Fred,

Dreamhouse and Remember The River landed on the doormat yesterday morning and I've been listening to them both in-between taking the kids to see Harry Potter and the usual weekend social calls.

Dreamhouse - The first track "Anytime Valentine" hooked me straight away, got a bit of a Vince Guaraldi vibe to it. The rest of the album continues with beautifully uplifting unhurried groove that is just perfect on a miserable rainy day like today.

The bass player Kelly has got an impressive CV I will have to go through the albums I've got by the artists he has played with to see if he is on them.

Remember The River - Quite a different sound with the change of trio format. Put me in mind of a Jan Garbarek style of disc, very haunting, with lovely piano pieces woven between the sax/oboe.

I'm no wordsmith, but I know what I like, these will both be played regularly chez nous.

All the best

Nic

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Nic, thanks so much for the kind words. I'm really glad you're digging the albums. (By the way, that's pretty speedy delivery on Naim's part!)

I do hear the Vince Guaraldi vibe you heard, although he's not really a conscious influence ... Keith Jarrett is more like it. I do dig Vince, though, especially his song Christmas Time Is Here.

I adore Jan Garbarek, so his sound is definitely part of my musical DNA. But just as much is that of Paul McCandless, the woodwind player on Remember the River ... if you're not familiar with his own work (as a solo artist, founding member of the venerable group Oregon, and ubiquitous sideman) you would really love his music.

Thanks for reporting back.

All best,
Fred


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Franz Ferdinand - You could have had it so much better

The Fall - Fall Heads Roll

and perhaps the new re-release of Current 93's 1988 mini LP 'Earth covers Earth' on Free Porcupine Society

((Sunn O)))
Robert Plant
Goldfrapp
White Stripes
LCD Soundsystem

I haven't been really blown away by any album this year, but the best are:

Shriekback - Cormorant [yay! back on form...]
Goldfrapp - Supernature [almost in the list below but gets better with more plays]
Richard H. Kirk - Meets The Truck Bombers Of Suburia Up Town feat. Pat Riot Volume 1 [the man's a god...]
Murcof - Remembranza [beautiful stuff, if not up there with 'Martes']


(A little bit) disappointed by:

Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase [light on melody]
Sigur Ros - Takk [better than () but you only need Agaetis Byrjun]
Global Communication - 76.14 (reissue)[too much hype about how great/groundbreaking it is]

Since you live in the USA, you can also get the albums at this USA site:
http://promusicaaudio.com/contemporary/fredsimon.htm

That link is associated with the brick and mortar store Pro Musica in Chicago, which is run by Ken Christianson who is also Naim's chief recording engineer; he recorded both my albums. You can also read about his methods on the Pro Musica site.

Thanks again for asking, and I hope you get a chance to dig my music.

All the best,
Fred


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Fred,

I enjoy a lot 'Remember The River'. I picked it up last evening at ProMusica, and listened to it in car for three hours, which was the time I was stuck in the snow storm and your music added a lot of pleasure to the ordeal.

Thanks,

Haim

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quote:

Originally posted by HR:
Fred,

I enjoy a lot 'Remember The River'. I picked it up last evening at ProMusica, and listened to it in car for three hours, which was the time I was stuck in the snow storm and your music added a lot of pleasure to the ordeal.

Thanks,

Haim

Haim,

That's very cool .. thanks for the great story and kind words.

I was in a car in the snowstorm yesterday, too, on the way to a gig. Somehow, I lucked onto a great route on which everyone seemed to be going the opposite direction from us, and it miraculously took only a half-hour, when it easily could have taken three times as long, as you know.

Anyway, I was in someone else's car, and he had Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain in the player on the way to the gig, and Fela Kuti on the way home. It's unbelievably cool to me to know that simultaneously, people were driving in slow motion through the raging snow, listening to Miles, Fela, and me ... couldn't ask for more.

Best,
Fred


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