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Looper's Delight
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>Hi all, > >Just fer the heck o' it, here's what's been spinning on my CD player >(and in my brain) the past coupla days. > >"Discord" by Ryuichi Sakamoto (featuring dt - aka SPLaTTeRCeLL) >"Zero Gravity" Laika & the Cosmonauts (surf music from Finland) >"Happy Ocean" by Pers Boysen (our own LD Swedish looper) >"Undisonus" and "Ineo" 2 orchestral pieces by Terje Rypdal What are these like? I was curious about what Rypdal would do with an orchestra... >'Day of the Robot" by Buckethead (I still wonder who this guy really is) >"Live at the Aquarium - London Zoo 21 May 1992" by Michael Brook > >What sortta interesting stuff are you folks listening to of late? > > Lessseee: The Mars Volta: Deloused in the Comatorium. Very interesting disc, it's like a mix of Steve Hackett-era Genesis with Soundgarden, only not nearly as atrocious as that sounds. One of the most openly prog-rock things I've heard on a major label in years, and damned good. Serge Gainesbourg: Histoire de Melodie Nelson: From 1971, a 28 minute concept album. My French is nonexistent, so I don't quite get the concept, but a cool, cool sounding disc, understated funk with some amazing bass playing, Serge's voice ( think Leonard Cohen in French) and some very cool string arranging. The new Beck record (Sea Change) steals from this openly, and, as a result, is one of his (Beck's, that is) best. Speaking of new Beck records, I just got the new Jeff Beck yesterday, haven't really had a chance to listen to it in depth yet, but it's definitely cool to see him working with David Torn. On the first spin while working, it seems similar to his last few discs, with the electronic elements a bit hipper than before. Inimitable guitar playing, of course. Led Zeppelin: How the West Was Won (DVD and CD). So I grew up listening to Zeppelin, Dazed and Confused was one of the first bass lines I learned. These live performances point out just what an incredible band they were. Given how many terrible bands were inspired by Zeppelin, it's easy to forget how innovative they were at the time. On listening to these discs, I'm often surprised at how funky the Bonham/Jones rhythm section could be. Joe Meek: I Hear a New World: recorded in 1960, this is a great lost pop masterpiece about space travel and life on the moon. Bizarre mix of easy listening and almost residents-esque sound manipulation. Like the Gainesbourg record above, I'm surprised it has taken me this long to discover this stuff. Sun Ra: Nuits de Fondation Maeght, volumes 1 and 2. Newly re-issued live discs from 1970, from concerts in France. Great vintage Ra, just after he got his Minimoog, and pretty well recorded, by Ra standards. recent interesting live stuff: Oliver Mtukudzi and Black Spirits: Played for free in a park in Albany, Oregon, as part of the consistently surprising series of free concerts they do every summer. Great Zimbabwean pop, tightly interlocking guitar/bass/keyboard lines that seem like they could spin out to infinity. Played a show in Eugene last friday with Surrounded by Ninjas, a Portland-based keyboard/DJ duo that do all improv electronica, and do so better than most I've seen attempt it. Used a repeater (finally, some looping content :-) and a few Kaos Pads to great effect. The best part was that for the last set, we did a free improv set with them and the members of my band, Eleven Eyes, and it was surprisingly successful, so much so that we;re trying to figure out a way to do it again. It was one of the better large-group (there were 8 of us on stage at the peak) improvs I've been involved in.