Some Lists

Five Favorite Things I First Heard In 2011

Michael Hurley - "Fatboy Spring"
Daphne Oram - "Oramics"
Sly & The Family Stone - "There's A Riot Goin' On"
Kevin Drumm - "Imperial Distortion"
William Basinski - "A Red Score In Tile"

Five Things That Actually Came Out In 2011

Tape - "Revelationes"
The Caretaker - "An Empty Bliss Beyond This World"
Tim Hecker - "Ravedeath, 1972"
Glenn Jones - "The Wanting"
Jim O'Rourke & Oren Ambarchi - "Indeed"

Five Great LPs Reissued In 2011

Supreme Dicks - "The Unexamined Life"
Supreme Dicks - "The Emotional Plague"
Talk Talk - "Laughing Stock"
Kevin Drumm - "Imperial Distortion"
Liliput - "Liliput / Kleenex" box set

Five Great Books I Read In 2011

Owen Beattie & John Geiger - "Frozen In Time"
Hampton Sides - "Hellhound On His Trail"
Robert Coover - "John's Wife"
Charles Dickens - "Our Mutual Friend"
David Grann - "The Devil & Sherlock Holmes"

Five Remarkable Places I Was Happy To Visit In 2011

Arizona - "The Grand Canyon"
Utah - "Monument Valley"
California - "Stout Grove at Jebediah Smith State Park"
New Mexico - "El Rancho Hotel" in Gallup
California - "Amoeba Records" in Hollywood

Spun #10

Kenneth Patchen
"With the Chamber Jazz Sextet"
Cadence CLP-3004

This record came to me on my birthday a few years ago, a gift from my best friend, and is one of my most treasured and rare pieces of vinyl. And like most other things that I really like, I don't have a lot to say about them. So I'll let Allyn Ferguson, leader of the Chamber Jazz Sextet, do the talking.

From his liner notes: "When first discussing the possibility of setting poetry to jazz, Kenneth and I agreed that the usual procedure of setting text to music would have to be abandoned. The final product, we felt, should be conceived in terms of the poet's interpretation of the text. It seemed evident, however, that the music would be quite unnecessary were there no attempt to bring about a meaningful union between the two mediums. We decided, therefore, to tape-record the readings and underscore them. This procedure would have the double value of retaining the spontaneity of the original reading while still allowing freedom for the creation of a significant musical entity.

Put muscles in your ears.

Spun #9

Ernest and Justin Tubb
"Sing Jimmie Rodgers' Favorites"
Decca ED 2422

Doing a bit of mathematics with dates from the liner notes (written by Jimmie's widow), this record seems to be from 1956. At that time Ernest Tubb was one of the best and most popular country musicians in the country, and his son Justin was trying to follow in his father's footsteps. Turns out dad had rather large shoes to fill, and the son was destined for obscurity. I'd never heard of him before finding this extended play 45.

He didn't necessarily deserve his fate; his two songs on the B side are perfectly acceptable. "Desert Blues" is an uptempo and light-hearted story of a buffalo and his dead brother, and at one point you can hear Justin chuckling his way through the lyrcs. I prefer his version of "Miss the Mississippi...," which preserves a little bit of Jimmie's melancholy, with some nice atmospheric pedal steel and shimmery fiddle playing. It doesn't necessarily remind me of my own youth growing up near that river, but there is some sort of tug on the heartstrings.

From Mrs. Jimmie's liner notes: "When I first met Ernest in 1934, I was impressed not only by the similarity of his voice to that of Jimmie Rodgers, but by the man himself and his devotion to "America's Blue Yodeler." His personality and character, plus his ability both as a singer and songwriter, made it quite evident that here was a man who would succeed. I decided to help him attain that goal, in whatever way I could. And I gave him Jimmie's beloved Martin guitar to use, the guitar Ernest still treasures and uses today."

Listen to Ernest singing Jimmie's songs and strumming Jimmie's guitar.

Spun #8

Peter Kilham
The Sea at Castle Hill / The Alexander Hamilton of the Hudson River Day Line
Droll Yankees Inc. DY15

Two sides of natural sound, field-recorded and edited together in 1963 by Peter Kilham. The Droll Yankees label specialized in the sounds and stories of (old) New England, especially those of water, birds, boats, and trains. Here's a discography someone made with nice images and brief descriptions of each release.

The first side takes us to a spot on the Atlantic called Castle Hill, in Newport, Rhode Island, where there are a lot of waves crashing on rocks, seagulls shouting and singing, and bells tolling once in a while. The second side gives us a ride up the Hudson on a triple deck steamer called the Alexander Hamilton with several whistle salutes and specific recordings of different parts of the boat.

At times I'm reminded of one of my favorite ambient noise artists, BJ Nilsen, aka Hazard, who made a lot of recordings of wind and forests and distant generators. The music in all of his sounds and the ones on this record slowly begins to reveal itself once you get your ears in the right place.

Listen.

Spun #7

Blasius To Una Turtavu
"Guitar Songs of Papua New Guinea"
Lyrichord Stereo LLST 7367

A few years back my ears were struck by lightning. Or at least, that's what it felt like the first time I heard the New Guinean string bands compiled on the third disc of Smithsonian Folkways' "Bosavi" box set. I didn't know that guitars and ukuleles and a few voices could sound so beautifully sublime and I couldn't tell whether I was being hypnotised or whether I was about to have a heart attack. Anyway, I knew that I needed to hear more string band music from Papua New Guinea.

So when I found this album (at the WFMU record fair, I think, where several of these posts have come from) I didn't think twice before grabbing my wallet. And although these songs lack the raw group sound and field-recording atmosphere of the Bosavi stuff, they are still delightful, especially when Blasius is joined by a second guitar and/or ukulele.

From the liner notes: "This record attempts to show the different faces of Blasius To Una Turtavu's creativity through the 28 years of his musical life. Humorous and satirical songs in Pidgin, like FOPELA LEK or KUNAI DUMDUM, ballads in his own Kuanua tongue like IAU ABUL RAMALMAL or AMARI NA RAVIAN and in English like LONELY EVENING. Blasius To Una might make you feel sad, but in the next song, he will cheer you up and really make you laugh. At fifty three, Blasius is still full of energy, and very much in love with music. Maybe that is what makes it very difficult not to fall in love with the man and his guitar."

Enjoy.

Spun #6

The Relations
"The Relations"
(self-released)

The sticker next to the $2.50 price tag does not lie: "Decent early 70s Honky Tonk." What we have here are drinking songs, lonesome broken heart songs, getting older songs, all of them written by group members Bob Crank or Calvin Ott, lots of solid but modest pedal steel playing, an over-all clean, no-frills production. . .no surprises here. But do you really want surprises from a country album?

The back cover reveals just the facts:

"Bob Crank was born and raised in Adams, Indiana. He started playing a guitar and singing when he was sixteen years old. He took over the group called The Relations, in 1973.

Calvin Ott was born and raised in the South Mt. area of Shippensburg, Pa. He started playing a guitar and singing when he was twelve years old. He has been with The Relations for four years.

Denny Ott was born and raised in the South Mt. area of Shippensburg, Pa. He started playing the bass when he was twenty-one years old. He has been with The Relations for five years.

Dave Reed was born and raised in Ellicott City, Maryland. He started playing drums when he was fourteen years old. He also likes to play the banjo. He's been with The Relations for six months.

Kenny Piper was born and raised near Amerson, Pa. He started playing the guitar when he was fifteen years old. He plays lead guitar for The Relations.

The Relations love and enjoy playing and listening to music. In the summer they travel around to all the Bluegrass Festivals they can. They play for parties, festivals, clubs, and other engagements. They have been wanting to cut an album for quite some time. Hope you all enjoy it."

Find it here.

Spun #5

Gruppe Nuova Consonanza
"Improvisationen"
Deutsche Grammaphon 137 007, 1969

An early exploration into the world of electro-acoustic improvisation, with Ennio Morricone playing some trumpet. This is mostly quiet, edge-of-perception sort of music, what my friend Franke might call "scratch and sniff," but still with a few spikes of surprise here and there. The generous space (time-wise and depth-wise) around individual sounds allows the listener to concentrate and almost visualize each specific event. It's music that breathes and lets you approach it in your own way, instead of constantly beating you over the head and telling you what you're supposed to hear. Rather refreshing, if you ask me.

From the liner notes: "To unite composition and interpretation, which have hitherto always been separate functions in traditional European musical practice, in a simultaneous creative act-- that is the declared aim of the "Nuova Consonanza" improvisation group. The only ensemble of its kind in Europe, it was founded in Rome in 1964/65 by Franco Evangelisti (who had formulated his theories as ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif result of aleatory already in 1959)-- following the example of the "New Music Ensemble" which has been working in California since 1963, with the same terms of reference and similar aims but without regard to electroacoustic music. The ensemble also receives important stimulus from jazz and from Indian music, both of which-- though each within an entirely different context of aesthetics and tradition-- have developed somewhat similar principles of collective, improvised composition. All the members of the "Nuova Consonanza" group are composers, who also have a virtuoso command of one or more instruments."

Retrieve it here.