Those posts are nearly a year old. Surely by now you've figured out that I'm right. 'Cause lemme tell ya, if we're still having this same debate a year from now, I'm gonna lose my patience.
Ok, so what I like best, based on karg, Jonah, whithead, allmusic, and samples is Quartet, and Have a Little Faith, but I feel kinda stuck between the two. I wanted to like Where in the World, based on it's price, but the samples were not as good to me. I liked Disfear a lot too; but I think I want something with winds/ horns.
If you're looking for Frisell w/ winds & horns, think about his collaboration album "Angel Song", with Kenny Wheeler on trumpet & flugelhorn, Lee Konitz on alto, Dave Holland on bass. It's an ECM album from the late 90's. I like the album a lot, some people actually worship at its altar. I'm pretty sure it's offered on US-emusic.
Also you might think about Frisell's "The Sweetest Punch", with a whole orchestra of instruments. It interprets the music of Burt Bacharach. Elvis Costello appears on two songs... one of them is the only time I've ever liked him, a beautiful tune.
P.S. That Angel Song album... I find it more often listed under Konitz's name than Frisell's, and sometimes Wheeler's, too. Wheeler, I think does all the compositions, and Konitz, well, he's Lee Konitz.
It's times like this that I wish we had more of the majors on emusic in the UK - not one of the afore mentioned albums is on emusic in the UK, which means paying Amazon and itune prices!
greg, you never told us what your available Frisell selections were.
amclark2, you can't go wrong with either Quartet or Have a Little Faith (or the followup This Land, one of my favorites, that also has horns). Just pick one without regrets. Personally, I don't think Angel Song is an optimal introduction to Frisell, since it's a mellow ECM collaboration kinda thing (though a fine one). Btw, do you really not avail yourself of a streaming service where you don't have to rely on samples? I would be surprised if you were disappointed in Where In the World? given a full listen.
Yeah, I don't have a streaming service. I don't spend enough time at a computer to bother, and it's more expensive, plus a major battery drain, on the phone.
I tried the Angel Song - it sounded nice, and I do love Konitz, but it was much more of a straight ahead jazz thing, so I'll pass for now, but keep it in mind for later.
Regarding Where in the World?, listen on youtube to one of my favorite Frisell tracks, the edgy, spooky closer "Let Me In". Another great one from that album: "Rob Roy" (man, I really love Joey Baron). If you don't like those tracks, I'll probably have to do some mental recalibration regarding your tastes.
I love the song "Rob Roy" from Where In The World, too.
And agreed with Angel Song not being a great intro album to Frisell. I read where you said winds and brass and thought of that album. It's a beautiful album, but doesn't rank in my top ten of Frisell, either, so there's that, too.
Hey, you should look to see if you have the Floratone album available to you. That's a Frisell album (in a way).
Bill Frisell albums available on emusic in the UK - Beautiful Dreamer, Time and Time Again, All We Are Saying, Second Sight, The Rambler and Richter 858. Those he is playing on include Angel Song. Any suggestions as to which are best to download are welcome
Second Sight is available? Check if Bass Desires is available - if so, that would be my #1 rec, a great intro to Frisell, with an awesome quartet of John Scofield guitar, Marc Johnson on bass, Peter Erskine on drums. Second Sight is a decent followup of that group, and would also serve. Rambler is his first leader of a "group" album, and a good introduction to his writing skills. I like it, Jonah said he does not (much). I like Richter 858 plenty, but I think an album featuring Frisell as "player" is the best option, hence my Bass Desires pointer.
Don't bother with the Beautiful Dreamer. Of his later Americana jazz sound, it's probably the weakest of the group.
Time and Time Again is an excellent lineup playing an elegant set... but not very memorable. Eh, this is one I'd have to listen to again before I'd rec it to anybody, to be sure I'm not forgetting some album elements that would make this essential.
Second Sight is pretty good. I think I enjoy it more, now, than Bass Desires, which I was more crazy for back in the day. Of all the choices, this would have to be mine.
Rambler is one you might want to think of getting eventually, but he puts in some synthy electronic effects that might rub you the wrong way if you haven't heard much of his other stuff.
No they don't Jonah! It is because most of his material is on, for us, the 'wrong' labels. I think I'll check out prices on Amazon etc to ee what is there
I'll have to look into that compilation to see exactly where those albums are being pulled from, but just scanning the song titles (which I'm notoriously bad at remembering), it looks like tunes from "Nashville", "The Willies" on the late-end of the spectrum, and maybe going as far back as "This Land" and "Have a Little Faith" in the earlier end of his "solo" career (whatever you would call albums appearing under his own name exclusively).
Obviously from the title, it's gonna be his folkish compositions.
If one wasn't going to try to collect a large portion of his discography, that seems like that might be a pretty good pickup. It's six and half bucks for an hour of music in the US. At 15 tracks, it would probably put a dent in the accounts of oversees Emu members.
Because I'm so bad with song titles, I can't state off the top of my head if this is a well-curated compilation. However, I do notice that it doesn't have "Gimme a Holler", which is the opening track on "Nashville", and which is an absolutely haunting opening to an album as ever I've heard.
Anyone who participates on this site is gonna be a savvy enough music shopper to gauge on their own whether they should get a comp or try to pick up individual albums (or both). I can't see anybody going wrong with this compilation.
P.S. Oh, hey, I didn't see that AMG Jurek thing below Whitehead's artist overview column. Okay, so that comp is about what I thought it was. With the added information, I'm still good with my above opinion.
I went with Have a Little Faith and loved it on the first couple times through. That one's pricy here $9 + - which ended being part of the pick process because I had $8.99 free twitter credit, and I feel I'm more likely to get an expensive item on their dime than mine. Sad but true - I have a hard time moving beyond price considerations when shopping - goes way back with me to "nice price" cassettes and cut-out bins.
@karg - I checked out those songs - Let Me In I really liked; a really nice slow build/slow burn that the sample didn't do justice to. Rob Roy I was enjoying up until the "rock-out" type solo; certain rock fusion sounds still don't do it for me. On the whole both songs reminded me a bit of the things Earth has been doing in the last few years. I know Frisell was there first, but if you haven't tried Earth you may like it; personally I like their old drone-metal sound better.
On thread again briefly; Amazon's 1000 plus title sale will be ending soon. I wanted to note for mommio and anyone else enjoying Glen Campbell lately that there's a Greatest Hits of his for $5. also the 100 supreme classics titles will probably be going above $1.99 soon. I'm really enjoying the Schubert; thinking of scoopin up a few more.
I am searching for a pattern, like a Chess sale - which I'm not really finding just a few good prices...
Also $5.99 - The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions - the Wolf accompanied by spotty English youths.
$4.99 - Folk Singer by Muddy Waters. Also At Newport 1960 for $5.99.
MY goodness BDB the Howlin' Wolf back-up band looks good, even had Ringo Starr on drums (no recommendation!) for some tracks. How did I miss that at the time? I'll certainly look out for it. They may have been 'spotty English youths' then, but if you put that backing band together now, they would sell out a large arena
Huge pricing snafu @ amazon for lots of different CDs? .07 - 1.40 per CD.... found out about it from this link.
Not sure if order will actually go through but I just placed an order for 25 cds myself for $26 and change. I don't know enough about searching Amazon for specific price points so maybe some of you who have a better grasp of Google/Amazon can find some good stuff that isn't out of stock yet.
The prices all seem to be normal now once you click through - I managed to get 25 bucks worth of great stuff before it ended. I wonder if that was a mistake or a loss leader? I hope they believe in no take-backs.
Comments
And, yes, everyone should be careful. I've got a pantry full of Pitchfork.
Also you might think about Frisell's "The Sweetest Punch", with a whole orchestra of instruments. It interprets the music of Burt Bacharach. Elvis Costello appears on two songs... one of them is the only time I've ever liked him, a beautiful tune.
Stream two songs from Sweetest Punch here...
http://www.billfrisell.com/2011/radio/costello-bacharach/
I hate Frisell's new site. His old one would allow you to stream a bunch of tracks from each album. His new site is much stingier.
Taking out my Pitchfork, to stick in your hay"
Spinal Tap, 1982
amclark2, you can't go wrong with either Quartet or Have a Little Faith (or the followup This Land, one of my favorites, that also has horns). Just pick one without regrets. Personally, I don't think Angel Song is an optimal introduction to Frisell, since it's a mellow ECM collaboration kinda thing (though a fine one). Btw, do you really not avail yourself of a streaming service where you don't have to rely on samples? I would be surprised if you were disappointed in Where In the World? given a full listen.
I tried the Angel Song - it sounded nice, and I do love Konitz, but it was much more of a straight ahead jazz thing, so I'll pass for now, but keep it in mind for later.
I love the song "Rob Roy" from Where In The World, too.
And agreed with Angel Song not being a great intro album to Frisell. I read where you said winds and brass and thought of that album. It's a beautiful album, but doesn't rank in my top ten of Frisell, either, so there's that, too.
Hey, you should look to see if you have the Floratone album available to you. That's a Frisell album (in a way).
@Doofy - seriously, laughing so hard!
First serious, then humor. And, yes, everyone should be careful. I've got a pantry full of Pitchfork.
@jonah - good comeback.
Too bad some of this good stuff re Frisell et al.is hidden in this thread. Thank goodness for the Search feature.
Yikes, those are your only choices?
Don't bother with the Beautiful Dreamer. Of his later Americana jazz sound, it's probably the weakest of the group.
Time and Time Again is an excellent lineup playing an elegant set... but not very memorable. Eh, this is one I'd have to listen to again before I'd rec it to anybody, to be sure I'm not forgetting some album elements that would make this essential.
Second Sight is pretty good. I think I enjoy it more, now, than Bass Desires, which I was more crazy for back in the day. Of all the choices, this would have to be mine.
Rambler is one you might want to think of getting eventually, but he puts in some synthy electronic effects that might rub you the wrong way if you haven't heard much of his other stuff.
Wow, they really don't give you much, huh?
I'll have to look into that compilation to see exactly where those albums are being pulled from, but just scanning the song titles (which I'm notoriously bad at remembering), it looks like tunes from "Nashville", "The Willies" on the late-end of the spectrum, and maybe going as far back as "This Land" and "Have a Little Faith" in the earlier end of his "solo" career (whatever you would call albums appearing under his own name exclusively).
Obviously from the title, it's gonna be his folkish compositions.
If one wasn't going to try to collect a large portion of his discography, that seems like that might be a pretty good pickup. It's six and half bucks for an hour of music in the US. At 15 tracks, it would probably put a dent in the accounts of oversees Emu members.
Because I'm so bad with song titles, I can't state off the top of my head if this is a well-curated compilation. However, I do notice that it doesn't have "Gimme a Holler", which is the opening track on "Nashville", and which is an absolutely haunting opening to an album as ever I've heard.
Anyone who participates on this site is gonna be a savvy enough music shopper to gauge on their own whether they should get a comp or try to pick up individual albums (or both). I can't see anybody going wrong with this compilation.
Cheers.
@karg - I checked out those songs - Let Me In I really liked; a really nice slow build/slow burn that the sample didn't do justice to. Rob Roy I was enjoying up until the "rock-out" type solo; certain rock fusion sounds still don't do it for me. On the whole both songs reminded me a bit of the things Earth has been doing in the last few years. I know Frisell was there first, but if you haven't tried Earth you may like it; personally I like their old drone-metal sound better.
On thread again briefly; Amazon's 1000 plus title sale will be ending soon. I wanted to note for mommio and anyone else enjoying Glen Campbell lately that there's a Greatest Hits of his for $5. also the 100 supreme classics titles will probably be going above $1.99 soon. I'm really enjoying the Schubert; thinking of scoopin up a few more.
I am searching for a pattern, like a Chess sale - which I'm not really finding just a few good prices...
Also $5.99 - The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions - the Wolf accompanied by spotty English youths.
$4.99 - Folk Singer by Muddy Waters. Also At Newport 1960 for $5.99.
Not sure if order will actually go through but I just placed an order for 25 cds myself for $26 and change. I don't know enough about searching Amazon for specific price points so maybe some of you who have a better grasp of Google/Amazon can find some good stuff that isn't out of stock yet.
And they already started correcting - prices are changing back to normal.