I recommend this free track from AAJ - great stuff. As so often at AAJ, though, the tagging is infuriating, no tags except to say that it is "Track 5" in the title field. It is credited to "live performance" which suggests maybe not an album - but then Track 5 of what? We are not told, and google is not coming up with anything. The "Purchase Album" link loops back to the AAJ page. I would comment there, but AAJ is now requiring me to create another account with someone else in order to comment on their pages. All rather frustrating. I regularly wonder how artists think they are promoting their work by submitting mp3 files that have no information about artist or album in the filename or the tags. Still, great track, even if I can't find the rest of the session. And I do like AAJ and find myself referring to it a fair bit these days.
Aidan Baker - Hypnotannenbaumdronefuzz
Maybe not quite as compelling as Variations on a Loop, but nicely fuzzy and hypnotic (in a Tannenbaum kind of way). Really liking track 3.
ETA, actually track 3 is really rather lovely. Turn it up, sit back, and drift away with a gentle sway.
- "The following is a mix of recordings from folk cultures from around the globe that use music not as art and entertainment but as a function to aid in rituals, to accompany ceremonial rites or to express spiritual devotion. Obviously, the aesthetics presented is a hodgepodge but there are some common threads to this collection that Ive noticed while listening and researching. One is that the music seems to stretch out sinuously, forming layers of concentric patterns without following a direct linear path of a narrative like most Western art and pop music. As one Sufi (the mystical sect of Islam) cleric mentioned, our music is not represented by bars and staffs, its circular, it has no beginning, no end. Secondly, the musicians all seem to have a spiritual relationship with their instruments, most of which are of modest resources available, mainly trees, animal skins, human voice and hands. Last, and most important, this music seeks to liberate the consciousness from distractions and to transcend the listener/performer/participant to a clearer state of mind. Hope you enjoy."
- Mike Weis @ Type Records
[align=center] - "The story of John Adams is a truly American one. Raised in Massachusetts and trained as a composer at Harvard, at the age of 24 he headed west to San Francisco in order to distance himself from his neo-European upbringing. Shaker Loops, written in the heyday of American minimalism, helped to earn him a place as one of the most famous living composers. It borrows the technique of looping fragments of melody from Steve Reichs early tape experiments, and continues to be one of Adams most frequently performed works. Also included on this disc is Short Ride in a Fast Machine, four minutes of pure aural adrenaline, and The Wound- Dresser, a pensive adaptation of Walt Whitmans poem about his experiences as a nurse during the civil war."
- Naxos - 2004
Welp, if the Smoke Sessions strategy is to put out albums for which I will automatically slap down my hard-earned eMu credits, it is working swimmingly.
Here's where a quick stream-before-you-buy strategy breaks down a little. Streamed this yesterday having read that it won awards. Didn't care for it much. Decided today to give it one more listen before deleting it from the SFL. I like it today. Who knows why; different mental energy level?
ETA, the title track, track 7, is great.
I found a discussion thread somewhere in which people were sharing lists of their favorite ECM albums. This one kept recurring. I can hear why. Might get this on CD.
Paolo Di Sabatini - E' L'Alba
Solo jazz piano. I found this a while back on Jamendo for free (the picture's linked), and kind of assumed based on the site and the cover art it was a very home made affair, though I was pleasantly surprised by the music. Turns out according to the Italian wikipedia he's professor and coordinator of the jazz department at the Conservatory of Aquila and has a 23-item discography.
Just been listening to a playlist of some Amy Winehouse tracks in my wife's car. I discovered I can connect up my iPhone via Bluetooth to play music. I'll have to swap cars more often!
Comments
The Alvaret Ensemble - Skeylja
Ingi Gar
Bartholom
Benedikt Jahnel Trio - Equilibrium
"Pepper In Ostrava" By Emil Viklicky
I recommend this free track from AAJ - great stuff. As so often at AAJ, though, the tagging is infuriating, no tags except to say that it is "Track 5" in the title field. It is credited to "live performance" which suggests maybe not an album - but then Track 5 of what? We are not told, and google is not coming up with anything. The "Purchase Album" link loops back to the AAJ page. I would comment there, but AAJ is now requiring me to create another account with someone else in order to comment on their pages. All rather frustrating. I regularly wonder how artists think they are promoting their work by submitting mp3 files that have no information about artist or album in the filename or the tags. Still, great track, even if I can't find the rest of the session. And I do like AAJ and find myself referring to it a fair bit these days.
Aidan Baker - Hypnotannenbaumdronefuzz
Maybe not quite as compelling as Variations on a Loop, but nicely fuzzy and hypnotic (in a Tannenbaum kind of way). Really liking track 3.
ETA, actually track 3 is really rather lovely. Turn it up, sit back, and drift away with a gentle sway.
Mike Weis - Ritual Mix
- "The following is a mix of recordings from folk cultures from around the globe that use music not as art and entertainment but as a function to aid in rituals, to accompany ceremonial rites or to express spiritual devotion. Obviously, the aesthetics presented is a hodgepodge but there are some common threads to this collection that Ive noticed while listening and researching. One is that the music seems to stretch out sinuously, forming layers of concentric patterns without following a direct linear path of a narrative like most Western art and pop music. As one Sufi (the mystical sect of Islam) cleric mentioned, our music is not represented by bars and staffs, its circular, it has no beginning, no end. Secondly, the musicians all seem to have a spiritual relationship with their instruments, most of which are of modest resources available, mainly trees, animal skins, human voice and hands. Last, and most important, this music seeks to liberate the consciousness from distractions and to transcend the listener/performer/participant to a clearer state of mind. Hope you enjoy."
- Mike Weis @ Type Records
Release Date: Nov 18, 2014 on Innova Recordings
- "The story of John Adams is a truly American one. Raised in Massachusetts and trained as a composer at Harvard, at the age of 24 he headed west to San Francisco in order to distance himself from his neo-European upbringing. Shaker Loops, written in the heyday of American minimalism, helped to earn him a place as one of the most famous living composers. It borrows the technique of looping fragments of melody from Steve Reichs early tape experiments, and continues to be one of Adams most frequently performed works. Also included on this disc is Short Ride in a Fast Machine, four minutes of pure aural adrenaline, and The Wound- Dresser, a pensive adaptation of Walt Whitmans poem about his experiences as a nurse during the civil war."
- Naxos - 2004
This includes a blistering version of the Richard Thompson song, " I want to see the bright Lights Tonight"
Helge Lien Trio - Hello Troll
Here's where a quick stream-before-you-buy strategy breaks down a little. Streamed this yesterday having read that it won awards. Didn't care for it much. Decided today to give it one more listen before deleting it from the SFL. I like it today. Who knows why; different mental energy level?
ETA, the title track, track 7, is great.
John Taylor, Joey Baron, Marc Johnson - Rosslyn
I found a discussion thread somewhere in which people were sharing lists of their favorite ECM albums. This one kept recurring. I can hear why. Might get this on CD.
Das Blaue Pony - Zweigedanken
"First taste of Puzzle Muteson's Theatrics - out on Bedroom Community on September 29, 2014."
- And just in @ KAIROS Musikproduktion / Soundcloud:
Thanks BDB - hope your recovery is continuing well
- Played on this baby:
And:
Steve Reich: It's Gonna Rain
Steve Reich: The Desert Music (chamber version)
Eberhard Weber - Fluid Rustle
Then:
HAT (Haruomi Hosono & Atom Heart & Tetsu Inoue) - DSP Holiday
Prom 37: Steve Reich.
- A really outstanding versiom of The Desert Music.
Paolo Di Sabatini - E' L'Alba
Solo jazz piano. I found this a while back on Jamendo for free (the picture's linked), and kind of assumed based on the site and the cover art it was a very home made affair, though I was pleasantly surprised by the music. Turns out according to the Italian wikipedia he's professor and coordinator of the jazz department at the Conservatory of Aquila and has a 23-item discography.
GP - I love that Zubatto Syndicate album, must play it later!
Arvo P