Was just assembling a playlist of 2014 releases. My pool for last year's best of the year list seemed thin. This year's seems deep and wide. It has been a better year for my ears than last year I think, in terms of new releases.
(Much as I usually like offthesky, this title will not be on the list)
Ian William Craig - A Forgetting Place
Having been impressed by his recent release, A Turn of Breath, I have been gradually working through his prior releases that are streamable on bandcamp. This is the first (in my listening sequence) one more closely resembling the latest one, though still less subtle.
Ian William Craig - Theia and the Archive
This is the most recent other release; to my ear his music has been getting more refined over time. Liking this one.
Jonah, have you listened to the new Anthony Pirog release? You've liked Frisell-influenced work before, and this strikes me as a particularly good one, and one I'd expect you to favor.
Frisell's latest occupies the running string of pleasant-but-not-very-interesting releases that have been one feature of his oeuvre in the last decade or do. So far it's mostly made me more interested in listening to the source material.
I don't think I'd extend as far back as a decade, however, pleasant-but-not-very-interesting does sum up my feelings about his last couple. I wrote a pretty long column about this album, which I'm pretty sure I'll be posting this Saturday. Space Age is all well and good, but it seems mostly comprised of faithful renditions of classic songs... the kind of thing a musician plays as the penultimate tune of their concert encore, just before playing the final song that blows everyone away. It's an album of (mostly) set-up songs. I'm sure Frisell had a ball playing the songs and recording the album, but as a listener, it falls far short of what I've come to expect from the guy. There's two original comps on the album, and they're pretty much the best thing there.
That Pirog was one of my recent Jazz PIcks. I really like the single that Cuneiform was spreading around, and it appealed to me greatly because of its clear Frisell influence. The rest of the album was sort of hit and miss for me. I might write something about it for BitW, but probably not. I can easily see people getting excited about it. On this album, Pirog has a clear sound and a clear point of view and isn't shy about expressing it (via guitar). It just didn't connect with me very strongly... that, or maybe the teaser single that first got my interest up sort of colored my impression of the rest of the album. I'll be interested to revisit the album in a handful of months, after my palate (sp?) has been cleansed.
Comments
Good music to clean bathrooms to
Ian William Craig - Meaning Turns to Whispers
Anna Webber - "Simple"
Trio with Matt Mitchell and John Hollenbeck. If her last album was a ballet, this one is a mosh pit. Hm, kind of like that line actually.
offthesky - la bella dea
Was just assembling a playlist of 2014 releases. My pool for last year's best of the year list seemed thin. This year's seems deep and wide. It has been a better year for my ears than last year I think, in terms of new releases.
(Much as I usually like offthesky, this title will not be on the list)
Migos - YRN
Craig
Ian William Craig - A Forgetting Place
Having been impressed by his recent release, A Turn of Breath, I have been gradually working through his prior releases that are streamable on bandcamp. This is the first (in my listening sequence) one more closely resembling the latest one, though still less subtle.
Ian William Craig - Theia and the Archive
This is the most recent other release; to my ear his music has been getting more refined over time. Liking this one.
Lil Herb - Welcome to Fazoland
Craig
Experimental pipe organ maneuvres in the dark
- Quite intriguing, actually . . .
Method Man - Tical
Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
It's already on Spotify, and is even weirder than I expected.
Craig
followed by
Animalia by Mammal Hands
Thanks guys for the link, I was waiting for E Music to have this
Sylvain Rifflet & Jon Irabagon - "Perpetual Motion"
-Pretty cool re-imagining of the music of Moondog. Performed live, which just makes it even cooler.
That Mammal Hands might be next. Also looking at Walsh Set Trio and Noel Langley.
Not a big Beatles fan. Might actually like this better.
/sacrilege
ETA, yup, rather enjoyed that.
Horrors...does that mean I like Miley Cyrus?
*vanishes in a violent puff of bewilderment.*
Linear Bells - Robots, Orchestra & Tones
NYOP
North Atlantic Drift / Northumbria Split
Ambient post-rock, some nice stretches and some that for me drift the wrong side of saccharine, YMMV.
Bill Frisell - "Guitar in the Space Age!"
Frisell's latest occupies the running string of pleasant-but-not-very-interesting releases that have been one feature of his oeuvre in the last decade or do. So far it's mostly made me more interested in listening to the source material.
I don't think I'd extend as far back as a decade, however, pleasant-but-not-very-interesting does sum up my feelings about his last couple. I wrote a pretty long column about this album, which I'm pretty sure I'll be posting this Saturday. Space Age is all well and good, but it seems mostly comprised of faithful renditions of classic songs... the kind of thing a musician plays as the penultimate tune of their concert encore, just before playing the final song that blows everyone away. It's an album of (mostly) set-up songs. I'm sure Frisell had a ball playing the songs and recording the album, but as a listener, it falls far short of what I've come to expect from the guy. There's two original comps on the album, and they're pretty much the best thing there.
That Pirog was one of my recent Jazz PIcks. I really like the single that Cuneiform was spreading around, and it appealed to me greatly because of its clear Frisell influence. The rest of the album was sort of hit and miss for me. I might write something about it for BitW, but probably not. I can easily see people getting excited about it. On this album, Pirog has a clear sound and a clear point of view and isn't shy about expressing it (via guitar). It just didn't connect with me very strongly... that, or maybe the teaser single that first got my interest up sort of colored my impression of the rest of the album. I'll be interested to revisit the album in a handful of months, after my palate (sp?) has been cleansed.
Cheers.