Listening to a very good free Motema jazz sampler album at the moment. Hit pretty hard by what I see the BBC is calling the "polar vortex":
Son and his wife had cancelled flights but managed to make it out just in time.
Youngest daughter was supposed to leave this morning on a school trip to Japan for which she has been saving/preparing all year; flights all cancelled, earliest they might get out is in a week, considering postponing to June.
Older daughter rescued by police from her car which is still in a snowdrift somewhere in Indiana and is stuck in an emergency shelter in a small town there, likely for days; there's a towing ban there and a warning against going out of doors, with windchill at -50.
Here the campus is closed the next 2 days, which is the least of our worries, but was a chunk of time when I was hoping to get through some work before the January term fully hits.
We get bad weather, but I am not sure I have ever personally experienced such comprehensive disruption/cause for anxiety (though I know people fare much worse).
We've had a lot of stormy rain in the last couple of weeks with some flooding - particularly in the west but nothing like the weather some of you are getting. Just heard about a wind chill factor of -50C in the mid west, with driving bans in some areas. My very best wishes to anyone caught up in it all
Aix Em Klemm - ST - These are songs. Stretched out at times, sometimes with fragmented pieces of song structure carefully placed inside. Present are slowly developing melodies that still manage to hook your ears. The guitar-based clouds of Stars Of The Lid are here, as well as the clanks of Bobby Donne's bass, augmented by a deft mixture of samples and keyboards. And Adam Wiltzie sings."
- "As Adam Wiltzie from Stars Of The Lid told Sadness Is In The Sky fanzine, his collaboration with Bobby Donne from Labradford began when "We all met during a Texas swing of a Labradford tour that Stars Of The Lid opened for back in 1996. They stayed at my house for a few days and we became great friends. A year later I asked them to collaborate on the Kahanek Incident remix for Trance. Subsequently Mark and Carter moved away from Richmond around this time, so Bobby ended up doing their end of the work. Eventually he brought up the idea of doing another record separate from our other projects."
The duo exchanged tapes over the course of a year or two and then Bobby Donne ventured to Austin, TX for a week to record at Wiltzie's home studio in May 2000. The in-person collaboration moved much more quickly than the exchange of tracks by mail. One track on the Aix Em Klemm album, "Sparkwood and Twenty-One", was written and recorded in the course of one day.
The duo took the mysterious name Aix Em Klemm and the self-titled debut came out in the fall of 2000. Kickbright fanzine noted that "The compositions shimmer and simmer, using instruments and sounds over a beatless soundscape, not knowing form or shape. They wander and develop then make way for other spaces. It's a sad, desolate sounding album. The last song has this quiet keyboard melody. It sounds so fragile and alone."
- "Since the release of their album, Adam Wiltzie has moved to Bruxelles, Belgium. Bobby Donne plays bass in Spokane and is a member of Richmond hiss-manipulators Cristal. Still, you never know when Aix Em Klemm will reform for another recording." Kranky - 2000 - Track 6 @ Soundcloud.
Yes we've not really had winter yet, not too many frosty mornings and no snow. It has just been very, very wet combined with winds and high tides causing additional coastal flooding. But sympathies to all impacted by the cold weather.
Greg, my daughter is staying with 10 other people at the house of a local policeman having had to abandon her car Sunday in one of those -50, driving ban areas. She's hoping they will be able to tow the car today and get her on the road again.
NP:
Reached track 100 - which is actually a really interesting one.
Right now here it is -18C/-2F, feels like -32C/-25F. I checked for where this album cover was taken, Lake Placid NY, which is usually colder, but to my surprise it was slightly warmer. We are not getting much snow today, but last week it was very cold and snowed a lot, which is unusual; usually it's either very cold or snowy. Then on Sunday it got up to 45F/7C. We went outside and made a snowman, then he warmed and collapsed, and is now frozen half tipped over, like something out of Calvin and Hobbes:
GP - Your daughter certainly has my sympathies. As you will know the Fens can be cold when there is an east wind straight from Siberia, but not that cold. It is hard to imagine...
North of Greenland, well within the Arctic Circle, and on the floating ice continent surrounding the North Pole, lived a nomadic tribe of Mongolian descendants known as the Eskimo.
Their culture was passed down through generations in the form of adventurous tales and ceremonial music.
This album attempts to recreate not only the Eskimo ceremonial music, but also a living context for its existence, in the form of Eskimo stories. Although on the record the stories are told purely with sound, a written account is provided to aid your appreciation of this unique culture. For maximum enjoyment, this record should be listened to with headphones while reading the enclosed verbal accounts of what you hear. The disc should be played in its entirety and in the proper sequence of sides. A relaxed state of mind is essential. Warm clothing or a blanket should be within easy reach
- A milestone, in not only The Residents' catalogue, but also in music history.
ETA: and a handful of my favourites from the early backcatalogue:
BTW, Mute has added a number of albums just a few days ago on music.
Still enjoying this one - thanks...BT? The cover art made me hesitate (it really does not make me think of jazz, or appeal to me at all really), but the music is great.
Comments
Son and his wife had cancelled flights but managed to make it out just in time.
Youngest daughter was supposed to leave this morning on a school trip to Japan for which she has been saving/preparing all year; flights all cancelled, earliest they might get out is in a week, considering postponing to June.
Older daughter rescued by police from her car which is still in a snowdrift somewhere in Indiana and is stuck in an emergency shelter in a small town there, likely for days; there's a towing ban there and a warning against going out of doors, with windchill at -50.
Here the campus is closed the next 2 days, which is the least of our worries, but was a chunk of time when I was hoping to get through some work before the January term fully hits.
We get bad weather, but I am not sure I have ever personally experienced such comprehensive disruption/cause for anxiety (though I know people fare much worse).
In trial tomorrow, though, so hopefully I can find some prep time.
Craig
Thanks BN
Aix Em Klemm - ST
- These are songs. Stretched out at times, sometimes with fragmented pieces of song structure carefully placed inside. Present are slowly developing melodies that still manage to hook your ears. The guitar-based clouds of Stars Of The Lid are here, as well as the clanks of Bobby Donne's bass, augmented by a deft mixture of samples and keyboards. And Adam Wiltzie sings."
- "As Adam Wiltzie from Stars Of The Lid told Sadness Is In The Sky fanzine, his collaboration with Bobby Donne from Labradford began when "We all met during a Texas swing of a Labradford tour that Stars Of The Lid opened for back in 1996. They stayed at my house for a few days and we became great friends. A year later I asked them to collaborate on the Kahanek Incident remix for Trance. Subsequently Mark and Carter moved away from Richmond around this time, so Bobby ended up doing their end of the work. Eventually he brought up the idea of doing another record separate from our other projects."
The duo exchanged tapes over the course of a year or two and then Bobby Donne ventured to Austin, TX for a week to record at Wiltzie's home studio in May 2000. The in-person collaboration moved much more quickly than the exchange of tracks by mail. One track on the Aix Em Klemm album, "Sparkwood and Twenty-One", was written and recorded in the course of one day.
The duo took the mysterious name Aix Em Klemm and the self-titled debut came out in the fall of 2000. Kickbright fanzine noted that "The compositions shimmer and simmer, using instruments and sounds over a beatless soundscape, not knowing form or shape. They wander and develop then make way for other spaces. It's a sad, desolate sounding album. The last song has this quiet keyboard melody. It sounds so fragile and alone."
- "Since the release of their album, Adam Wiltzie has moved to Bruxelles, Belgium. Bobby Donne plays bass in Spokane and is a member of Richmond hiss-manipulators Cristal. Still, you never know when Aix Em Klemm will reform for another recording."
Kranky - 2000 - Track 6 @ Soundcloud.
Part of my Grateful Dead Christmas haul - I'm very grateful for all my gifts.
Not quite as cold here as it was in the Midwest, but bur!
- These minus 30 degrees celcius that we hear about in the news must be damn cold and far below what we ever had in Denmark.
An Ubuweb goodie not to be missed !
Yes we've not really had winter yet, not too many frosty mornings and no snow. It has just been very, very wet combined with winds and high tides causing additional coastal flooding. But sympathies to all impacted by the cold weather.
NP:
Reached track 100 - which is actually a really interesting one.
Right now here it is -18C/-2F, feels like -32C/-25F. I checked for where this album cover was taken, Lake Placid NY, which is usually colder, but to my surprise it was slightly warmer. We are not getting much snow today, but last week it was very cold and snowed a lot, which is unusual; usually it's either very cold or snowy. Then on Sunday it got up to 45F/7C. We went outside and made a snowman, then he warmed and collapsed, and is now frozen half tipped over, like something out of Calvin and Hobbes:
The Guardain are streaming Bruce Springsteen's new album High Hopes
Edit - sorry just read it is only available to UK listeners.
ETA: and a handful of my favourites from the early backcatalogue:
BTW, Mute has added a number of albums just a few days ago on music.
Ben Allen Jencks - Thinking of You
Still enjoying this one - thanks...BT? The cover art made me hesitate (it really does not make me think of jazz, or appeal to me at all really), but the music is great.
The Beta Band - The Three E.P.s
^^^ That cover makes me think of the cover to George Best by the Wedding Present:
Which I've never actually heard.
NP:
Voyage/Home by Off Land
ETA: this is a really nice new release. Well worth $3.
Alt-folk from the Sundgau, though in English. Pretty good. NYOP
Thanks, Brighternow, I had had this on my SFL for a while. Very nice.