Slartibartfast's Magical Music Random Load Blog

1/20/12 Finally got the commentary on the last page added.  I think I'll take a break.

Anderson, Laurie    United States Live (Disc Four) - this whole box set really endured me, I mean endeared me to the work of Laurie Anderson.  She did happen to do this box set in chronological order.  There is a condensed version of the whole box set if you'd rather sample.

Camel    A Live Record - I've known the band by name and heard some of them way back when, but when I saw this expanded version of it originally released on LP I gave it try.  I like it but it still remains the only one I have.

Hassel, Jon and Bluescreen    Dressing for Pleasure - I got this one used because I like Jon's albums already but it was nothing like the Hassel I had experienced before.  Kind of dance musicy but has a nice weird edge.  Also notable for having Brain on drums before I got into Primus.  Brain seems to show up in the oddest places like Buckethead.

High Llamas, The    Santa Barbara - I think you'll find about one or two other fans of this group.  They are Stereolab related.  I think this one and Sean O'Hagan's first solo are almost their best.  Snowbug would be the one I might recommend first to the curious.

Jackson, Joe Band    Volume 4 - Got the two disc version of this.  Joe reunites with his original band, hence the Volume 4.  Not a bad set of new songs.  Includes a set of redos from the olden days. 

Jones, John Paul    Zooma - OK this one comes from the DGM label.  I got this one not too long after I had started adding LZ CDs to my collection.  Pretty much blows away that stuff, which I still like.  Blissfully devoid of vocals.

Kuhn, Joachim    Springfever - JK is considered more of a jazz pianist but his fusion albums are really good.  This one is devoid of vocals fortunately.

McLachlan, Sarah    Mirrorball - I could probably toss this one back just because it's a video and she has produced really good live videos.  Fumbling Towards Ecstasy still remains her peak for me.

Nektar    Evolution - the second offering after the first new Nektar in years sees the new band refining the music a bit.

Pere Ubu    New Picnic Time - I actually played this one while working on my computer with it turned down really low.  I think it is best appreciated at really low volumes.  I really like their more accessible stuff much better.

Phillips, Anthony    Private Parts & Pieces VIII: New England - I can't comment on specific, but the PPP series has some great stuff in it and this is no exception

Porcupine Tree    Up the Downstair - the first PT album conceived as an album rather than more of a collection.  Never heard the original drum machine version.  Guess that must be a big ticket collector's item now.  Don't really need to as I like this one just fine.

Rundgren, Todd    A Wizard, A True Star - For me it's no Utopia Utopia but he was headed in that direction.

Weather Report    Night Passage - this one I think I may need to have a louder listen to.  Cool cover.  I haven't really given it a good sit down and listen yet though it cam in in to me in '93, alas.

XTC    Skylarking - never a bad album made and after English Settlement a band that I never failed to get when they came out with something new. 

That year was the middle of college. 
The rest is not so much from memory but more for personal journal purposes, hell this is a blog after all.  It started out pretty good college-wise.  Got good grades in
Fa - Dwelling House Design B, Passive Solar Design A, Site Planning C,
Sp -  Western Literature B, Wood Structures C, Technical Writing B,
Summer quarters were always spent working.  No travels to exotic places.
Wi - Computer Aided Design And Drafting A, Structural Drafting A,  Structural Analysis F
It was a horrid class and a solid F.  My God!!!  You had to do all these calculations and diagrams on paper, the professor was just boring as hell. 
The whole process was becoming anachronistic if I'm not mistaken but once very valuable once upon a time.  

At least I had XTC's Skylarking to comfort me. Then again it was released in October so maybe it just threw me off course. 




V V V V    Oooh, a seven out of eight.


Edited by Slartibartfast - February 08 2012 at 07:17

Gorn, Levin, Marotta    From the Caves of the Iron Mountain - this is music made in actual caves.  They were interested in the acoustic properties of various cave areas.  An interesting experiment and the music is decent.

Jethro Tull    Benefit - I like their later stuff better but it's a fine album all the same.

Jethro Tull    Rock Island - this came up in the same draw.  OK but I like Benefit better.

King Crimson    B'BOOM Official Bootleg - Live In Argentina 1994 - non essential but why not beat the bootleggers?

Led Zeppelin    IV - probably said this before but the band had respect in my prog friend circles which were primarily my brother's friends who were generally three years older.  I never paid them too much attention because my classmates were not into prog as I knew it and typically hung out in the smoking area in high school.  Yeah, it (cigarettes) was legal for teens back then.

Moody Blues, The    A Question of Balance (Remaster) - the opener kind of overshadows all the rest of the album, the rest never made much of an impression on me.  Seem to suffer a bit from quaint-itis.

Mr. Bungle    Mr. Bungle - I'd probably absolutely hate this if I hadn't acquired a taste for the avant many years ago and got warmed up to more metal in prog by Porcupine Tree.  Not my favorite but I'm still keeping it.

Parsons, The Alan, Project    Tales of Mystery and Imagination Edgar Allan Poe -  I am a sucker for concept albums but I guess this one didn't come along at the right time because I am rather cold to it still.

Pink Floyd    Piper at the Gates of Dawn - second of another pair in this draw.  I think I might actually like it better than the next one.

Pink Floyd    Wall, The - for me always best experienced in video, DVD in this case.  It like Led IV was also a favorite of what was the freak clique.  So I didn't check it out until college where they had an area of the student center set up to play VHS movies and this one of the features.

Residents, The    Have a Bad Day - I believe there was a computer video game or program associated with this album.  Never saw it for sale in a store.   I would have got it.

Supertramp    Crime Of The Century - one of those bands I never played attention to because it got so much radio play.  Didn't try this one until a few years ago because I went on a quest for something new in the PA's top 100 list.  It was a bit of futile quest because I went to two different stores and didn't find anything on my list until I got to the third Best Buy, which had generally become a waste of time for finding prog I didn't already have.  Not surprised that they had this one, so I went for it and like it very much.

Yes    Magnification - post '70's Yes is just really hard for me to get into as I generally wrote them off thanks to 90210.  This one doesn't excite me though I can't say anything bad about it.


Edited by Slartibartfast - February 08 2012 at 07:37

Get this, I also use random sometimes to pick out from what I am carrying to listen to at work.  The Wall came up right after Piper.

Slartibartfast wrote: Amos, Tori    Crucify Amos, Tori    Winter Budd, Harold    la bella vista Di Meola, Al    Cielo e Terra Frith, Fred    Speechless Gismonti, Egberto   Hackett, Steve    Voyage of the Acolyte (Remaster) Hampton, Co. Bruce and The Late Bronze Age    Outside Looking Out Hampton, Col. Bruce    Arkansas Mitchell, Joni    Turbulent Indigo Ozric Tentacles    Waterfall Cities Residents, The    Tweedles

Slartibartfast wrote: Bitch and Animal    What's That Smell? Dixie Dregs    California Screamin' Dixie Dregs    Night of the Living Dregs Genesis    Spot the Pigeon Hackett, Steve    Please Don't Touch (Remaster) New Percussion Group of Amsterdam    Go Between Porcupine Tree    Nil Recurring Primus    Sailing The Seas Of Cheese Shadowfax    Too Far To Whisper Umphrey's McGee    Safety In Numbers Wakeman, Rick    Six Wives of Henry VIII, The Yes    Close to the Edge (Remaster) Yes    Fragile (Remaster)                                                                                                                               Need to get caught up on the commentaries.  Down to about 180 titles including those above.  Weird how I drew a pair of better known and loved Yes albums.  Also got Hackett's first post Genesis along with his last work with the band.  The Shadowfax and McGee were both soaked in the flood.

Slartibartfast wrote: Anderson, Laurie    United States Live (Disc Four) - this whole box set really endured me, I mean endeared me to the work of Laurie Anderson.  She did happen to do this box set in chronological order.  There is a condensed version of the whole box set if you'd rather sample.

OMG, my LinkedIn reference has now surpassed my ProgArchives one in Google search.  I guess that counts for 30 minutes of fame in exchange for still being able to run but not being able to hide on the internet.

Anderson, Laurie    Bright Red - a rather dark offering from Laurie but it has one of my favorite lyrical lines: "O lovely pussy! Pussy my love! What a wonderful pussy you are."

Bruford    One of A Kind - the title is not an understatement.  The best of the Bruford albums.

Bush, Kate    Dreaming, The - Kate's most daring album.  I'd be highly surprised if she ever does anything quite like it again,

Fiji Mariners    Featuring Col. Bruce Hampton  - Nowhere Is Now Here so beware of The Pleasure Seeking Fiji Disco Women.

Hassell, Jon    City: Works of Fiction - this one hasn't caught on with me.  Jon's stuff can be a bit of hit or miss for me.

Medeski Martin and Wood    Uninvisible - oddly enough this one has a Bruce Hampton guest appearance.  One of those bands I like but haven't explored in depth.  I also have End Of The World Party.

Mitchell, Joni    For the Roses - zzzzzz.  Got it from a discount bin.

Nine Inch Nails    Broken - reviewed.  If he had stuck to music  like the debut, I wouldn't likely be a fan.  Nice prelude to Spiral.  (The Vangelis album not the NIN one )

Oldfield, Mike    Crisis - for being such a big fan of his '70's stuff I stayed away from his '80's stuff, but hey I finally got around to those albums with the remastered CDs.  Still can't top his earlier stuff but still not too shabby.

Projekct Two    Space Groove - reviewed this one this morning.  Another zzzz.



Edited by Slartibartfast - February 23 2012 at 17:05

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