Slartibartfast's Magical Music Random Load Blog

Full case this morning, interesting set:

Beefheart, Captain & His Magic Band    Trout Mask Replica - I know some people adore this album.  I dread whenever this one comes up in circulation.  Maybe this time it will be magic.

Cocteau Twins    Head Over Heels - first came to know these guys due to their work with Harold Budd.  The only album I have though I like it and should try another.  So if anyone reads this who is familiar with their discography, make me a suggestion.

Davis, Miles    Round About Midnight - I prefer his fusion stuff, but his jazz stuff is classic.

Jarre, Jean Michel    Oxygene 7-13 - I guess giving your pieces number instead of names saves time.  The J man has done some stuff recently that isn't quite as good as his earlier stuff.  You can rank this one with the earlier stuff.

Johnson, David Earle with Jan Hammer    Hip Address - get hip, seriously.

Marillion    Made Again - for me an unremarkable but not bad live album.

McLachlan, Sarah    Laws Of Illusion - who knew illusion had it's laws?  My favorite since Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. 

Morse, Steve Band    Coast to Coast - Steve's solo albums are good yet fairly predictable. 

Mr. Bungle    California - my favorite and first bungling experience.  I liked it enough to get the whole discography.

Penguin Café, The    Music From the Penguin Café - a friend introduced me to this album many years back.  I taped it to cassette but never bought a copy.  Now rectified.

Premiata Forneria Marconi    Per Un Amico - my intro to PFM was the English language stuff.  Some say the Italian language stuff is superior.  I like both.

Rungren's, Tod Utopia    Utopia - Todd hopped on the prog bandwagon for a while.  This is one of the best.

Schema    Schema - in the scheme a things a quite good EP that has Mary from Stereolab.

Zappa, Frank    Thing-Fish - I like this one much more than the Trout Mask and I can just hear the groaning coming from the Trout Mask fans.


I drove around with it in the player today and it nearly drove me crazy.   I see people writing about albums being too long, perfectly describes this one.
Doc was my first and I like that much better.  But the Trout Mask really put me off to the point where I didn't try anything new for years, which so far has been Safe As Milk and I quite like it.
V V V


Edited by Slartibartfast - January 19 2011 at 21:22

Blegvad, Peter    Just Woke Up - good stuff.  I took an interest because of Andy Partridge being on one.  Not a huge fan though.  I got a few and probably won't be getting any more.

Clarke DiMeola Ponty    Rite of Strings, The - not so fond memories of going to see these guys at an outdoors concert at stone mountain and not having applied any sunscreen, getting the crap sunburned out of me.

Dixie Dregs    What If - what if I could have only one Dregs album.  It would be this one.

Hackett, Steve    Spectral Mornings (Remaster) - Steve did some really good solo albums before attempting to go commercial.  This is one of them.

Heads, The    No Talking Just Head - not bad for a non-Byrne Talking Heads project.  Substitute vocalists instead.  I think I bought this because Andy Partridge is one of them.

Metheny Group, Pat    Offramp - saw him on the tour for this live.  One of those Atlanta Agora concerts I got into before I was old enough to go into a venue that served alcohol.  I still have the t-shirt in storage. 

Nektar    Tab in the Ocean, A - definitely one of their best, though the reincarnation has been doing some good stuff.

Oregon    Troika - decent though no standout.  I don't think they were ever quite as good as when Colin Walcott was still alive and with them.

Phillips, Anthony    Slow Dance - basically good mellow music.

Sinfield, Pete    Still - Pete does some cheesy stuff, but the non-cheesy stuff is quite good.  Come to think of it, the cheesy stuff isn't all that bad.

Sky    Sky Five Live - nice live set.  I didn't know of its existence until the CD releases came out.

Steeley Dan    Two Against Nature - nice comeback for them although it is hard to top the '70's stuff.

Wilding/Bonus    Pleasure Signals - you like Brand X?  Neither of those two played in X but there's a few Xers on this album.  And an array of nekkid ladies on the cover.  What's not to like?

Edited by Slartibartfast - January 19 2011 at 21:22

Sanctious very much.

Next batch:

Amos, Tori    Hey Jupiter - EP, non essential to be sure.

Bowie, David    Buddha of Suburbia, The - not one of his more progressive ventures but decent music all the same.

Dixie Dregs, the    Industry Standard - last attempt at having some commercial success.  Pretty much the end of the Dregs as I knew them.

Fleck, Bela & The Flecktones    Live At The Quick - eh, your basic live album.

Gunn, Trey Band, The    Joy of Molebdenum, The - happy happy joy joy.

Head Machine    Orgasm - aahhh ahhhh ahhh aoohhh.

Manzanera, Phil    Primititve Guitars - very influential to me.  Nice set of instrumentals.  Unfortunately, Phil would try some more commercial ventures after this one came out.

Metheny, Pat Group    American Garage - simply one of his best.

Moraz - Buford    Music For Piano and Drums - saw them live on this tour.  Really more of a jazz than progressive effort.

Oldfield, Mike    Tubular Bells 2003 - this one often gets knocked for being a remake.  I quite like it.

Oregon    Oregon - Oregon goes a bit less acoustic.

Phillips, Anthony    Private Parts & Pieces - his first.  He apparently recorded a lot of stuff post Genesis.  First of the series.  If you like acoustic you should like this one.

Roxy Music    Flesh & Blood - yeah they went in a more commercial direction.  Still a good album.

Santana    Caravanserai - jazz rock fusion at it's best.

Tomita, Isao / Musorgsky    Pictures at an Exhibition - excellent version.

Amos, Tori    Abnormally Attracted To Sin - her latest to date.  Good as always.  I think she'd be hard pressed to make a regular studio release that I wouldn't like.

Premiata Forneria Marconi    Live in U.S.A. - originally released as Cook with a much cooler album covet, my intro to the band.  Made me a big fan.


Edited by Slartibartfast - January 19 2011 at 21:22

Beck, Jeff    Jeff - still can't top his '70's stuff.  Not a bad one though.

Brand X    Unorthodox Behavior - probably their best.  Phil had yet to go over to the dark side of commercial music.

Clarke, Stanley    Journey To Love - fairly new one for me.  Has yet to make a strong impression.

Dixie Dregs    King Biscuit Flower Hour - the Dregs were always at their best live.  This show shows them at their prime.  And for those of you not acquainted with the KBFH, it was the best show to make your own live bootlegs off of.

Free Flight    Jazz/Classical Union, The - I've only got a couple of their albums.  I think this is the first one.  Really good Jazz/Classical fusion.

Gabriel, Peter    Security - Peter continues his departure from the style of Genesis when he left.  Had some commercial success with Shock The Monkey.  The rest of the songs were outside the mainstream.

Genesis    Duke (Remaster) - the band is certainly starting to head towards more commercial material.  I absolutely hated Misunderstanding when the album came out.  I’ve grown to merely dislike it.

Hedges, Michael    Breakfast in the Field – Mike’s early instrumental albums were his best.  This is no exception.
Jackson, Joe    Summer In The City – a live show in NYC before a small audience. 

Kodo with Isao Tomita and Kusillaqta    Nasca Fantasy – I was familiar with Kodo before but never had any of their albums.  Decided to give this one a shot as it had Tomita.  Not bad at all.

Laraaji    Ambient 3/Day of Radiance – this album is the least like the others in the series.  Eno doesn’t perform.  I think I remember reading somewhere that this artist was a street musician that Brian happened to run into.

no-man    Heaven Taste – this was yet another in my no-man binge. 

Oldfield, Mike    Hergest Ridge – proto ambient/new age.  Really good stuff.  A much simpler piece than his first solo outing.

Sting    Ten Summoner's Tales – Sting’s debut remains my favorite.  He continues to put out basically good albums though and I haven’t missed one.

Synergy    Cords – seemed to be having
 a bit of a brain fart when loading my case.  Pulled out Games instead.  If you like synth music and haven’t tried Synergy, then by all means do.

Talking Heads    The Name of This Band is Talking Heads – brain fart number two.  Pulled 77 of the shelf instead.  Oddly enough that title came up in rotation for the next batch. 
Tibbetts, Steve    Safe Journey – Steve tended to move away from
 his proggier first two albums when he hopped on the ECM label.  Still good stuff, but the first two remain my favorites.

Umphrey's McGee    Summer Sampler 2010 – so I’m at the liquor store and I go up to the counter and they had a small stack of these they were giving away for free.  Excellent.  Compilation of live tracks.  I think it’s still available as a free download.


Need to comment on all of these.
Next:
Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe    Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe - really a Yes album except for the fact that you can't have a Yes album without Chris Squire.  Had it since it was new.  Liked it better then.  Not particularly enthusiastic about it now.

Belew, Adrian    Lone Rhino - Adrian's first self titled release.  Remains my favorite.

Bowie, David    Lodger - I keep forgetting that Eno and Belew are on this one.  Probably a driving factor in keeping from getting too poppy.

Bush, Kate    Aspects of the Sensual World - as most EPs it's of most interest to the bigger fans.

Bush, Kate    Hounds of Love + 6 Bonus Tracks - she hasn't put out anything I don't like better.

Dixie Dregs    Full Circle - it ain't the old Dregs, but they have Jerry Goodman on board.  For those not in the know, they covered some Mahavishnu Orchestra songs live in the early days.

Eno, Brian    More Music For Films - the long lost Music For Films 2 album. 

Gentle Giant    King Biscuit Flower Hour - the King captured some prog greats at their peak and put out a live on the radio.  Another great one.

Harrison, Jerry    Casual Gods - I've got three of his solo albums.  The one I'd really like to have is The Red And The Black.  Maybe sooner or later.  Not bad, but no Talking Heads either.

Horn, Paul Featuring Egberto Gismonti and Nexus    Altitiude of the Sun, The - I don't know Horn, but long acquainted with Gismonti.  Nice mellow instrumental.

Knifeworld    Buried Alive: Tales Of Crushing Defeat - another one of those albums that hasn't been as much appreciated on this site as is warranted.  Try it dammit!!!

Nirvana    From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah - I would be surprised if this band ever makes it on this site.  I think what attracted me to them was Kurt seems to have a Fripp influence. 

Renaissance    Tales of 1001 Nights Volume I - I normally say avoid compilation albums or "best" ofs.  I got it because the compilations were the only way to get the band on CD.  At this point I'll probably stick with I and II.   Running out of space and funds, you know.

Talking Heads    Talking Heads: 77 (Remaster) - if I haven't already put in a good word for Jerry Harrison's remaster series with 5.1 mix and bonus video material, I highly recommend them.


Edited by Slartibartfast - January 27 2011 at 20:15

I noticed "The Prodigal Son" by Nektar

Slartibartfast wrote: Horn, Paul Featuring Egberto Gismonti and Nexus    Altitiude of the Sun, The - I don't know Horn, but long acquainted with Gismonti.  Nice mellow instrumental.

WalterDigsTunes wrote: Slartibartfast wrote: Bowie, David    Buddha of Suburbia, The - not one of his more progressive ventures but decent music all the same. Have you read the liner notes to this record? I think they highlight just how adventurous this project is (particularly when compiled to the modus operandi of his 80s and Tin Machine output).

My version didn't come with any liner notes, but I can always get the scoop online.

Moshkito, thanks for the suggestions.  Currently in holding pattern as far as exploring new music.  As soon as the house repairs are completed, I'll be moving the hell out of this apartment and I've got a large enough collection to move.   That's it currently in my signature:

Hopefully in about a month it will be in a totally new configuration.  These are all going to have to be above the level that the house flooded to because it could happen again.   Fortunately almost all of them were. 


Edited by Slartibartfast - February 02 2011 at 21:01

and you still haven't repeated any song once right?

Beck, Jeff    Who Else! - Jeff's comeback album.  Hate to say it but I prefer his '70's stuff more until you get to Emotion And Commotion.

Dimeola, Al    Electric Rendezvous - the last of an era sort of for solo Dimeola.  Saw this tour live and actually happened to be walking up to the venue from the back when Al came in.  Didn't get to meet him but a nice coincidence.

Eno, Brian    Thursday Afternoon - well I know what I'm going to playing tomorrow afternoon.  I always like to save this one for a Thursday afternoon.  It came up when I was loading up tonight.

Isham, Mark    Vapor Drawings - my first encounter with Mark's music was the soundtrack for Never Cry Wolf.  His synths really had a cold Arctic sound to them and was very influential for my own playing.  Has lots of similar material.  He also plays trumpet and is a big Miles Davis fan.

Jethro Tull    20 Years of J.T.: The Radio Archives and Rare Tracks - I believe all the rare tracks have been put on the remasters as bonus tracks, which is totally cool.  They're pretty good and I guess rare no more.

Led Zeppelin    Presence - OK the "presence" appears to be a bong.  I don't buy for one minute that it's some kind of alien object or something.  This was my first Zep CD.  It took a while before I started to get more.  This was primarily due to their overexposure.

Levin, Tony    pieces of the sun - if Waters Of Eden was too mellow for you, Tony rocks a bit more on this one.  I really like the version of Larry Fast's Phobos on here.  Larry's the synth dude on this one.

Mays, Lyle    Street Deams - snooze fest.  The two Mays solo albums I have just don't excite me.  Pat bristles at being called a jazz fusion artist.  Here's his buddy doing just the kind of jazz fusion I think he would despise.  I keep it because I got it used really cheap.

Nektar    Sunday Night at London Roundhouse - this one's the original release which has some studio tracks not on the two disc recent re release.  Nice to have those if you like Nektar and can get a copy.  Roye did a great job with the new one.  Nektar was a band best seen live in those days.  You can get a tasting of it on the reunion DVD.  Great live set even without the visuals.

Nice, The    Five Bridges - I guess this qualifies as their most classical oriented effort, although the mix of classical and rock was for the most part their trademark.

Nirvana    Incesticide - few people here like this band.  I wonder if it's the same amount that like the Nirvana that is here which I've never heard any of.  I gave the band a shot after I heard a Tori Amos cover.  Of course used copies of their albums are easy to get cheap.  Not a regular studio release but some good stuff all the same. 

Phideaux    Fiendish - my phirst Phideaux.  The opening track really grabbed my attention.  I think it may have been those guitar riffs going back and forth between the speakers.



Edited by Slartibartfast - February 02 2011 at 21:53

Who Else? has to be a favorite of mine from the first three comebacks.  But man, Tal really meshed with Jeff on E & C. 

Zep I didn't get much into when I was in high school as I wasn't in much with the "freak" crowd, which I recall had a big bunch of Zep fans.  Pretty much a loner as far as "peers" went.  My brother was about three years older and I ended up becoming great friends with some of his friends due to prog and other things.

I'm thinking of a starter Nice to recommend...
Probably Ars.  They lost one member but I think it's a more fun album.