Slartibartfast's Magical Music Random Load Blog

bass communion v muslimgauze    bass communion v muslimgauze ep - appears to be really hard to get a copy of this one.  I found a copy available on EP and then was able to buy a download to complete full album.

Budd, Harold/Ruben Garcia/Daniel Lentz    Music for 3 Pianos - glad to see Budd finally made it to this site.  This one still hasn't been added.

Jethro Tull    This Was - this one has some good hints of what is yet to come and some average blues knockoffs.

Lights In A Fat City    Memory Ground - really odd album.  Credit to the old AOL radio for exposing me to this one.  The newest version stinks as they have eliminated the progressive radio channel and many others.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are commercials, but I couldn't be bothered to check it out.

Marillion    Happiness Is The Road - Essence - decent music, but Hogarth era albums haven't been particularly adventurous.  One of the things which keeps me holding Brave and Afraid Of Sunlight in high esteem.

Mitchell, Joni    Mingus - since she isn't on this site, I wonder what the big jazz fans think of this one if they've heard it.   I like it, but I really don't know Mingus.

Pere Ubu    Folly of Youth See Dee + - a disc with unrippable tracks and some CD ROM stuff.  I'm going to pop in this Windows 7 computer and see what happens.  Well that didn't work.  Windows Media Player locked up because I had it active and it tried to play it.  It might work on the Vista machine I have but am utterly unhappy with.

Residents, The    Bunny Boy, The - it's OK, has or had some interesting stuff on their web site to accompany it.  Haven't enjoyed it as much as Animal Lover or even Tweedles.  May be one of those timing things.  I was on an Umphrey's McGee binge at the time. 

Stereolab    Oscillons from the Anti-Sun - eh, have some of this stuff on the ABC Music album.  There are a few outstanding tracks that hadn't been released before or maybe only came out on EP.  The thing that makes this package worth having for me is that it includes a DVD of their videos.

Summers, Andy    Last Dance of Mr. X, The - Andy should be on this site.  I've got quite a few of his solo albums over the years and they are quite good JRF to my ears.

Well got an empty box now except for The Jethro Tull Christmas Album.  Should probably get my next round of selections knocked out before bed.  Oops, still had Oscillions to do.  I think I'll put the case in the case anyway.  It doesn't fit, but I won't have room for too many other selections so I won't get exhausted filling up the case.

Up next:
Buckethead    Colma - nice mellow Buckethead.

Budd, Harold, Simon Raymonde, Robin Guthrie, Elizabeth Fraser    Moon and the Melodies, The - a pleasant used find at the now defunct Turtles record store.

Jarrett, Keith    Melody At Night, With You, The - I don't have a lot of Keith.  I find this one rather dull.  Good as background dinner music I suppose.

Johnson, David Earle    Time Is Free - more people around here need to become acquainted with this guy.  He's dead now, but I will keep putting in the good word.

Pere Ubu    Raygun Suitcase - first heard this on college radio.  First heard them mentioned in a Zippy The Pinhead strip many years before I tried them.

Radiohead    Kid A - the third one I tried.  If Amnesiac didn't cement my love of the band, this one certainly sealed the deal.

Rypdal, Terje    Vossabrygg - this guy has put out some stuff in the early days that hasn't thrilled me.  This is one from his latter days that fails as well. 

Had more room than I thought:
Hampton, Co. Bruce and The Late Bronze Age    Isles of Langerhan - the LBA gets a rockin'.  I will keep banging my head against the wall singing the praises of this artist.  I will be pleasantly surprised if I ever hear "I like this guy's stuff, too."

Vangelis    City, The - the V man peaked with Albedo and Heaven And Hell for me.  Not a bad one though.




Edited by Slartibartfast - December 30 2010 at 21:12

I actually needed to reload this morning but went on latest 100 albums instead.  Only got so far with those and now next up:

Blegvad, Peter    downtime  - not a huge fan of this guy.  One of those artists I tried out when the folks I was more familiar with weren't doing much.  Kind of prog folk though.

Doors, The    Strange Days - one of the newer Doors additions to my collection.  The songs have been ingrained in the brain long ago.

Hackett, Steve    Guitar Noir - never made a good impression or a bad one.  To Watch The Storms would though.

Kayak    Kayak - why the hell is their second album named like it should have been their debut?  Why did they release Starlight Danceer in the US which was a combination of two of their albums?  The pop tracks on Merlin rather than a whole concept album was wrong.  I like Kayak so you guys are excused.

Led Zeppelin    II - weird that I would draw this one along with Kayak which was their number two but should have been their first by title.

Manzanera, Phil & Andy Mackay    Up In Smoke - unless you really like '80's stuff, avoid this one.  So much better stuff by those guys out there.  If I had to burn my CD's to survive, this would be one of the first in line.

Nice, The    Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, The - the four piece didn't last long.  Proto ELP.

Nirvana    Unplugged In New York - there was electricity going on there.  Dammed frauds.  Nice covers.

Procol Harum    Best of, The - OK I always say best of collections aren't worth having.  A friend of mine had this,  I wasn't and am still not out to collect the albums it was drawn from.  I like this compilation.

Sky    Sky 3 - I've been surprised by the negative reviews of this one.  I like it even though 2 reigns supreme.

Talking Heads    "Naked" - their last hurrah.  They really went downhill after their pinnacle Remain In Light, but as with it's other successors, this one has it's moments.  The ending track, Cool Water, is extremely prog and intense.

Various    An Evening With Windham Hill Live - don't dismiss Windham Hill artists along with stereotypical New Age artists. 

XTC    Apple Venus Volume 1 - XTC has been putting out albums that really capture that moment in life when each came out.  No exception here.  This was new as I was getting to know the woman that would become my wife and getting over the one who didn't.

Edited by Slartibartfast - December 30 2010 at 21:12

I'm really surprised Court And Spark didn't come up in that draw.  Love that one, too.  Didn't get into Joni until I saw a video of the Shadows And Light concert.  Having already become a Metheny fan, that clinched it.

Here's another batch with some more interesting coincidences:

Bush, Kate    Never for Ever - I'm fairly sure I got this one before Hounds Of Love came out.  The stylistic contrast is really interesting.  While I've never been quite as taken with the first two, those two really made me a huge fan. This one's easier on the ears as it were.

Enya    Memory of Trees, The - another chick solo album.  Interesting coincidence number two.  I think it's fair to say the earlier albums are more interesting.  Not bad for mellow music.

King Crimson    ConstruKtion of Light, The - eh, I still don't get the disrespect this album gets.  Maybe it is because it is too short, of course maybe it is too long for some.

League of Gentlemen, The    Thrang Thrang Gozinbulx - next coincidence, another Fripp album.  By the way an excellent album which is an important part of Fripp's transition between Crimsons.

Led Zeppelin    Physical Graffiti - not totally enthusiastic for the whole album, I do like all the songs, but Kashmir has to be one their best.

Oldfield, Mike    Five Miles Out - nenxt sort of coincidence.  Hall and Oats covered Family Man.  Fripp and Hall played together.  The rest of the songs on here are better though.

Ozric Tentacles    Pungent Effulgent - the one complaint I have about this band is the whole all their albums sound alike thing, but you may have fans that would say otherwise.  Suffice it to say if you like one, you'll probably like them all.  I've got a bunch now, say no more.

Ponty, Jean-Luc    Individual Choice - I feel his earlier albums are the best, but this one ain't too shabby.  Nice video was done for the title track. 

Reich, Steve    Music For 18 Musicians - what really got me into his work was this documentary:
Another fine album here from one of the masters of minimalism.
Oh here's a clip of the piece:


Residents, The    Tunes of Two Cities, The/Big Bubble, The - I got the deluxe edition that combines the two.  Nice edition, but the music hasn't quite caught on.

Santana    Moonflower (Remaster) - Moonflower has what I consider to be one of Santana's best songs: Europa.  Not a bad mix of live and studio stuff.

Soft Machine    Bundles - I was acquainted with earlier Soft stuff.  Pleasantly surprised to find Holdsworth on this one.  I like the direction they had taken.

Vangelis    Opera Sauvage - didn't become acquainted with this one until after part of it was used in a wine commercial.  The V man has had quite a varied output.  I like this one, but not as much as others.
 
Yes    Tormato - yeah some fans would like to throw rotten vegetables at this album, I am not one of them.  Perhaps I have a bit of a soft spot for it as it came out when I was just getting into the band.




Edited by Slartibartfast - December 11 2010 at 05:33

New batch.  The randomizer seems to be on a Joni Mitchell kick today:

Glass, Philip    "Low" Symphony - Glass does Bowie.  I like it.

Beatles, The    Magical Mystery Tour - I always nickname this the Magical Misery Tour.  Not that I don't like the album. 

Byrne, David    Uh-Oh - I hate to say it. but post Talking Heads and later TH, Byrne started making a lot less interesting music.

Gruntz, George et. Al.    Percussion Profiles - very good ECM album where all the musicians play percussion.  Sadly out of print and I don't think it ever made it to CD.  Damn shame.

Hassell, Jon    Last night the moon came dropping its clothes on the street - Jon's newest one and like the title, dreamy music.

Isham, Mark    blue sun - decent jazz fusion album.  Has David Torn on guitar loops. 

L. Subramanium/Stephane Grappelli    Conversations - Stephane meets indoprog. 

Mitchell, Joni    Chalk Mark In a Rainstorm - interesting duets with Peter Gabriel, Billy Idol, Tom Petty (those two not a duet but a triplet), Don Henly, Willie Nelson. 

Mitchell, Joni    Hejira - Jaco on bass on some tracks.  probably her proggiest.

Mitchell, Joni    Hissing of Summer Lawns, The - another really good offering.

Ravel, Maurice    Bolero, Piano Concerto in G-Major - I got it for Bolero.  I think the Concerto is decent though I haven't heard it in quite a while.

Roach, Steve/Braheney,Kevin/Stearns,Michael    Desert Solitaire - haven't picked up too much Roach, nothing especially memorable about this one.

Toto    Dune Sountrack - I don't have any other Toto in my collection, but I really enjoyed this soundtrack, plus Brian Eno does one track.

Bensusan, Pierre    Wu wei - I've picked up only a couple of his titles.  Good music but didn't really excite me.


Edited by Slartibartfast - December 07 2010 at 21:40

I think fear was next in line after Remain In Light while I was working my way backwards.

Soft Machine    5 - basic good jazz rock.  Nothing on here has particularly stood out for me though.

Phideaux    313 - what? another album who's name is a number?  I've enjoyed every album of the P man I have gotten.  This one is no exception.

Geballe, Tony    Native of the Rain - one from the Fripp DGM label and if I'm not mistaken he was a student at

Robert's guitar camp.  Mellow acoustical 12 string guitar stuff.

Gong    Shamal -  the band going in a different direction from the Daevid days.  I like the albums with Pierre as will as the ones where Allen has been at the helm.

Discipline    Unfolded Like Staircase - I actually got this one personally recommended to me by Mr. Phi.  Good one.

Yes    Close to the Edge (Remaster) - well this one's been reviewed to death.  It's a prog classic.  What else can you say?

Badalamenti, Angelo    Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me - I have to say Angelo is proggy soundtrack maker.  Much of David Lynch's movies would not have been as good without the music.

Mahavishnu Orchestra    Between Nothingness and Eternity - I guess if the previous Maha was nothingness, the next would be infinity.  The Trident Session are essential if you like this one.


Edited by Slartibartfast - December 07 2010 at 21:40

Next up:

Pere Ubu    Cloudland - what I really like about this band is that their more accessible stuff is still weird.

Phideaux    Ghost Story - never have met a Phideaux album I didn't like.  No exception here.

Brook, Michael with Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois    Hybrid - excellent abmient trio (for the most part) music.

Sting    …Nothing Like The Sun - Sting's another one of those artists who doesn't disappoint.  My main criticism is the lack of variety to his solo albums.

Nirvana    "Bleach" - a good first album if you are into this style of music.  I am and I like these guys though Groehl was a great replacement for the guy on this one.

Bowie, David    "Heroes" - my first Bowie album.  It would be a few years before he totally caught on with me.

Genesis    "Live" - some people swear by this album but it never really impressed me so I'll give it a long overdue re listen and see if I still hold the same opinion.


Edited by Slartibartfast - November 28 2010 at 17:59

Happy Rhodesongs goes in, Number Seven comes out and now it's time for another batch of 8 (Olympia is in heavy rotation):

Allman Brothers, The    At the Fillmore East - if you only try or have one AB album, this is the one.  I would not steer you wrong.

Amos, Tori    Beekeeper, The - Tori is one of those artists that just never disappoints me.  This is a sort of concept album.  I got the deluxe version that comes with DVD a really nice booklet and a pack of wildflower seeds that I have never planted.

High Llamas    Can Cladders - these guys are a bit of a mixed bag in terms of their albums.  There are some really good ones and some dull ones.  This one is one of the dull ones. For recent times they haven't surpassed Snowbug.

Kindler, Steve    Across a Rainbow Sea - damn, why did I draw two snooze fests?  Steve has worked with Jan Hammer but this is average new age stuff.  I'd probably sell it, but I'm fairly certain it wouldn't fetch more than the postage it would take to mail it to someone.

Stereolab    fab four suture - basic Stereolab album.  Doesn't really stand out. 

Sting    Dream of the Blue Turtles, The - really liked this one when it came out.  When I saw the Bring On The Night movie and saw Miles Copeland's attitude towards the other band members when they were negotiating for more money from the tour, it kind of soured me to Sting.  I remember Steve Martin on a joint Saturday Live sketch referring to him as Stingy.  A rather good continuation of the proggy direction that the Police had taken.

Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilitch/Alexander Borodin    Sleeping Beauty, Romeo & Juliet/Polovesian Dances - eh.  Doesn't really move me like some of the other decomposing composers.  Primarily got this one early in my CD collecting days because it was cheap.  I bet fans here of the T man could direct me to better stuff.

Wyatt, Robert    Solar Flares Will Burn You - I'm a believer.  No really, he covers The Monkee's song, which is rather funny as I was a big fan of them as a kid.  Rather lost interest in them as I got into prog.  I did have to get a DVD of their movie Head.  It's got a Frank Zappa cameo you know...  Anyway, this is a release for the fans of Robert as it is a compilation of demos and stuff that didn't make it to a regular studio album.

Beck, Jeff    Wired - Jeff's '70's stuff remain his finest.  He banged the Hammer rather well.

Davis, Miles    Filles De Kilimanjaro - Miles was about to go all Jazz/Rock on peoples asses.  I think you can hear him headed there here.

Gong    Expresso II - well, I'm one of those that got into Gong when Pierre was at the helm.  This is another excellent set from that era.

Oldfield, Mike    Music Of The Spheres - Mike doing a piece of orchestral prog with heavy Tubular Bells overtures.

Pink Floyd    Animals/Saucer Full of Secrets - somebody decided to sell off a PF box set in pieces.  I ordered a used copy of the wall that turned out to be from the same set.  Can't complain about Animals and Saucer being combined on one disc.  Still I was expecting for Animals and The Wall to be from an original album release.  Plenty of fans of all three of those albums around here, myself included.

Porcupine Tree    We Lost The Skyline - acoustic duet that I happened upon browsing at my local independent brick and mortar store.  Couldn't pass it up.  The mark of any really good live album is the departure in some shape or form from the studio versions and this one lives up to that.

Talking Heads    Fear of Music (Remaster) - Jerry Harrison presided over the remix/remaster of the TH catalog and you get 5.1 mixes and bonus material including video stuff.  If you're a TH fan and have their 70's stuff you will probably need to get this one.

U.K.    U.K. - ook ook ook.  When I made a copy of this on cassette I had to pair it up with Bill Bruford's One Of A Kind.  Kind of companion albums I must say.  It's a shame Bruford and Holdsworth didn't hang around for another album.  The quartet with Jobson and Wetton were a pretty good team.

Edited by Slartibartfast - November 21 2010 at 18:47

I just loaded these.  Didn't when I selected them.  So here are the drive by reviews:

Roxy Music    Avalon - a band that started out very rough around the edges to my ears.  By the time they made it here they had become a bit smoother and sophisticated and probably too pop for the tastes of many of their early period fanatics.

Marillion    B'Sides Themselves - I think this album is almost obsolete.  The B sides are available on all the remastered versions. 

Stereolab    First of the Microbe Hunters, The - not quite as inspired as it's predecessor Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night.  I actually liked it better than the guy who turned me on this band.

Belew, Adrian    Guitar As Orchestra, The - one of those albums I wish I had listened to once and not put in my collection.  These kind of albums will remain for their novelty value.

Childs, Toni    House of Hope - I probably wouldn't place this in a prog category, but she does work with really good musicians who are.  She's kind of an acquired taste, but I like the three albums I have.

Stereolab    Instant 0 In The Universe - their first album since Mary Hansen died in a bicycle accident, hence the instant 0.  A decent EP.  If you're familiar with her contributions to the band, you know how bad Mary will is missed.

Synergy    Metropolitan Suite - Larry Fast is really one of those keyboard/synthesizer players who should get more recognition around here (I just find that better to say than underrated ).  Another bit of music from the '80's that makes the case that the '80's didn't suck for prog.

Nine Inch Nails    Pretty Hate Machine - if this were Trent's only album, I still might like NIN, but I would not have given them the thumbs up for crossover.  Still a decent initial album. 

Oldfield, Mike    QE2 - it's really weird, this album was part of a rather large Christmas gift batch from someone I used to work for (thanks Dawn! ).  It, uh, still hasn't, uh, sunk in.  I've had it for a few years. 

Moraz, Patrick    i - Oh my God, oh my God,  oh my God!!!  I've known this album since the early days of becoming a prog freak.  Although Moraz was just a one album and tour member of Yes, the band members were on a solo album making tear.  For me this one is a rival of Olias Of Sunhillow.  I like Fish Out Of Water, too, but not as much those two.                         

Hackett, Steve    A Midsummer Night's Dream - after Hackett made some failed attempts at commercial albums, he came to his senses and went in a classical music direction.  I've picked up more than a few of albums of this flavor and they are all quite good.

Marsalis, Branford Quartet    Requiem - a tribute to Kenny Kirkland who had just died.  Good modern jazz, say no more.

Di Meola, Al    Scenario - maybe some people will say there is an '80's taint to this, I think it's among one of the better '80's albums by a prog artist of course, not amongst the best.  Mostly a Di Meola/Hammer duet effort.  Levin and Bruford show up for a track.

And now I don't have to scramble for a loading in the morning.



Edited by Slartibartfast - November 17 2010 at 20:33

Eric Johnson can play a bit i have that cd of his you mentioned and a couple of others too.He has such a great tone with that guitar. That would be cool if he was added here.