Slartibartfast's Magical Music Random Load Blog

Belew, Adrian    Inner Revolution - Adrian's one of those artists where I buy the newest release of as soon as it comes out and it takes me back to the time I got it.  This one came out at a transitional time in my life.  A job that I thought would last for the rest of my life had come to an end.  I had to move back to my Mom's house to get by.  Had been out of work for a year and then I got a great contract job in mid year.  Some of the lyrics may be a bit corny, but Adrian is really good at songwriting.

Buckethead    Monsters and Robots - I went on a head binge and this is one of the better ones.  Predecessor of Bucket Of Bernie Brains.

Burton, Gary    Reunion - kind of a snooze fest for me.  Good for background music.  But you would think a Metheny-Burton album would yield more interesting music.  Speaking of which:

Burton, Gary Quintet    Dreams So Real - this one is much more interesting and inspired than the one above.  Progressive jazz for sure.

Gentle Giant    Playing the Fool - a very good live album.  Almost a swan song.  Before they stripped down their instrumentation.  You'd be a fool not to get this fool.

Hampton, Col. Bruce    One Ruined Life Of A Bronze Tourist - I'll take this one over Trout Mask any day.  I compare the two because they are both difficult listening music.  This one is easier difficult listening music.

Holdsworth, Allan    i.o.u. - another one of those albums that brings me back.  He played at a really crappy punk club on this tour.  I got to meet him the band and get an album autographed.  I hate to say this, but after this album I find his later releases to be less interesting than this and what came before.

Oldfield, Mike    Tubular Bells III - he probably should have just used the TB moniker for the original and the two other variations but of course we know why he did it.  This one made a stronger impression on me than II.  I don't have any problems with the other ones except the orchestral one wasn't as good as it might have been.

Pink Floyd    Division Bell, The - yet another memorable album.  I went to see them at an open air stadium on a rainy day.  I brought a really good umbrella along and no one was allowed to enter with their umbrellas so there were a bunch left behind near the entrance.  I should have concealed mine underneath my trench coat.  I'm not sure where they all went but there weren't any after the show left.  Maybe they all took a trip together somewhere.  That great umbrella gig in the sky perhaps?

Police, The    Ghost In The Machine - I consider these guys to have moved into crossover territory with their later albums.  Their last three are essential for my collection.

Premiata Forneria Marconi    World Became The World, The - I don't know why their English language stuff gets so disrespected.  This is a fine album and Sinfield came up with lyrics that weren't translations of the Italian language versions of the songs that were Italian first.  I had to get both versions of this album.  They aren't identical in tracks.  My original LP of this I got at a used record store.  It looked pristine but it was either a really bad pressing or someone had been playing it with a really crappy needle.

Soft Machine    Spaced - some albums you get when they come out and they remind you of the time.  This one I had in my truck CD player when two vehicles tried to occupy a space on Buford Highway at a yellow light.  I was t-boned and the lady in the other vehicle freaked out, jumped out of her car, and the car went coasting down the road unoccupied.  This happened shortly after the 9/11 attacks when I was on the way to work in the morning.  Oh, about the album.  Extremely difficult listening music and I would not recommend it to anyone.  I mean seriously.  It might cause you to get in a bad car accident.

Tangerine Dream    Optical Race - weird how in this draw I got a lot of memorable albums.  This is yet another one.  Saw them on tour for this one.  Great light show.  I was living in an apartment in a low rent complex.  Almost completed college.  I love TD's '70's stuff, but I like their '80's as well.

Vangelis    Voices - one of his better one's for my taste.  I may elaborate after I give it a spin. 


Edited by Slartibartfast - April 27 2011 at 19:57

May be running into some duplicates as I misplaced my flash drive and did the past few draws from an older copy.
Abercrombie, John    Night - Jan Hammer is on this one and also on Timeless, which I like better.'

Amos, Tori    Strange Little Girls Tori does some interesting covers and Adrian Belew plays on this one.  Way cool.
I really like the way Neil Young's Heart Of Gold is deconstructed.  Also does a cover of Raining Blood which is really creepy as it came out right after the 911 attacks.

Byrne, David    Complete Score from "The Catherine Wheel", The - easily David's most progressive album.  Eno and Belew are actually together on a couple of tracks.

Col. Bruce Hampton & The Quark Alliance    Give Thanks To Chank - Chank you very much. If you like it weird, you'll like this although I'd recommend trying his earlier albums first.

Jarre, Jean Michel    Oxygene - one of his better ones and I think the one that really got people to take notice as it were.

King Crimson    Nightwatch, The - damn shame this wasn't filmed.  Prime live Crimson.

Mahavishnu Orchestra    Apocalypse - I think this is the best MO album.  I really liked their previous lineup, but John achieved a really intense album.

McLachlan, Sarah    Afterglow - I started to find her music less interesting after Fumbling.  I don't know if it was just because other music happening out there was more interesting.  She was definitely going for more mainstream songs.

Metheny, Pat & Lyle Mays    As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls - Metheny and Mays go together like peanut butter and jelly.  I don't know why this isn't named as a trio.  Nana Vasconcelos is an incredible percussionist.  I saw him play a solo show live and the amount of percussion gadgets he had in his collection was freakin' amazing.

Primus    Antipop - I have yet to hear a Primus album I didn't enjoy and this is no exception.  Claypool is another one of those who like to make weird music and an awesome bass player to boot.

Varney, Mark Project    Truth In Shredding - a weird album.  Varney isn't one of the musicians.  But we do have Allan Holdsworth in the lead.

Yes    Fragile (Remaster) - not much you can say about this album that hasn't already been said.  A nice mixture of band songs and stuff by the individuals.  One song would go on to be overplayed on the radio.  Still it is a good song.

Zappa, Frank    Lumpy Gravy - Frank was rather adventurous from early on.  Hard to describe this one other than a really well done not too serious instrumental piece.



Edited by Slartibartfast - April 27 2011 at 19:57

Edited by Slartibartfast - April 10 2011 at 09:17

Fripp & Eno    Beyond Even (1992-2006)  - I was going to add this one to the discography but apparently it already has been but one version goes by a different name.  One of those albums I didn't know about until I ran across it browsing at the local brick and mortar music store - Decatur CD. It's your basic Fripp and Eno.  The last track Cross Crisis in Lust Storm is one of my favorites.  Really heavy and totally unlike the typical F & E track.  Kind of like Pigeon Drummer on no-man's Schoolyard Ghosts.

Happy the Man    Crafty Hands - these guys put out some really intense mostly instrumental albums back in the late '70's.  Not as well known as they should have been.  Went on a big hiatus and came back with The Muse Awakens in 2004, which is every bit as good as their first two official releases and the vocals aren't as corny sounding as on the first two.

Happy the Man    Death's Crown - an interesting concept album but beware, it's an unpolished demo.  And the sound quality isn't disappointing.

Howe, Steve    Not Necessarily Acoustic - when Steve steps out of the Yes waters he shows that he really has a more diversity to his musical styles.  A live assortment of his solo material and some Yes thrown in, but I really didn't need another version of Roundabout.

Oregon    Moon and Mind - this one is fairly new to my collection.  Hasn't made a big impression on me, but still basic good Oregon.  The Walcott era was the best although their later material isn't bad.

Praxis    Transmutatuion (Mutatis Mutandis) - Praxis may be a bit too funky for the average prog fan but I've never heard Laswell do a bad project.

Talisma    Corpus - another one of those bands that hasn't had the recognition they deserve.  If you like dense prog mostly instrumental stuff.  One of my favorite discoveries on PA.

XTC    Skylarking - these guys are going to be sorely missed.  Apparently Moulding isn't interested in doing music any more.  But from Settlement forward, the new releases really marked my life.

Yorke, Thom    Eraser, The - due to the oversized carboard sleeve that put it in the side of my carrying case I keep forgetting to play this one.  Radiohead are still better as a team than solo, but this was a nice one to listen to while I waiting for the next Radiohead release.



Edited by Slartibartfast - April 27 2011 at 19:57

I liked Aginor's contribution with the emoticon thingy.


And new for today:
Budd, Harold    Room, The - many mellow variations on a theme.  Maybe I'll name some of the rooms in the repaired and renovated house after some of these.

De Grassi, Alex    World's Getting Loud, The - Alex was at his best with his Windham Hill albums.  Nice mellow acoustical guitar stuff. 

Focus    Focus III - the guys were on a roll and had two discs worth of stuff.  All good but other albums I like better and other less of course.

Ozric Tentacles    Spice Doubt - well what can you say about an Ozric album other than really sound alike.  Good high-energy stoner music, which may be an oxymoron.

Phideaux    Doomsday Afternoon - I got into Phideaux shortly before this one came out.  A little bummed that the trilogy doesn't seem likely to see completion but I like all the albums that came out in it's stead.

Ponty, Jean-Luc    Open Mind - what can you say?  Ponty's 80's albums pretty much helped make the 80's more tolerable for prog fans even though he was slouching towards the 80's sound, whatever the hell that was.

Shadowfax    Too Far To Whisper - seems like they were drifting back into Windham Hill mode with this one.  The Dreams Of Children seemed to have them drifting back further into Watercourse Way territory.

Stereolab    Aluminum Tunes - these guys and gals have produced a lot of supplemental material outside of their regular album releases.  Thankful they usually combine the stuff and release it as an album length or longer affair. 

Moody Blues, The    Every Good Boy Deserves Favour - seems like their best stuff was the stuff that gained the largest popular success in their first phase.  But as always for their first phase, a lot of quaint stuff.


Edited by Slartibartfast - April 27 2011 at 19:58

Sorry Slarti, I as always enjoy checking out the random load but have been um shall we say inconvenienced lately, not to be confused with incarcerated or something.

Byrne. David    Grown Backwards  - not bad but I find the stuff I like is behind him now.

Dukes of Stratosphere, The    Chips from the Chocolate Fireball - XTC impersonating late '60's psychedelic.  Well done.
 
Fleck, Bela    Perpetual Motion - Banjovy does classical on the banjo.  Weird but cool. 

Gongzilla    Suffer - a Gong spinoff.  It won't hurt much.

Hendrix, Jimi    Band of Gypsies - the guy did some great live albums.

Jackson, Joe    Live 1980/86 - makes the case that Joe is at least kind of prog.  I didn't like Is She Really Going Out With Him? until I heard the three versions of this song on this album. 

Oldfield, Mike    Voyager  - one of those albums that hasn't been listened to much.  Good album though.

Oregon    Live at Yoshi's - hard to top In Performance, I'm afraid.

Pink Floyd    Wish You Were Here - one of their best for sure.

Psychedelic Furs, The    Talk Talk Talk - probably the one that really got me interested in the band.  Proggy poppy.

Santana    (III) - I like the earlier albums as they were the building blocks to Caravanserai.

Sky    Cadmium/Great Balloon Race Excerpts - not sure why Cadmium hasn't been re-released.  Probably one of their most accessible albums.  I think that the Great Balloon Race was also an attempt to do the same.  It fell a bit flat but has some good moments.

Synergy    Computer Experiments (Volume 1) - I know why there was only one volume.   Interesting as a concept but rather dull.  Fans of Tangerine Dream's Electronic Meditations might actually like this.  One of those I keep just for the novelty.

Vivaldi, Antonio    Four Seasons - I haven't added any old classical to my collection recently.  This is an old addition that I got from a cheapie bin.  Still a nice classical piece.



Edited by Slartibartfast - May 01 2011 at 08:22

Amos, Tori    to venus and back - never met a Tori album I didn't like.  A combo of one studio disc with one live one.  Haven't heard it in a while as it's been a long time since I did a random album shuffle through my whole collection.  The first Tori album to come out after the girlfriend who introduced me to Tori had split.  (It was amicable.)

Belew, Adrian    Side Three - really cool when I heard Les Claypool was going to be on the first Side, he's back again on this one.  Wish he had been on some more tracks in this series.  Also has Fripp guesting on one and Mel Collins on another.

Buckethead    Electric Tears - Mr. Head balancing out his really heavy stuff with something really mellow.

Coryell, Larry    Power Trio, The - straight up jazz.  I liked is JRF albums better.

Djam Karet    Recollection Harvest & Indian Summer - so they've done a pair of one metal and one ambient album a few years ago.  This one is a single disc with two albums.  OK. They did try to make them of different character.  They do some really great instrumental prog.

Gabriel, Peter    Us - probably one of his most commercially successful albums.  I like the weirder albums better.

Gentle Giant    In a Glass House (35th Anniversary Edition) - my biggest disappointment was that they didn't duplicate the LP cover double image like the unremastered CD.  The original album was only available as an import in the US, I believe.  One of my favorite GG albums, but there are more than a few.  Love that breaking glass opening.  Wonder how many people jumped up to see what had broken when they first put the thing on?

Hackett, Steve    Darktown - I didn't find out about this album's existence until after To Watch The Storms. Steve goes goth?  I think I must have not been paying attention as he had been a bit of a classical album binge.  Not that I don't like those and have most of them.

Hammer Group, Jan    Melodies - there were only a few songs that I really warmed up to when I got the LP many years ago, but nostalgia kicked in and I got a CD.  I had picked up the vinyl because I really dug Oh Yeah? and the Goodman/Hammer album, Like Children.  Not quite as good as either of those to this day.  Some of the tracks are a bit more commercial and that was the basic direction Jan was headed in.

Jackson, Joe    Blaze of Glory - Joe's music was one of those things that I turned to as old prog giants of the '70's broke up or went commercial.  I think he'd make an excellent crossover addition but too many people only know his hits.  Maybe one day.  The instrumental track Acropolis Now is one of my favorites on this one.

Lavitz, T and the Bad Habitz    Lavitz, T and the Bad Habitz  - for those who may not have heard of this T, he's been The Dixie Dregs' keyboardist post Parrish.  Bad Habitz albums are more of a strictly jazz affair.

Levin, Tony    Stick Man - Sorry Tony I'm glad you cut back on the singing from the last album.  Not that I didn't like that one as well. 

Metheny, Pat    Secret Story - I don't know, I still feel Pat doesn't make music I find as interesting as his earlier days.  Orchestrion was pretty good.

Residents, The    Third Reich 'N Roll, The - interesting old popular rock music deconstructed and lumped together.  I saw the deluxe re-release in a record store and decided I really didn't need to have it as I don't believe it included the bonus material.  I might be wrong or it's just a matter of I didn't think I needed another copy.

801    Live (Remaster) - so let's see.  I heard it first on 8-track.  Then I got an LP copy and taped it to cassette.  Then I got the first CD release.  And finally this version.  Bonus tracks, yeah!  I guess you could say this one really got me.


Edited by Slartibartfast - May 07 2011 at 18:19

I understand that DJAM KARET is not pronounced Damn Carrot but i could be wrong.

New batch:
Bass Communion    Bass Communion II

Bolling, Claude Trio    Jazz a la Francaise - only Bolling I have.  Good mellow stuff.

Caravan    Battle of Hastings, The - I never took an interest in this band back in the '70's.  One of the two titles I picked up (you probably won't need but one guess for the other) after they came by Atlanta on tour with Nektar.  Haven't added anything else but a concert DVD, which I should go back and watch someday soon.

Dark Matter    Seeing Strange Lights - really cool CD package.  If you tilt the case back and forth the grooves in the CD case lid the designs in booklet beneath change.  Good progressive electronic stuff.  I wouldn't have heard of them had it not been for AOL Radio, which was my source of discovery for a little while before I found Prog Archives.  AOLR sucks these days.  They cut way back on the variety of stations.

Explosions In The Sky    Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place, The - not a lot of variation in the music between albums.  Sort of the Ozric Tentacles of Post Rock.  I went on a binge after I tried the first one then realized I could have taken my time.  Put this one in for a round of errands with my wife (she was driving).  I had it at a reasonable volume and she cranked it down too low.

Jobson, Eddie    Theme of Secrets - instrumental companion album to Zinc.  I don't know if it was intentional but some musical themes from that album are repeated here.  He was trying to ride the new age wave, but I think the music here would appeal to very few of them.

Muffins, The    <185> - I wouldn't even be into The Muffins if I hadn't heard about Frith working with them.  This was their last album before a long hiatus.  Seems they weren't making a living off of music.  This album is their most avant.

Oldfield, Sally    Water Bearer - this album showed up for trade at the used/new bookstore I worked at just before college.  Kind of proto-new age, Celticish. quality stuff.

Ponty, Jean-Luc, Stephan Grappelli, Stuff Smith    Jazz Violin Summit - an obscure gem.  Not a lot of information on the LP when I found it in a bargain bin.  I was pleased to find it got released on CD.  Same lack of information and the internet   It appears to be a mix of older stuff with Stuff and Ponty/Grappelli duo doing jazz rock. 

Starcastle    Starcastle - yes Yes?  Either you hated these guys for sounding too much like Yes or if you couldn't get enough of Yes they were a nice supplement.  As I recall, the next album was disappointing.  I did decide to go ahead and get this on CD when I saw it was available.

Tears for Fears    Songs From The Big Chair - I have to count these guys as one of the things that didn't suck in the '80's. 

Towner, Ralph    Solstice - intense instrumental music, similar to Oregon of course but with Garbarek, Weber, and Christensen instead.

Weather Report    Heavy Weather - if you were wanting to turn the average schmoe on to JFR, this wouldn't be a bad place to start as it is rather accessible and had a good degree of commercial success.  Birdland was covered by Manhattan Transfer, blecccch.

Triggering Myth, A    Remedy of Abstraction, The - not much to say about these guys.  Keyboard dominated instrumental prog.  I got three of their albums about the same time and like them but haven't explored further.

Wyatt, Robert    Rock Bottom - one of those albums I wish I had discovered sooner.  Really personal music.

I decided to throw a couple of Dead Can Dances into the case and my collection.  I've only sampled a little so far.

Now I need to pick something for driving around errand music.

Interesting random draw though.



Edited by Slartibartfast - June 01 2011 at 07:09