Slartibartfast's Magical Music Random Load Blog

Stepping away from the old new arrivals and spending more time on the cycle, today some of these:

Anderson, Laurie    United States Live (Disc One) - you gotta love the way this chick's mind works.  One of four discs.

Badalamenti, Angelo    Soundtrack from Twin Peaks - a wonderful soundtrack artist, say no more.

Big Big Train    English Boy Wonders - interesting early effort.

Gabriel, Peter    Up - about damn time when it came out and more interesting than his last regular studio album.

Howe, Steve    Turbulence - a consolation prize for people who didn't like Union.

King Crimson    Great Deciever (Live 1973-1974) Disc One, The - if you want to overdose on live KC from this era, you can't beat this four disc box set.  Five hours of music altogether.  I've got it on my computer as one massive wad of music.

King Crimson    Power To Believe, The - I sometimes think the EP may have diminished my enthusiasm for this album somewhat, though I still like it.  I guess I have to be happy with both as I have them.   I still don't get why some people the previous album isn't as good.

Ponty, Jean-Luc    Gift of Time, The - he really couldn't top his '70's stuff but still managed to put out decent electronic oriented stuff.

Reasoning, The    Awakening - great debut and pleased to see they are still going strong.

Zappa, Frank    Lumpy Gravy - my first encounter with this one was fairly recent when I picked up a limited edition mini-LP.  Hasn't had the impression on me that some have but still a good listen.



Edited by Slartibartfast - January 13 2012 at 20:08

Whoa Slarti, you dialed it up this time! Bitches Brew, Pictures, PFM, and two of FZ's better albums! This time of year, Don't Eat the Yellow Snow seems particularly appropriate. Merry Christmas!

The albums for this set along with the numbers that sucked them in:

Abercrombie, John    Third Quartet, The            2 - your basic jazz, nothing special.

Afro Celt Sound System    Volume 1 : Sound Magic            3 - an interesting debut from a band with a bit of an odd name that merged music from two cultures.

Code Talkers, The    Now            49 - The Code Talkers would keep on talking, but Bruce would move on.

Corea, Chick    Children's Songs            50 - my main impression is Corea channeling Debussy.  For me the essential Chick album after My Spanish Heart.

Fripp & Eno    Beyond Even (1992-2006)            77 - this was a real surprise and thanks for Decatur CD for having it in stock because I wasn't aware of its existence until I saw it there.  It's mostly ambient with one track that isn't.  The double discs seem kind of pointless though, a continuous mix and one broken into tracks.

Guaraldi, Vince    Charlie Brown Christmas, A            100 - still haven't put this one on.  It's entirely coincidental that this one came in this draw.  I keep Christmas albums in the rotation, but I rarely play them.

Jethro Tull    Aqualung - 25th Anniversary Special Edition            124 - not much to say about this one.  Too much already said by others.

Phillips, Anthony    Slow Waves, Soft Stars            190 - I had totally not expected Anthony to do something ambient when I found this one.  The cool thing about his solo works is that he isn't afraid to experiment.

Prince    Rainbow Children, The            211 - I wouldn't have this one were it not for a PA recommendation.  Still not a huge Prince fan but it was a good recommendation.

Reich, Steve    Reich Remixed            215 - I was on a bit of a Reich binge.  He's still best appreciated not remixed.

Talisma    Quelque Part            242 - one of those gems of a band that more people should try.  A hard one for many to get.

Triumvirat    Pompeii            248 - things fell apart after Spartacus from a prog standpoint.  They were feeling a bit better with this one but then popped out another couple of regrettable ones.
Tuck & Patti    Learning How To Fly            249

I packed them in and there is room for one more slot, spinning the wheel:

Debussy, Claude Achille    Debussy for Daydreaming 54 - a nice collection.   Say no more.


Edited by Slartibartfast - December 27 2011 at 08:35

I've got two Gabriel dvd :Secret world and Growing up, still haven't listened to the one you talk about...

I guess you got that dvd from Joni: Painting with words and music...I'm realy keen on it, as well for Joni's music as Joni's paintings

Slartibartfast wrote: Amos, Tori    Jackie's Strength Anderson, Laurie    Life On A String Djam Karet    Ritual Continues, The Gabriel, Peter    III Jethro Tull    20 Years of J.T.: Flawed Gems and the Other Sides of Tull Kansas    Two For The Show Mitchell, Joni    Taming the Tiger     Morse, Steve    Structural Damage Stereolab    Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night

Anderson, Jon    Live From La La Land - if you're not a fan, this album will drag on too long.  If you are it's a nice set of Jon on his solo.

Beatles, The    Past Masters Volume Two - one of those bands I just don't need to know any better than I already back beyond their Rubber Soul era.  So, a good set of songs but I don't think I need number 1.

Buckethead    Cuckoo Clocks of Hell, The part of the Buckethead overload symptom for me.  I guess into every collection a heavy metal rain must flow.

Fleck, Bela and the Flecktones    Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - these guys were in their infancy as a band and a breath of fresh air.

Holdsworth, Allan    All Night Wrong - this one really hasn't sunk in much with me, I should like it better than this one:
Holdsworth, Allan    Road Games - I suppose but I think for me the problem is that Allan for the most part has made music I just like better than when he takes the helm.

Jethro Tull    Thick as a Brick - anyone who disses this album is either not paying attention or it just ain't for you, move on.

Monade    Socalism Ou Barbarie - ah ha ha ha.  Yes, I have an album with socalism in it's title.  I guess if I knew French language better I could appreciate it's socialism better.

Nine Inch Nails    And All That Could Have Been - OK driving around with this one in now.  Also have the companion video.  Maybe I'm just getting old, but sometimes the heavy stuff like this just wears me down.  Still The Res does manage to keep it interesting.

Primus    Frizzle Fry - this is one of those really interesting albums for me.  Never paid them much no mind at that time but when I gave this a try many years after it's release, I was extremely impressed.  Probably cemented my fanship of the band.

Steely Dan    Citizen Steely Dan: 1972 -1980 Disc 4 - this box set was my first collecting of any music by the band, and wow, what an introduction, it had the complete album compacted into four discs with some bonus material.  I was familiar with some of the music remained basically uninterested.  This set changed things in a major way.  Disc 4 is some of Aja mixed with Gaucho.

Wakeman, Rick    In the Beginning - saw this one sale at a Turtle's in the early CD age.  Looked interesting as I was Wakeman fan and certainly not hostile to Christianity.  It's still a bit of a dull album but any profits were dedicated to charity.  Needs a little Residents Wormwood for balance.


Edited by Slartibartfast - November 29 2011 at 20:35

Slartibartfast wrote: Anderson, Laurie    United States Live (Disc Two) Dixie Dregs    Bring 'Em Back Alive Fayman (Jeffery) & Fripp (Robert)    a temple in the clouds Hassell, Jon    Fourth World Volume Two: Dream Theory In Malaya Incredible Expanding Mindf**k    1996-1999 Jarre, Jean Michel    Metmorphoses Jones, Percy    Tunnels Kayak    Royal Bed Bouncer Lavitz, T    Mood Swing Metheny, Pat Group    Travels     I do realy enjoy this live album...I'm keen on : Are you going with me Psychedelic Furs, The    Midnight To Midnight Tuck & Patti    Dream Wyatt, Robert    Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard XTC    Nonesuch (Remaster)

Proggernaut wrote: You really need to listen to Led Zeppelin II - it is one of the best albums ever by them. Do yourself a favour and give it a go.

I like LZ II.  It got it's turn already  As it stands now only LZ IV is left in this round.

Eno, Brian    Another Day On Earth - hey it actually is.  Brian never fancied himself a good vocalist, but I was glad to see him get back to it and deliver an album that I really liked after The Drop and Nerve Net left me rather cold.  I find it rather interesting that a track with a computerized style vocal, And Then So Clear could be that moving to me.

Explosions In The Sky    Rescue, The - another one of those bands that if you like one album, you'll likely like them all because there isn't much variation between them and you can't beat a free download.

Ferry, Bryan    Taxi - Bryan's one of those guys whose solo albums I've only added when found at a used record store browsing.  I haven't heard one that rises to the level of Roxy Music musically, that is until Olympia.

Frith, Fred    Gravity - Fred had a run reasonably accessible though still weird albums in the '80's  This is one of them.  It refutes the notion that you can't dance to prog, which Fred has managed to do with several albums.

Gabriel, Peter    OVO:The Millenium Show - this was a bit of mystery to me as I'd been following Peter getting his latest releases when they came out and it passed me by until after Up.  Wish I had know about it when it was new.  Now it seems a little disassociated from his discography to me. 

King Crimson    Nightwatch, The - kind of didn't need this one what with having the Great Deceiver box set and Starless And Bible Black, but I figured what the heck.

Led Zeppelin    In Through the Out Door - many Zepplin fans rank this one pretty low.  I wasn't much of fan when I got this one, but I like it fine.

Mussorgsky,Tchaikovsky,Balakrev    Pictures at an Exhibition, Children's Album, Islamey - got this one for the original piano version of Pictures.  One listen and you'll know why it inspired Ravel to orchestrate it, ELP to update it for prog and add vocals, and most recently, Tori Amos to revamp some of it herself.

Phideaux    Number Seven - I'll be surprised if Phi ever puts out an album I don't like, this is his seventh one and I like it.

Phillips, Anthony    Soiree (Private Parts & Pieces X) - in his multitude of PP&P there are a lot of good albums yet few that really stand out for me, this would be one of those.

Roach, Steve    Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces - I was on a Roach kick for a while thanks to the long gone AOL ambient streaming station.  It didn't go too far, still good ambient stuff.  It's just for what I tried not much distinguishes them.

Sylvian, David    Secrets of the Beehive - was on a Sylvian kick for a while, I might get back to it at some point.  So I've got two bee albums a couple with Fripp, so far so good.



Edited by Slartibartfast - November 16 2011 at 07:15