What's New?: 8.1.2015

Grab bag! Been a while, let's get to it!

HB Barnum — The Golden Boy Instrumental Album (1965)

Nothing here too beat-y, but good listening nonetheless, as it's the cream of the LA session crop and HB arranging those big wonderful crescendos. Not as all out funky as HB would get in a few years time, it's actually more at home in the easy listening side of things. The ballads are where it's at, mostly.  Produced by David Axelrod, of course.  Key tracks: it's all of one piece, but check out 'I Want to be With You' and get reminded of your grandparents 50th wedding anniversary party.

William Tyler — Deseret Canyon (2008/reissued 2015)

First released under the name the Paper Hats in Germany only, Merge decided to reissue this album —which can now be properly assigned as William Tyler's solo debut— this past Record Store Day. Super nice package, complete with a gatefold cover. It kicks off with the thirteen minute opus 'Man of Oran', which is an awesome statement of purpose. Just to prove he's not dicking around, track two is the tuneful twelve minute, twelve string jangler 'Parliament of Birds.' The middle section of the album is occupied by more concise pieces and one psychedelic sound collage.  It's all very Fahey-esque.  Another epic to end the album and it's quite likely Will's most resonating tune, pre-Impossible Truth.  Wonderful to finally have it physically.  Key tracks: the long ones!

Fine Steps — Boy's Co. (2012)

A Sacramento and San Francisco pop underground supergroup, of sorts, Fine Steps play modern jangle like nobody's business.  'Dig Me In' nails the Smiths so perfectly, I can't believe this didn't catch on.  'Course, the dummies only pressed like 500 or some ridiculous thing.  Finishing up the opening one-two combo punch is 'The Heat' and that's a darned great start.  Things never really waver from there and, as far as jangle pop goes, these dudes have tunes for days.  Check out the stuff on Bandcamp (highlights conspicuously missing though) and then go check out 'Patty Smith Hearst' for the most resonating Echo and the Bunnymen song you've never heard until right now.  Top gear, all the way.  Just wish they had put out more stuff.  Key tracks: 'Dig Me In', 'The Heat' and 'Pardon Me'

Crisis Arm — Rend (2014)

Hemet, California newgazers (that's "new shoegaze" for the uninitiated).  They play shoegaze in the most faithful of ways, so when I say that, 'Resemblance' shouldn't come as the shock that it no doubt will.  There's a lot of bands that can rightfully claim to be influenced by Slowdive and the Valentines and the like, but there's noticeably few who actually do such a thing justice like Crisis Arm does.  I mean, when I say this is a shoegaze album, it doesn't get much more satisfying for fans of the stuff than the gargantuan highlight 'Stray.'  Their whole catalogue is on the Spotify, but it would behoove you to check out their Bandcamp for tons of extras.  Just now catching up to this, otherwise it would definitely have made my best of 2014 picks.  Key tracks: 'Stray', 'Resemblance' and the beautifully woozy closer 'Sunder'

Gary McFarland — Today (1969)

Easy pop on Gary's Skye label.  Mostly covers, some of them quite bizarre.  Things begin with a winningly whispery, indeed almost folky rendition of the Beatles' 'Because.'  Onward to the goofy spoken word variation of Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne.'  Elsewhere there's bossa bachelor pad scatstrumental covers of Stevie Wonder, more Beatles and a couple Brazilian standards that you'd swear he'd already done before this album: 'The Shadow of Your Smile' and 'Desafinado.'  The two originals (the guitarist Sam Brown feature 'Shadows are Falling' and 'Sambras de Saudade') are excellent, though not really jazz at all — which makes sense, as Gary had moved on from any pretense of being a jazz player by this point anyway.  It all ends with a fantastic version of 'Berimbau.'  Ron Carter and Hubert Laws guest among the supporting cast of excellent musicians.  Not a total winner —and Gary has much better albums in this vein— but a must if you're a fan.  It's on Spotify if you're curious.  Key tracks: 'Because', 'Shadows are Falling' and 'Sambras de Saudade'

Matching Mole — Matching Mole's Little Red Record (1972)

Released the same calendar year as the band's self-titled debut, it gets even further out than that record.  Just have a listen to 'Marchides' and you'll get a very good picture of where this album is headed, as the first three minutes is all scorching doodly chaos.  Some fantastic rhodes piano work in the middle section, though. There's a concept at work here and sometimes, like on 'Gloria Gloom', it threatens to overtake the actual music.  I prefer the instrumentals much more over the vocal tunes, as they really find the band exploring some interesting territory.  This is the standard one disc edition of the album; there is an expanded two disc version that appends an entire live set, which I'm sure is worthwhile if you like the album (which I do).  Key tracks: 'Marchides' and the closing trip 'Smoke Signal'

Kenny Barron — Sunset to Dawn (1973)

And some nice, spiritual jazz to finish things out.  I was interested in this because it has one of my all time favorite sampled bits in the first minute or so of the album; I can finally cross it off my want list.  Kenny plays rhodes on about half the album and he sounds really great doing so, really getting funky at certain points, but mostly he finds these deeply introspective and happy chords on the instrument; the sort of which made me love the sound of it in the first place.  Overall, a darn good record by an underrated pianist.  Listen on Spotify.  Key tracks: the bookends 'Sunset' and 'Dawn'

If you're wondering where I've been or are worried that I don't have stuff to talk about, wonder no longer and worry not because there's this to get to. . .

We'll get there soon enough!

~Austin

What's New?: 1.18.2015

Space rock and jazz-leaning stuffs!

Chris Forsyth — Solar Motel (2013)

Guitarist and composer Forsyth has been kicking around bands and records for years before finally finding a sympathetic home at Paradise of Bachelors. Honestly, besides a few themes here and there and some chord changes, this thing sounds mostly improvised, as it's just the title track broken up into four parts. The sticker on the album cover describes it as "Cosmic Americana" and that fits. It's easy to hear the influence of Wilco's Jim O'Rourke-helmed albums in the sprawl of the project, though it gets fairly noisy in spots.  Add in some Farfisa organ and some tasty post-rock leanings in the buildups and it's a winner.  Key tracks: 'Part III' gets just plain old majestic at one point.

Eternal Tapestry and Sun Araw — Night Gallery (2011)

Not really familiar with either of these bands outside of this release, but it's done in a very similar style to Solar Motel up there.  Just one long title track, divided into four pieces.  This one is a bit less noisy overall and has some wonderful moments that suggest a sort of punk-informed Grateful Dead.  Kind of droney, in spots.  Squalling, blasted up to 11 drone, but drone nonetheless.  It gets really spacey, I guess, is what I'm trying to say.  Key tracks: the fourteen minute cast off 'Part IV' certainly has its moments.

Soft Machine — Original Album Classics (1970's)

Albums three through seven in a handy slipcase.  The cliche about Soft Machine is that they were proggers who went jazz, but that's not entirely true, as they were doing very long, very heavily jazz influenced pieces as early as the Third album (which would be disc one in this set).  The other cliche about them is they stopped being a good, listenable band after Robert Wyatt left the group (or was sacked, depending on who you believe).  Third has the reputation of being the last essential Soft Machine release (Wyatt's 'Moon In June' is the highlight however) and after slogging through this set, I must disagree, as Fourth is just as strong musically, if not quite as sprawling.  There are no vocals, but Soft Machine was never squarely about vocals in the first place.  The second half of the album is taken up by the four part 'Virtually' suite and that's the reason to stick around for that one.  Fifth is hit and miss as the band has become more of a jazz unit than ever, but its got some killer moments still: 'As If' is one of the classic hip hop sample moments, while still being a stunner of a tune.  Six (1973) is half live, half studio.  The live half is okay if you're really into the jazzier side of the band, while the studio half is back to the longform jazz rock inventions that the band was becoming known for.  There are more electronics here, recalling Miles' calmer material of the time.  Fantastic stuff; just a bummer you have to sit through the less than great live stuff first.  Check out the stunning 'Soft Weed Factor' for a stone cold jam.  Seven is the last disc here, and many would say, the last you really need to bother with Soft Machine.  It's either just okay or really good.  I prefer the calmer material.  There's a focus on those dated 70's synths and it just kind of ruins it for me. The side one trilogy of 'Carol Ann', 'Day's Eye' and 'Bone Fire' points the way towards High Hopper's solo material and is generally nice Sunday morning music.  Overall, the whole thing's an endeavor, to say the least, but one with many rewards.  Key tracks: any of the above mentioned.

Matching Mole — self-titled (1972)

After Robert Wyatt's departure from Soft Machine, he formed the cleverly titled Matching Mole (roughly translates to "Machine Soft" in phonetic French) and got straight to work.  From the wry, self-announced 'Signed Curtain' to the floating scat vocals of 'Instant Pussy' to the non-stop prog odyssey that takes up side two of the proper album, this is Wyatt's affair, all the way through.  There are some undeniably poppy moments and I have to chuckle at how all over the place this thing is, really.  This is the expanded two disc version of the album, which goes a long way to illustrate that the band was good for more than the two relatively short years they were active.  Some early John Peel sessions appear at the end of disc two and they highlight a band at what seems to be the top of their game.  I need to get that second full length and get the full picture before deciding such things, but whoo, do they smoke through those numbers.  Key tracks: the scorching twenty minute Peel Session medley of 'Marchides', 'Instant Pussy' and 'Smoke Signal' (part of which can be heard here), previewing two tracks which would show up on the band's second album.

Herbie Hancock — Sextant (1973)

The last record Herbie would record with his Mwandishi group.  I don't know how this one slipped past me for so long because I've had Warner's excellent two disc set capturing the bulk of the band's output for most of my mature life.  I thought that that was the extent of the group's output and Herbie went straight to Headhunter land.  It's a wash of semi-funky backbeats, acoustic and electric instruments straight up fighting with each other, and some seriously heady attempts at making completely alien sounding music.  It's like what Miles was doing at the time, but less dissonant.  As a final sendoff to stellar group, it's a funky racket that, just like everything else they did, is entirely unique.  Completely free at times, funky as hell at others, there's not much else like it outside of the like-minded school of the time.  Key tracks: the shortest track and opener 'Rain Dance' is the most easily digestible.

~Austin