Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence - ROBERT FRIPP.
Information is not knowledge;
knowledge is not wisdom;
wisdom is not truth;
truth is not beauty;
beauty is not love;
love is not music;
MUSIC IS THE BEST - FRANK ZAPPA.
I think we're a little happier when we have a little music in our lives - STEVE JOBS.
Music in the soul can be heard by the universe - LAO TZU.
Rock and Roll is fire, man. FIRE. - DAVID BRIGGS.
Music grips you, gets into your soul -
GEORGE MARTIN
Earl KlughCrazy For You (Vinyl, EMI, 1981) *** Genre: Modern Jazz Places I remember: Marbecks Records Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I'm Ready For Your Love
Gear costume:Soft Stuff (and other delights) Active compensatory factors: This came out when I was working at Marbecks Records (the lack of apostrophe always buggs me - surprising as Murray Marbeck was a scholar and a gentleman). Roger Marbeck would play it often, and it just perfectly sums up the cool laid back approach that was the atmosphere in the shop. Roger has great musical ears and he was spot on with this album. Side one is the stronger - maybe because I've heard it more: countless times in the shop and subsequently at home. Side two stretches things and starts to feel a little dated. That opening track though (as above). Magic times!!
Where do they all belong? Try the duets albums with Bob James for more of this brand of coolness.
Larry CoryellBarefoot Boy(Vinyl, Flying Dutchmen, 1971) **** Genre: Jazz Fusion Places I remember:Viking's Haul (Woodville) Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles/Gear costume: Gypsy Queen Active compensatory factors: Virtuoso fusion guitar playing doesn't get much better than Larry Coryell. As one critic summed up, Larry's style of fusion was: complex and virtuosic yet easily accessible, at times intense, at others fun-filled, and always with the feeling of the unknown that comes with truly spontaneous and inspired improvisation. This album has some sublime moments. Side one has two tracks (Gypsy Queen is familiar thanks to Santana's version) and then the side long Call To The Higher Consciousness is stunning (even though the drum solo middle section doesn't do much for me). Apparently a jam session, but it sounds thought out and complete to me - starting with a whirlwind of sound before getting into a looping stride with soprano sax, piano and guitar interactions which explore the time and space created between the bass and drums in a vivid lyrical conversation.
Where do they all belong? Larry was always searching, moving forward, to the next thing - in the mid seventies this was The Eleventh House band.
John ColtraneA Love Supreme(Vinyl, Impulse! Records 1965) ***** Genre: Jazz Places I remember:Marbecks Records, Auckland Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles/ Gear costume:A Love Supreme (the full album)
Active compensatory factors: At 32 minutes, A Love Supreme may be seen as a fleeting experience in one respect, but the layers of sound, the progression along a spiritual path, and the heft of the music builds as the suite continues. These elements give the album a self-contained completeness. The four tracks:Acknowledgement; Resolution; Pursuance; Psalm complete a long form hymn that recognises and praises God in a way that is unique in the world of music. Even though I have listened to it many times (I play it a lot) somehow it both floats away effortlessly, and reveals new things every time. Where do they all belong? It stands alone in the canon and remains Coltrane's masterpiece.
Funkadelic Maggot Brain(Vinyl, Westbound Records, 1971) *** Genre: American pop/rock Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, Auckland Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles/ Gear costume:Maggot Brain
Active compensatory factors: The ten minute freakout experience that is Maggot Brain really dominates this album. I first experienced the song on a drug themed cover-mount CD on a Mojo magazine. It is certainly startling and the guitar of Eddie Hazel is definitely inspired. The rest of the album isn't as memorable but that's only because Maggot Brain eclipses it so completely. Where do they all belong? Use this to graduate onto Fishbone.
Rick NelsonCountry(Vinyl, MCA, 1973) ** Rick Nelson and The Stone Canyon BandWindfall(Vinyl, MCA, 1974) *** Genre: American pop/rock Places I remember:Real Groovy Records (Windfall); Vinyl Countdown in New Plymouth (Country) Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Legacy; One Night Stand
Gear costume:Mystery Train (on Country); Don't Leave Me Here (on Windfall)
Active compensatory factors: The doubleCountry album is a compilation of two albums - Country Fever and Bright Lights And Country Music. Those two came out in 1966 and 1967 and are a long way from his early seventies country rock style with The Stone Canyon Band. Not to say there aren't some worthwhile moments on the double album but it feels rather tentative. Without a regular band behind him, there's a tendency to slick and soulless session versions compared to the Stone Canyon albums. Windfall followed the breakout Garden Party album and was the last of the four albums that combined the two parties. That laid back Nelson sound when aligned with some tasteful steel guitar is hard to beat. He's less successful, in my view, on the more rock styled songs. The exception is the boogie shuffle of Wild Nights In Tulsa. Where do they all belong? The CD collection has more Rick and more of him with the The Stone Canyon Band.
A Perfect CircleThirteenth Step(Vinyl, Virgin, 2003) *** Genre: Prog/Metal Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Auckland Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Outsider
Gear costume:Blue; Vanishing Active compensatory factors: In this case the package is made up of a double vinyl set of good, sometimes great music from the Tool man - Maynard James Keenan. There are others on the set (although not James Iha who is listed on the album but was hired for live shows) and, yes, A Perfect Circle is a band, but this feels like a MJK solo project to me. In fine prog tradition the album is a concept one with songs revolving around the theme of addiction (not involving MJK - more as an abstract idea). The music is very Toolish - that is a good thing by and large!
Where do they all belong? Pick any Tool album for the man's first love.
