Re: (TV) What are we listening to?

[Maurice Rickard <maurice@mac.com>]

At 9:49 AM -0800 11/29/06, Phil Obbard wrote:
> Ultravox. First two albums. I have had the debut for years, but
> picked-up the reissues of both of the first two albums a few weeks
> ago. There is some fun, late-70s New Wave sound going on here while
> John Foxx was still on-board. Not every track stands by itself, but
> as a whole both albums are good.

I did have a fondness for these two.  The third album has some nice 
stuff too, though you lose Stevie Shears on guitar (but get Robin 
Simon).  Way better than the Midge Ure era.

Lately I've been listening to Joanna Newsom, both _Milk-Eyed Mender_ 
and _Ys_--initially I really couldn't get into her voice at all, and 
found it kind of off-putting, but I also found myself listening over 
and over again to try to find out whether or not I liked it.  As Jay 
pointed out, "The Sprout and the Bean" is a good way in, and 
gradually it all clicked.

I'm not entirely convinced on the strings of this one.  I think I 
prefer the more minimal arrangements.

Otherwise, it's been these:

Sun City Girls: _Torch of the Mystics_.  Much SCG I've heard doesn't 
do it for me, but they sure hit a rich seam here.

Morton Feldman: _Coptic Light_, _Patterns in a Chromatic Field_, 
_Crippled Symmetry_, the Rothko Chapel pieces, and _For Samuel 
Beckett_.  There's something in Feldman's quiet almost-randomness 
that's really engaging to me right now.

I went through a few days of being obsessed with Shudder To Think's 
_Pony Express Record_, particularly "X-French Tee Shirt" and 
"Earthquakes Come Home"--another instance of my not being sure 
whether or not I liked the vocal delivery at all, but still being 
hooked.

Terry Riley's _Persian Surgery Dervishes_

Just this afternoon, Chrome's _Alien Soundtracks_ and _Half Machine 
Lip Moves_--like early Ubu over a badly-tuned shortwave.
--

Maurice Rickard
http://mauricerickard.com/   |   http://onezeromusic.com/
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