Hillbilly Pleasures

'Hillbilly Erotica' by Sir Richard Bishop. From 2026 on Drag City Records. Solo acoustic guitar improvisations, often frenetic. As I listened, I kept thinking: 'John Fahey on steroids/" The notes on Bandcamp calls it: "Imagined American music at its most gorgeous and violent."

Vacation Day Away from Work Listening Choices

This is a vinyl bin digging find from last week. I had heard of the band, Appliance and their record, 'Manual'. From 1999 on Mute Records. Drawn in by the album cover and took a chance. Read a little about it in the record shop that mentioned, 'Krautrock' and Stereolab. Appliance was a three-member British band and this was their debut album. What a debut! Played it through this morning and loved it. There are a couple instrumentals mixed in with the songs with vocals and inventive sounds from the long list of instruments and electronics that were used. I don't know if they had a follow-up, but I will be researching.  

Another find from the same store, a month earlier. Again it was the cover art that grabbed my attention. 'The Vanishing' by Oren Ambarchi, Martin Ng and featuring Ensemble Offspring. From 2018 on the Hospital Hill recording label. Very Experimental. Two violins, percussion and various effects. There are sounds of what I identify as steel rubbing against steel and low distant rumblings of thunder and I'm at a place in my record collecting and listening life where I can appreciate and enjoy this. That likely wouldn't have been true three years ago.

'It's Always About Liberation' by Ancient Infinity Orchestra on Gondwana Records, a UK jazz label. Just released this year. On compact disc.

Jean-Luc Ponty

Used bookstore find from earlier this evening. Always a thrill to stumble across surprise finds like this in person. 

French violinist, Jean-Luc Ponty Experience. His 1972 album, 'Open Strings' on what looks to me as mint condition vinyl. And a gatefold sleeve with liner notes inside.

I've never seen this one before out in the record bins. Early 1970's jazz fusion. Sounds I've been specifically looking to add to my collection lately.

I hear a little experimentation, a bit of minimalism, a little spacey here and there, some free jazz moments, plus a little frenzied violin. I can appreciate these sounds in my senior years. 

An album review from the All About Jazz website ..... All About Jazz

And with each glance at the album jacket, the more I'm loving the artwork.

Julius Hemphill

'Dogon A.D.' by Julius Hemphill. This is a 2026 vinyl reissue. Recorded and originally released in 1972. Avante-garde or free jazz. About the art and culture of the Dogon people of West Africa. The 'A.D.' in the title stands for "adaptive dance,"

Julius Hemphill plays alto saxophone and flute. 

I was initially drawn in by the cover art. That seems to be a common theme in my discoveries and choices of music. It's a wild listen. 

Mott the Hoople

Engaging in a little record store bin digging this afternoon. Found a seven-inch vinyl 45rpm of an obscure punk band, a R,E.M. tribute recording on compact disc and this .....

Mott the Hoople - 'All the Young Dudes.' From 1972 and on vinyl. 

I was so focused on the singer/songwriters like Jackson Browne, Neil Young, Cat Stevens, etc., in those years that I never paid much attention to bands of the time. These days, I'll occasionally hear something that grabs my attention and think that I have some catching up to do. I'm only half a century behind.

David Bowie produced this and wrote the title song.

The 7-inch vinyl 45 that I unearthed. I know nothing about this record. Purchased because the cover photo caught my eye. I read that they were a garage rock / punk band. from 1995 on the 'Rip Off Records' label .... which caused me to smile. I'm a big fan of the existence of all these small independent record labels with interesting names. There ought to be a reference book or two or a corner in the library with works listing all these labels with bios, label logos and history. Maybe there is?

Music for the Other Head

'Music for the Other Head' by Brother J.T. & Vibrolux. From 1996 on the Siltbreeze Records label.

I see it classified as Psychedelic Rock. I'll need another listen, this time distraction free. There were some sounds that had me thinking or reminded vaguely of 'In-a-gadda-da-vida' by Iron Butterfly though not as hard as that. Like I said, I need a more attentive listen.

It's one of these weird finds I've been seeking out lately. I would have never listened to this up to a year or two ago. Part of my golden olden years evolution.

Don't know if this will help or confuse but it's a description copied from the albums Bandcamp page ..... "Somewhere between the Rama Lama sonic assault of MC5 & the Cosmic Tones of Sun Ra's Myth-Science Arkestra these guys carved out their own serendipitous expression." 

Mary Lou Williams

 

My latest listening obsession .... where you excitedly discover the music of someone you should have been listening to all along, with a long career and extensive catalogue of recordings to catch up on .....

'Zoning' from Mary Lou Williams. On compact disc and the Smithsonian Folkways label. Recorded and originally released in 1974. This is a 1995 reissue with a couple of previously unreleased tracks added. Piano jazz quartet with a second pianist. 

Thought it was a lifeless and mediocre audio quality recording initially, not the performance or original song writing, but the actual engineering quality .... until I corrected my erroneous ways of worrying about what the neighbors would think and playing it at a low volume. Upon turning it up, the sound just washed over me and blasted open my senses. Beautiful and unique stuff, often reminding me of the years it comes from.

So as a result, and while feeling incredibly unaware and unlearned, I added this recording to my collection. From 1964. There's much more to discover. Looking forward to the adventure.

She had recently converted to Catholicism and this was a work of 'sacred jazz' with styles sometimes leaning towards spirituals, blues and avant-garde jazz.

Late Night Listening Party

Mountain In the Clouds by jazz bassist Miroslav Vitous. From 1972 on vinyl, recorded on the Atlantic Records label.

1970's free jazz - early jazz fusion, centered around the acoustic bass playing of Miroslav Vitous. Herbie Hancock contributes electric piano sounds, Joe Henderson on saxophone with Jack DeJohnette and Joe Chambers playing drums. 

Perfect selection for this Saturday late night moment and a 2:00am low volume listening party after awakening from a few heavily tossing and turning hours of restless sleep. Sounds that I wouldn't have given much chance to or appreciated even two or three years ago. Sounds that I prefer these days. There are a few benefits that come with turning seventy.

Foreverandevernomore by Brian Eno. From 2022 on vinyl. Ambient and electronic. Spacey at times. Eno sings on most of the tracks. Found a week ago in Corvallis on a Fourth of July weekend vinyl hunting excursion. 

My two selections this evening, released half a century apart, with different styles but having the same calming impact.  

Friday Afternoon Listening Session

 

Lucas Gunn - "You Shouldn't Try to Barrow Other People's Skin.'

American Primitive acoustic guitar, mostly 12-string with a little 6-string guitar and synthesizer mixed in ..... with a sound and style reminiscent of John Fahey. Each song recorded live in the studio with no overdubs. Just released today by Carbon Records. The vinyl hasn't arrived yet so I'm listening to files.  

Lucas Gunn is Portland, Oregon based. It's difficult to pass on something from home.

Willard Grant Conspiracy

Willard Grant Conspiracy is Robert Fisher. A singer/songwriter will a huge deep voice. Sadly, he passed away in 2017. His songs are Americana / Alt-Country. His records have always filled me with traveling through a lonely American Southwestern desert intersecting with Jim Morrison vibe. But that's just me. Others may hear these sounds differently. You will hear acoustic guitar often mixing with sad, weeping violin .... And that powerful voice!!

A Saturday afternoon, observing the final official day of spring short playlist ..... 

Yo La Tengo - Before We Run .... with an exploring the universe guitar solo by Ira Kaplan.

Hiss Golden Messenger - Joyce & Joel 

The Valkarys - Fading Away

Toad the Wet Sprocket - Finally Fading 

Tony Joe White - Bad Mouthin'

And a little jazz change of pace as it moves into the evening ....

Tomasz Stanko Quintet - Terminal 7

Makaya McCraven - Time Travel / The Encore

Vinyl record in my mailbox today. Recorded in late 1969. Jazz acoustic bassist. A founding member of the jazz fusion group, Weather Report. This came before the Weather Report recordings and was considered to be 'groundbreaking' for the jazz fusion genre. Herbie Hancock plays electric piano.

Sun Ra at 3am

3am listening. Originally recorded in 1956 and released in 1957. I'm always drawn to music recorded in the year that I was born. 

This is a 2025 re-issue on compact disc and with a second disc of alternate takes. These fascinating jazz sounds are a bit easier on the imagination when compared with and placed alongside what would come later.

Jazzday Playlist

Thursday Jazzday playlist .....

• Collin Vallon, Patrice Moret & Julian Sartorius - Sisyphe ..... Piano and acoustic bass playing around a couple of repeated chords. Beautiful.
• Eberhard Weber - Closing Scene
• Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden - My Ship
• Avishai Cohen - Behind the Broken Glass
• Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra - Dawn Horizon / Badder Weather / These Goodbyes
• Pat Metheny Group - Dream of the Return
• Wallace Roney - Don't Stop Me Now
• Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - A Flat Minor Outtakes ..... Imagining my parents in their younger, pre-children days, around the living room radio listening to Duke Ellington.

Late Wednesday Afternoon Playlist

Late Wednesday afternoon and home from work scrolling through my itunes library and mostly hanging onto much younger days while struggling to hold back the tears playlist. (It is Wednesday, right?) ....

• Aimee Mann - Humpty Dumpty
• America - Ventura Highway ..... Flashbacks to times spent with old friends and being a teenager. I have to take and digest my nostalgia and earliest memories in small doses these days. 
• Amos Lee - Violin ..... At this pace, I may not get out of the A's.
• Arlo Guthrie - Deportees .... Singing along with the chorus.
• Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction
• Ben Kweller - Free
• Benjamin Francis Leftwich - 1904 / Atlas Hands
• Benjamin Orr - Stay the Night .... Benjamin Orr of The Cars. In case it's not common knowledge.
• Big Head Todd & The Monsters - Imaginary Ships ..... There was a period where I was infatuated with this song. 
• Bob Dylan - Jokerman .... I rescheduled a doctor appointment earlier today and suddenly everything felt much lighter and brighter. Funny how that works.
• Booker T. Jones - Representing Memphis ..... Appreciating the organ sounds.
• Calexico - Fortune Teller
• Charlie Sexton & Shannon McNally - When We Were Younger ..... Exactly!!
• Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen - Wait a Minute ..... A late night, after midnight addition. If I were to imagine or create a hundred playlists of all-time favorite songs, this would be on each one.

Ignatz

 'I Don't Know' by Ignatz. Ignatz is Belgian musician Bram Devens.

Sparse haunting piano over (and below) soundscapes created from electronic effects and ghostly voice. 

From 2025 on the By the Bluest of Seas record label, discovered through Carbon Records which has been a great source for independent, different and unusual sounds and consistently quick deliveries of orders.

Code Girl

It's likely been stated here before but I've been going through a new jazz sounds discoveries phase for a few years now. Wanting something different than the usual bebop and classic jazz standards that previously made up the bulk of my jazz collection and listening experiences ....

Mary Halvorson is a guitar player. She leads a quintet along with both male and female vocalists on this record. The songs often venture into unexpected directions. Occasionally into the possibilities that exist between and beyond jazz and rock.  

Released in 2020 on Firehouse 12 Records. Imaginative cover art is what caught my attention initially causing themes of distance, dreaming and searching to appear for consideration.

Classical Vinyl Find

Occasionally, while browsing through the vinyl bins and racks, I'll pick up a classical recording .... not because I know anything about the music but just because it looks interesting, usually music of a lesser-known and more modern period composer. Tonight's used bookstore vinyl find (after deciding against the $70 and $100 priced jazz records) .... 

From 1973 on Nonesuch Records. The vinyl surface looks to be in pristine condition.

I'm not qualified in the least to offer words of opinion or commentary on classical music. I'll just be happy listening late tonight with the lights down low, while wearing my gray button-down old man sweater and with bifocals set aside.

Two violins, viola and cello .... how could I not enjoy that?

I'm People

One thing about me has never changed. I get absolutely giddy about new album releases with new songs ......

For the fifty-five plus years that I've been listening to and buying records, I've had different favorites, mostly defined and separated by a few years or a decade of close attention. As the years pass, favorites in my ears and eyes may fade a little, and new names enter for consideration. Over the last 10-15 years, there's been three or four musicians/bands that I've followed closely. One just released a very anticipated (by me) new record which arrived at my front door a few hours ago.

'I'm People' by Hiss Golden Messenger. 

For the past month or two, I've purposely avoided listening to anything online from the album other than the first single that was released, (I couldn't resist all temptations), opting to let anticipation build and to wait (very impatiently) for its arrival so I could plant myself in front of my stereo system and take it in, song-by-song, for the first listen, in its entirety ..... like we did in the days before the internet and song samples and previews galore.

First listen and I've given three songs, 5-star ratings ....  Shaky Eyes, Mercy Avenue and Depends on the River.

I'm sure that with time, one or two others will also end up on that list.

And I'm thinking I'll be listening again tomorrow .... that's if I don't wake up at 3am and listen again tonight. 

Saturday Vinyl Finds

It would be kinda funny, if it wasn't sad in my eyes but for the records that I'm interested in, the used bookstore is turning out to be a better source for interesting and surprise finds than the two record stores in town.

Late 60's, post-bop jazz from Germany. 

'Blues Happening' by The Klaus Doldinger Quartet.

A complete unknown and purchased for the album cover image and the potential gleamed from a quick speed reading of the back cover liner notes ..... and very pleasantly surprised at what I've heard. Causing a re-thinking of my avoidance lately of soprano saxophone recordings.

A 1969 release on the World Pacific Jazz Records label and with vinyl in near mint condition. (I love when that happens.) This is proving to be a priority with this bookstore's used record buyer.

Also from 1969 ..... 'Another Voyage' from The Ramsey Lewis Trio. On Cadet Records.

I've only listened to a couple cuts but there's a funk-jazz sound and vibes present here that I've always associated with the late 1970's. Possibly a decade ahead of its time.

So, I'm thinking with these weekend vinyl finds, that I'm about to venture down an additional record collecting rabbit hole with late 1960's, early 1970's period post bop recordings. 

I returned the next day to take home a record that I left behind on Saturday. I first noticed it in another guy's hands. He eventually decided against it and put it back into the racks. Not sure of the sound and unwilling to take a leap of faith at the asking price, I previewed it at home via YouTube. It may be the highlight of the weekend finds ....

'Outback' from Joe Farrell. Released in 1972 on CTI Records. A huge bonus that Chick Corea is playing electric piano on the album. Also present is Elvin Jones, who played drums on classic John Coltrane records. It's certainly jazzier than what became the normal CTI (soft jazz) sound.

Horace Tapscott

On the turntable, a recent jazz find ....

'Live at Widney High, December 26, 1971' by Horace Tapscott & Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. 

Spiritual jazz. A recording of one of what were free community performances in early 1970's, south Los Angeles.

Horace Tapscott on piano. Linda Hill with vocals.

Record Store Day 2026

I don't get overly excited about it these days. I never have and never will spend hours overnight or early morning, in line waiting to get in the store. Electing instead to stroll in late afternoons or the next day to sift through what remains.

My sole contribution this year to the Record Store Day craziness .....

An old favorite band for the past 25-30 years. The latest album from Son Volt, being officially released on RSD 2026, (from what I gather), and on sky blue opaque vinyl and it's a return to their original sound, which is great news!!

I was actually looking for the RSD release by The Jayhawks, which after scouring two different stores, I came up empty handed but I did stumble across the Son Volt record at stop number two, which I vaguely had a clue was going to be one of the days releases but have to admit that I forgot about so it was a 'win one, lose one' type of affair. There was also a live John Coltrane recording on my radar but there were no copies available .... if they received any at all. 

I've listened to side one so far and greatly enjoyed what I heard.

I also came across 'Sleepless Night' by Yo La Tengo in the used new arrivals bins. Only to discover upon returning home that I already have on my shelves. It's a vinyl ep and all six songs are on one side of the record.

From 2020. Another favorite band from the last thirty years. Initially excited thinking that I didn't have it .... but I was wrong. But still excited!!

I laugh about it today because when I first came across the record, I was like: Oooooh far out! I don't have this!!" Then as I was paying at the cash register: "I don't think I have this." Then while driving home: "Do I have this?" (Experiencing increasing fear with each passing mile that I did.) Then while pulling into my driveway: "Oh geez. I think I may already have this record." 

Such is the scale of excitement that often comes with searching for used vinyl records .... along with increasing age, decreasing memory and the sheer volume of records at home.

Looking North

Another from the recent Shifting Paradigm Records discoveries.

'Looking North' by Bryan Nichols. Released in 2016.

Solo jazz piano alternately reminding me of similar sounding moments and directions from Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea recordings of the 1970's. Best heard with midnight moods and vibes. 

Bandcamp Page
 

Random Playlist #4749

Just another popup playlist featuring mostly little-known random tunes .....

• Barn Burning - Friendship Fails You
• Call and Response - Trapped Under Ice
• The Lowest Pair - Pear Tree
• Memory Tapes - Wait in the Dark

Several of these songs were first heard on the Oregon Public Broadcast overnight online radio stream that used to be heard after regular programming had concluded for the day. Regrettably in my opinion, the stream was ended a few years ago. It was a great source of new music. Mostly Indie Rock or Indie Pop sounds.

• The Outdoor Type - On My Mind
• Porcelain Raft - Drifting In and Out
• Radical Face - Ghost Towns
• Shotgun and Jaybird - Secret
• Thieving Irons - Sleepwalking Into the Ocean
• Tired Pony - Point Me at Lost Lands / Pieces

I broke some sad news earlier today to a couple of people where I assumed that they already knew. It never crossed my mind that they didn't. There's a lesson in there about tact, sensitivity and the dangers of assumptions.

• The Twilight Sad - Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave
• The xx - I Dare You

First Playlist of 2026

Just another random playlist for a Sunday evening. And just in case I ever get my own community radio program .....

• Hiss Golden Messenger - Mahogany Dread .... I keep changing favorite HGM songs every month or two. Then can't get enough of the current favorite. A testament to the strength and depth of their collected works.
• Arlo Guthrie - Deportees
• 75 Dollar Bill - Like Laundry
• Greg Brown - Who Woulda Thunk It
• Fred Neil - Everybody's Talkin ..... I got to know the Neil Diamond cover long ago from what I identify these days as my first vinyl album.  More time has always been demanded with the songwriter's version.  
• Warren Zevon - Empty Handed Heart ..... I've always loved the Linda Ronstadt descant in this song. Gives me chills and all that.
• Tom Rush - Urge for Going ..... You know what I thought upon hearing this song this evening? "They just don't write songs like this anymore."
• Drive-By Truckers / Patterson Hood - Box of Spiders
• The Lost Gonzo Band - Loose and I'm On My Way .... I think the album is from the mid-1970's. Something about listening to The Eagles, Poco, JD Souther, Little Feat, Jackson Browne, etc., must have led me here.

Monday bonus tracks ....

• Tom Jans - Gotta Move
• Little Village - Solar Sex Panel / She Runs Hot ..... Kind of an early 1990's supergroup with John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner.
• The Bats - Sir Queen
• Stephen Stills and Manassas - Anyway
• Little Feat - One Clear Moment .... The daily goal that I strive for each day in these senior years.

Seven Last Words

I recently discovered this great independent record label, based in Minneapolis, Shifting Paradigm Records, and from what I can tell, releasing mostly jazz. 

One of my recent selections from their catalogue is 'Seven Last Words' by Adam Booker.

Released in 2020. Alternating between classical leaning solo bowed acoustic bass and more traditional sounding jazz quartet pieces with trumpet and flugelhorn .... no saxophone, 

An album review from the No Treble webpage:

No Treble

...... and the Bandcamp page:

Bandcamp - Seven Last Words