Looking For You Playlist

Playlist for you, wherever you may be. Various genres from varying years. Hope it's something that you'd enjoy .....

• The Youngbloods - Quicksand .... I was watching a vinyl community video where this song was used. It's from 1969. I don't recall ever hearing it previously. Difficult to believe that to be true. I must have heard it on fm-radio at some point in the 70's. And, though I assumed otherwise, it turns out that I have the album.
• Peter Gabriel - i/o .... On first listen, my favorite tune from his just released album.
• Okonski - Paradiso .... Heard at noon on the Portland jazz radio station to kick off an hour of new sounds.
• Son Volt - Back Into Your World
• Tom Waits - Lie To Me
• Stills-Young Band - Midnight on the Bay .... As in Stephen and Neil. One of Neil Young's prettiest songs.
• Greg Brown - Who Woulda Thunk It
• Twin Bandit & Joshua Hyslop - Stolen Dance .... Saw it posted on twitter tonight. Hearing it (and them) for the first time.
• The Delfonics - La La Means I Love You .... An oldie from my youth. The 1960's. Listening to the top-40 hits on the radio. Fifty-five years ago sometimes seems like yesterday.

Love In Vain Blues

A sampler compact disc included with this months issue of Mojo Magazine. 

Old (and seemingly dusty), acoustic blues from various artists, both known and not so well known. There are times when pops and cracks in the recordings are good things. Plenty of acoustic slide guitar too, which should be its own genre. 

New Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel - i/o.

It's on order but won't arrive for a few more days. I'm considering taking the day off from work.

I used to get so excited and anticipatory for new releases and it's nice to feel that old excitement again. I've been looking forward to a new Peter Gabriel record for years.  

There's a dark-side and a bright-side mix. I don't really know if I'll be able to tell the difference. He's been releasing one song at a time for the past year on the occasion of full moons. I've listened to four or five of these tracks but not more than once. I want to experience the record like the old days when a new record would be previously unheard on release day. 

I want to hear one song at a time as if it's the first time. In some cases it will be. I haven't heard any of the recent releases yet and don't recall the tracks heard months ago. 

I wouldn't have ordered it online if I could feel any amount of assurance that I could find a physical copy locally. But that assurance doesn't exist, so I'll be watching for the delivery truck coming around the corner. I might need to monitor my blood pressure hourly.

While I'm waiting for the Peter Gabriel to be delivered .... This arrived today and was heard late evening. 'Floa' by Mammal Hands. From 2016 on Gondwana Records. 

I'm attempting to become a completist .... of the band and possibly the record label. 

Vega Trails

I noted here a few days ago that I had been listening to a band called, Mammal Hands. That find has led to the discovery of several other bands exploring different jazz directions ..... Robohands, Ghost Funk Orchestra, Phi-Psonics and the recording that I've been obsessed with for the past week, "Tremors In the Static' by Vega Trails.

Their only recording to this point. A trio featuring double-bass and saxophone. From 2022 on Gondwana Records, which is proving to be another record label loaded with extremely top quality recordings.

If I trace the entire lineage of this path, it started a year or two ago with (radio) channel surfing while driving home one afternoon and stumbling across an interview with members of Gogo Penguin, which eventually led to discovering, Portico Quartet and then all the others mentioned here. Each band foreign to me prior to that fruitful drive home from wherever.

And here I am, with this record by Vega Trails receiving daily listens for the past week. 

..... And hoping they're preparing to release another.  

Sidenote: The problem with getting this new 600-ish page book titled: 'Mixing Up the Medicine,' full of essays and photos on Bob Dylan, is that I don't know where to start. 

The Search

Just a few notes on the eternally ongoing search for (mostly vinyl) music ....

• KEEP THEM UP HIGH!! If you, the seller, wishing to make $$$, place your records in a crate, on the floor of an antique shop, thrift store, record store, etc. .....  I'm most likely not going to waste my time bending over, putting stress on my already stressed-out knees and back and attempting to read titles that are too far away from my ability to focus with my near-sighted vision. So, unless there's the unmistakable mint condition, holy grail that I've been seeking for my lifetime sitting on top, there's a good chance that I won't be flipping through that crate.
• Just a pet peeve of mine ..... Attention twenty and thirty-somethings. "Vinyl" is both the singular and plural. I don't know or care if it's acceptable in a game of scrabble, but 'vinyls' is not a valid word. 
• I'm a huge fan of cover art. So, don't let your dog or cat chew on the spines of your record covers and then expect to slap a premium asking price on it when you decide to sell later in life. And the spines are as valued by me as the face.
• I prefer maintained and managed clutter over extreme organization in places selling records. (Though a little organization is appreciated.) With clutter there is always the accompanying mystery of what you might find. 
• A freebie now and then keeps me coming back for more. I know one guy who when I'm checking out, if I have four or five $10-$20 records, he'll peel the price sticker off the $5 record and say: "No tag, no charge."  The world needs more people like this. Purveyors of kindness.
• Keep the "greatest hits" records to a minimum. If I'm a fan of a particular musician, I want all the songs. And eventually when I need even more, I'm going to want the alternate takes. false starts, b-sides, demos and outtakes too. The greatest hits are fine for the casual fan but for those of us who might drop into your shop on weekly whims, we want more.

Friday Playlist

I have no reason for ......  or a common unifying theme regarding this playlist other than these songs are in my head lately, likely for historical significance in my world.

• Branford Marsallis - The Peacocks .... I've had this song title in my head for three or four days. I don't know why. I remember it from a cassette that I own .... the title not the actual song. It's been recorded by others, but this is who I associate it with.
• Jackson Browne - Rock Me On the Water .... A twitter friend asked people to name a perfect album that was released the year you turned sixteen. This was his first and my introduction to JB's music that would come to mean so much to me through the 1970's, 80's and 90's.
• Neil Young - Out On the Weekend .... Another that's been bouncing around my head for a few days and from another perfect album released the year the I turned sixteen. I recall hearing it once in a movie theater .... from a mix of songs played before the coming attractions. I always though I had a decent stereo setup at home but hearing it that day on the theater sound system was a total knockout.
• Neil Young - Like a Hurricane ..... "I am just a dreamer, and you are just a dream. You could have been anyone to me."
• Son Volt - Drown ..... I was in the new local Barnes & Noble that open up last week and noticed that they had three Wilco vinyl records for sale. But no Son Volt. And in my humble opinion, Son Volt is the stronger band that emerged from the Uncle Tupelo breakup. And I don't care about anyone else's contrary opinion.
• Willard Grant Conspiracy - How to Get to Heaven ..... I just noticed that there is now the complete song on YouTube. For years there's been nothing but a 20-some second snippet. 
• Poco - Good Feeling to Know .... Introduced to this song by the older brother of a friend. I listen now and hear so much of the classic Eagles harmonizing sounds. But Poco came first.
• Danny O'Keefe - Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues .... Heard on the radio a week ago and it's been playing in my mind since.

Mammal Hands

I just discovered this band and a few hours later, the recording is on my doorstep.

"Gift From the Trees" by Mammal Hands. On compact disc. Released this year on Gondwana Records. 

For the past year or two, I've been searching for new sounds and directions in jazz. Something besides bands covering the standards. Mammal Hands is one of the results of that search. 

I rarely sit and listen to an album all the way through. My usual method is to listen to two or three songs at a time. But I was unable to walk away from this. 

October Jazz

A jazz playlist for a rainy Sunday autumn evening, heavy on ECM Records styles and tones. I've been trending lately in different jazz directions .....

• Matthew Halsall - Changing Earth .... My appreciation of his music all started with reading an album review a few years ago. 
• Vijay Iyer - Human Nature
• Wallace Roney - Why Should There Be Stars .... Funny how attitudes and preferences change over time and for no known reason. I once preferred saxophone. Now I'd much rather hear a trumpet.
• Wolfgang Muthspiel - Father and Son
• Ambrose Akinmusire - Moment In Between the Rest
• Collin Vallon - Cendre
• David Torn - At Least There Was Nothing
• Eberhard Weber - Bird Out of Cage / Notes After an Evening ..... There were way too many years where I didn't understand the impact and beauty that an acoustic bass can bring. 
• Jacob Young - Minor Peace
• John Abercrombie - Descending Grace ..... Jazz has the most interesting song titles.
• Gogo Penguin - Raven ..... Atmospheric. Close my eyes and it's like I'm floating above it all.

Finding Tom Rush

A vinyl record that is .....

Found on a short, out-of-town road trip, filling out my 60's to mid 1970's Tom Rush on vinyl collection. The years that produced the best album cover photography. 

From 1964. Folk and Blues, an original or two all sung in that great voice. 

A Tom Rush playlist might include:

• No Regrets ..... One of his few originals. Certainly, his best. A desert island song choice for me.
• Joshua Gone Barbados
• Urge For Going
• The Circle Game ..... Written by Joni Mitchell. About the path to adulthood.
• Nine Pound Hammer
• Claim On Me
• One Day I Walk ..... The great Bruce Cockburn song.
• River Song ..... I have this memory of waiting in a car for my mom while listening to this on the radio.
• Child's Song ..... A song about leaving home and parents. "It's funny how the same old crooked pictures, just don't seem the same to me tonight."
• These Days ..... The Jackson Browne song.

Heatmiser

Just discovered through the Vinyl Community videos on Youtube, the music of Heatmiser, Elliott Smith's band from his early years. They've been added to my mental "Grail" list. Though most of their physical releases appear to be rare and expensive. Maybe I'll get lucky. For now I'm listening online, especially enjoying the 'Mic City Sons' songs.

From All Music Guide:

Heatmiser was an indie rock supergroup of sorts, featuring songwriters Elliott Smith and Neil Gust (No. 2), as well as Sam Coomes (Quasi) and the multitalented Tony Lash. The quartet's finest and final album, Mic City Sons features a decidedly more pop feel than its predecessors and marks Smith's maturation into the role of the band's visionary. .....

Jumping For Joy

I'm without a doubt, as the owner of my longtime local record store once said: "A huge Jayhawk guy."

That being fact, you might just think I would have known that Gary Louris released a solo album in 2021. And I did, but not until a week ago. But it's on my turntable now!!

Of all the online things people did during covid, his 'Shit Shows' were my favorites certainly helping me get through a few of those hours. Filled with humor, storytelling and great music. Something that's needed most days.

Indiana