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Originally posted by Rasher:
_Nick_- thanks for the reminder of Chick Corea. I used to have a lot of his stuff on vinyl (all gone now). I need to look him out again - especially the Return to Forever stuff. Good reminder.

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Rasher,

I too went a long while before re-discovering them. The RTF albums "No Mystery", "Where Have I Known You Before" and "Romantic Warrior" were all just as good as I remembered, though "Music Magic" still stinks IMO.

Chick's "My Spanish Heart" I found to be much better than I remembered. The Lenny White album "Venusian Summer" is also excellent, though the current CD version is a pretty dull transcription.

nick.lees at btinternet.com

Will Oldham Info

Will originally started out in the 'Palace Brothers' which included his brothers, Ned and Paul. That was late 80's, 90's.

He then started to release under his own name and brought us stuff like 'Joya'. Bonnie Prince Billy came on the back of this with release like 'Blue Lotus Feet' and 'I See A Darkness'.

He has released a LOT of stuff.. Constantly working and always doing side projects with his brothers, David Pajo, Jason Molina etc.

The Ultimate Will Oldham Resource

That will give you an idea of just what is out there.

I recommend -

"Ease Down The Road" and "I See A Darkness" if you want to continue in the same vein. The "Amalgamated Sons Of Rest" release is also excellent.

After that just take pot-luck.. It's bound to be great.

-A-

Minky,

As another Will Oldham fan I would point out that Alan's recommendations emphasize the more recent "conservative" Oldham, which is fine of course; the records he recommends are close in spirit and content to the Bonnie Prince Billy album that you like. But you or others might find the earlier Palace Brother's work interesting too. It's quirkier, less traditional, more in the Lambchop or Calexico vein. "Viva Last Blues", from '95, is my favorite Oldham release to date (that I've heard, anyway -- the guy's very prolific), and "Days in the Wake" ('94) my second-fave.

Alan,

Man, I'm afraid I've got to disagre with you about that Iron and Wine album. I bought it last year amidst all the critical raves and was disappointed. Perhaps this was due to my having overly high expectations? Anyway, musical merits aside, at the least you'll have to admit that the recording quality is dreadful.

I admit though that the critics seem to be on your side here.

Cheers,
Eric

Alan and Eric,

Thanks very much for that. I am now a man on a mission ..

All the best,

Mark.

Eric -

The 'Iron & Wine' was on the front page of Insound.com one day and looked quite interesting so I ordered it. I wasn't expecting a critically reviewed album and I hadn't heard the hype. What I got was an album which I thought was just superb. Poor recording quality I don't care about. I know it was a 'bedroom' recording and for that, it makes it even more special.

The same goes for the 'Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co' bonus disc that came free with the LP or limited CD. It's a shite recording done in his apartment before he moved out. Just acoustic takes of the songs from the album plus a few others. This gets listened to as often as the album itself. Actually, I say it's a shite recording but at the right volume it almost feels like I am there.. There is a lot of ambient background noise on the recording that just brings it to life.

-A-

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The same goes for the 'Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co' bonus disc that came free with the LP

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Agreed, this was indeed a great bonus.

If you don't like Neko's music, perhaps you'll like this.

Audio Bullys - Ego War

Only heard this once, so it discounts the 'it's a grower' factor. Given all the press and the hype, I was expecting this to be chock full of groundbreaking stuff. On the basis of one flawed listening session (in the car, on the A3) I am a little disappointed.

It's a bit like a second rate Streets, although with more emphasis on the tunes than lyrics when compared to Mikey S. Stand out tracks The Things, Snow and We Don't Care. Two of these have been singles, and I bet that the third (Snow) will follow.

Sounds good loud at xxxmph though.


"Aggro House for the suburban yoof, innit"

PS - if you are offended by swearing or drug references, please be prepared to get offended when listening.

Single Frame Ashtray - Wetheads Come Running

Yet more evidence that Austin, TX might well be my spiritual home. A fabulously catchy collection of undemanding indie pop/rock gems. Nothing remotely radical or original -- despite pleasing and pleasingly short inter track found sound fillers -- just the sort of album that says repeat play from your undergraduate days.

Only available direct the record label in Austin for which they charge you $10 US via pay pal only for the record to arrive (within a week in my case) with nearly $4 of postage on it. I feel slightly guilty like I should send them some more cash so giving it 4 Nh is the least I can do,

Pitchfork review and detail for puchase here: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/s/single-frame/wetheads-come-running.shtml


"Just hugely enjoyable without being too serious nor too lightweight"

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Single Frame Ashtray ... Only available direct the record label

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Here's hoping on-line reviews, easy on-line bank transfers, and cheap website hosting and cd manufacture allow small artists like this to succeed entirely on their own.

Manitoba: Up in Flames



Matthew R. and simcat have already recommended this so to keep it short: well worth the price of admission.


Fuzzy guitars, bells, and whistles on top of terrific beats

Midival Punditz



There's no doubt that there's a lot of good stuff about. In a week that's already seen the arrival of very good Eels and Steely Dan releases, it's very pleasant surprise to get something that outshines them both. From the first track onwards it was apparent that this was something very special.

Midival Punditz are a couple of DJs from the New Delhi scene and this album is a mixture of Western beats, a bit of Bhangra and some traditional Indian vocals/instruments that sits somewhere in the realms of Badmarsh and Shri, Talvin Singh, and the more uptempo Nitin Sawhney stuff.

Truly superb. Judge for yourself here.

Dev B - if you haven't heard this I think you'll love it. If you already know it - shame on you for keeping it to yourself!

nick.lees at btinternet.com

midival.JPG (3 Kb, 395 downloads)

Paulo Conte - Reveries

I just got this home tonight and I am very excited about it. As usual I know bugger all about the artist apart from the fact that he is Italy's answer to Tom Waits, he is somewhat ancient and he is bloody good.

Actually either Tom Waits or Leonard Coen would be pretty pleased with this effort. It's packed with quirky instruments and swirling circus arrangements along with production that has Mr Conte and his huge voice crawling out of the speakers and into your room. I kept thinking of the movie "the ring".

Most excellent.


The best Italian kazoo album in the whole milky way

Primitive Plus is all about love, love of hip hop. Edan uses his widely hyped skills to recreate good-time hip hop with an golden age aesthetic. The production is suitably lo-fi, all big keyboard hooks. Tracks like Emcees smoke crack and Ultra 88 both come off like missing Kool Keith tracks, with the latter an explicit tribute.

Listen to it here


Whilst it isn't anything groundbreaking, it's alot of fun.

Does anyone have comments and/or official Nh measurements for the following:

Prefuse 73- One Word Extinguisher
RJD2- Dead Ringer
Mouse On Mars- Glam
Califone- Quicksand: Cradlesnakes
Calexico- Feast of Wire

I've been considering each, but haven't heard any opinions. Thanks.

Ludwig

Mekon probably has a view on at least 2 of those.

The Calexico one is, officially, off the scale as far as a NH score. Five just isn't enough. IMHO, of course.


"It really is very good indeed"

Regards

Alex

Wrote out a little review of each, but explorer decided to nuke it, so the short of it is that they are both a...

For Father's Day I was given the new Cure DVD



This is The Cure playing three of their best albums Pornography, Disintegration and BloodFlowers complete and unabridged and in the same running order as the albums.

This is The Cure at their darkest. Over 3 hours of concert footage and absolutely superb !


If laughter is infectious is that why they're called The Cure?

Mr Seagull Sir

Either you are a very cool dad, or your kids are very cool, or both.

Rgds

Alex, who got a mug from his 8 week old baby!

I've had 13 years of "Best Dad in the World" mugs, ties, statuettes etc. I thought, enough's enough so this year I ordered the DVD from Amazon and presented it to seagull junior and said, "Here's your Father's Day present son." Its taking a while with my son but I hope to take him to Guilfest next month to see Madness, the Stranglers and The Undertones amongst others

My 3 year old daughter was dancing and toe tapping through out - she has excellent taste.

She gave me Slideling, with the words, "I've got one of these" pointing to the pictue on the cover. Not played it through yet so no Nick's head...

Seagull,

I enjoyed the acoustic set attached to the other Cure DVD. Let us know how it is.

See the 'last album' post about 'A New Forest'

On reflection I don't think there is any RS vocals in this version after all. Still good though.

DS

OTD - Die Krupps - The Machineries of Joy