What albums did you listen to today?...continued

progbethyname wrote: Guldbamsen wrote: Hi Nick I’m doing just fine and dandy - good to hear from you...although you gotta pump up the music listening cowboy! That stuff is just mandatory for the innards I haven’t really investigated much of Alan Parsons Project after..well Pyramid I should remedy that at some point. I’m spinning the debut tonight though. Only seems appropriate. Dave!! Yeah my friend! Boy, you couldn’t be more right. I need my sonic time every single day, however that is incredibly wishful thinking when you have a 1-year-old. Having a kid or kids is soooo demanding of your time and once the nighttime rolls around when the kid finally goes down for the count you’re exhausted. I think 2018-2019 have been my biggest and most sacrificial years of all time, but hey that is what a good parent does. Anyhow my good man. I’ll keep trying. Guess I gotta pump the coffee a bit more cause no music makes Nick a dull boy.

The trick is to put on some gentle electronic stuff whilst toiling with the 1 year old Some times naps can materialise out of nothing...or maybe just some velvety synth lines.
I feel you buddy....and just wait until the ‘terrible-two’ era sets in

Coffee is paramount. I work like that too. I generally hit work right around 8 in the morning, and the autist kids there all seem to have either drunken a couple of coffeepots in one go or similarly have snorted some white powder. Literally feels like that every morning...so if the coffeepot isn’t full...oh mama you’re in for an uphill battle.
Most often though I drink some before I leave my apartment meaning I’m full-on karate prepared when the kids see me. Starting the day with a stroll through the forrest though usually helps calm down the early bird Speedy Gonzaleses

Plan b is dancing with Mr D...and I happen to love dancing so no worries.

Edited by BaldFriede - January 27 2020 at 16:23

Long post incoming, hope it’s not boring:

Bedful of Metaphysicians | s/t -- very interesting mid-80s quasi-progressive band. I have no memory of how this LP got into my collection, but I just decided to listen to it for the first time a couple of days ago and was pleasantly surprised. Hard to categorize. A little 80s pop, a little jazz, a little avant-garde. Like a quirky, unpredictable Dire Straits or something. Nothing on Youtube otherwise I'd link a sample track. Seek it out if this sounds interesting.

Black Sabbath | Never Say Die -- not listened to often, but I enjoy it every time. Sometimes I forget what band I'm listening to. The late Ozzy era had some pretty interesting departures.

Can | Future Days -- Funny story (well, I can laugh NOW...). This past Friday I was listening to some LPs and when I went to change the record, my wedding ring got caught on the tone arm and frighteningly almost ripped it off the turntable, instead sending it ZINGing in a whiplash flight to an angle I didn't even know it was able to go. Afraid that I'd broken it, I examined the damage, and though the tone arm seemed okay, the counterweight had flung off the other end, and I couldn't find where it went. It could have gone across the street for how rapidly it all happened. Unfortunately my smallish closet which holds my stereo cabinet, my CD collection, and 1/2 of my worldly belongings was so cluttered by then that it was near impossible to find it. The next morning, after I'd had a chance to calm down, I went about cleaning out the closet and eventually found it - it had rested atop one of the rows of CDs in the CD cabinet, on the bottom row. So I reassembled the turntable, and what else could I play to celebrate dodging a bullet like this than my favorite album of all time, Future Days? And they all lived happily ever after. The End.

Television Personalities | They Could’ve Been Bigger than the Beatles -- 80s nouveau psychedelic pranksters, I know little about them, but this apparently represents them pretty well. They seem to like the early wiggy British psych stuff like Syd's Floyd and The Nice.

Caravan | In the Land of Grey and Pink -- first of 2 albums heard in the car with my wife as we drove to catch the excellent theatrical musical production "The Band's Visit", a slice-of-life piece concerning an Egyptian musical combo that visits Israel to give a performance, but gets lost along the way and meets up with a small circle of interesting Israeli folks. Doesn't sound like much but it was a great little story, the music (mostly played onstage by the musicians themselves) was AMAZING, and made me want to listen to Embryo again as soon as possible (see below).

Can | Saw Delight -- the second of 2 albums, this one seemed like an acceptable middle ground between Caravan and Embryo. I didn't used to like this album too much, but it's really grown on me in recent years. It has its own little place at the Can Discography Table.

Embryo | Opal -- their first album. A bit rough around the edges but exciting all the same.

Pere Ubu | Terminal Tower : An Archival Collection -- the best Ubu package out there, for my money. Single LP of early singles, EP tracks, and rarities.

Kayak | See See the Sun -- Dutch combo's first album. My intro to Kayak was an excellent compilation CD, so I'm naturally biased towards the tracks that appear on that disc (Reason for it All, Mammoth, Ballet for a Cripple, Lyrics).

Embryo | Embryo’s Rache -- their second album, and one of their classics. These jazz rock rave ups stick in your head.

XTC | Drums & Wires -- one of their best, and their first with Dave Gregory, who replaced original member Barry Andrews and thus initiated the band into their "mature" phase. This one walks the line between punky energy and the complex sophistication of their later albums. And it has arguably the best closing track on any XTC album, the frightening "Complicated Game", which will F you up if you haven't heard it before.

Frank Zappa | Civilization Phaze III -- This may have been the last thing Frank completed and released before he died. Mostly realized and performed on the Synclavier, but with strange dialogue punctuating the tracks, a la "Lumpy Gravy" (in fact many of those dialogues come from the same sessions). Probably one of my favorite Zappa albums, just so musically rich and conceptually interesting.

The Style Council | Our Favourite Shop -- Paul Weller (of the Jam) put together a smooth soul/lite jazz group in the 80s after he broke up The Jam. Pianist Mick Talbot (from Dexy's Midnight Runners) made up the other half of the creative duo. I was a Jam fan at the time, so I hopped on board when they started out, but I had jumped ship by the time of this album. Years later, I'm revisiting the band (who for years I'd considered a bit cheesy and poppy) and they've aged really really well for me. This album may have been their peak - the sound is full and the arrangements are interesting and varied. Contrasted with their prior album "Cafe Bleu" which was arguably a bit too heavy-handed with its eclectic nature -- each song was practically a different genre, and Weller himself only sings 2 of the first 8 tracks.

Spirit | Farther Along -- way underrated mid 70s Spirit album. I ignored it for years as it had all the signs of a depressingly irrelevant "reunion album". But Randy California, who had been carrying the Spirit torch along with Ed Cassidy for most of the previous 5 years, continues to be in charge on this one, and the other members of the group merely augment and beef up the sound and arrangements a bit. John Locke (keyboards) in particular really makes his presence felt on songs that sound right at home with California's by-now established style. Ending the album with an orchestral instrumental version of "Nature's Way" is an unexpectedly welcome move too. Classy.

Spacemen 3 | Translucent Flashbacks: The Glass Singles -- Music to take drugs to make music to take drugs to, or something like that. Unnervingly simple in concept, it takes a couple of guys this focused and dedicated to that simple concept to make it work. Any lesser level of commitment would make this stuff boring as hell, but you can feel the BELIEF in every moment of this stuff. If that makes sense.

Edited by HolyMoly - January 28 2020 at 20:08

I second Samuel’s concern. I was about to write your TT off and prepared for a RIP. So glad you managed to find your arm.
As for the rest of your post Steve, it was truly a delight to read, thanks man
Great mix of albums and styles and I really liked how you described some of em. The part about ‘belief’ regarding stoner/psych/generally heady music is exactly how I feel. It quickly becomes stale if the musicians aren’t throwing themselves into the thing. Krautrock is the perfect example of this methinks.

Edited by Guldbamsen - January 29 2020 at 23:33

^ I heard my copy of Plât Du Jour a few weeks ago, terrific album!
I don't think I could ever listen to anything after the cow though, it's incredibly satisfying ^_^


Yesterday:
Mr. Bungle - California (it's been a while since I spun it, I forgot how great it is.)
Moths & Locusts - Intro/Outro (Trippy Can-adian band, on cool yellow vinyl)

Good to see some people listening to Embryo a lot; they definitely deserve more attention. "Rocksession" is one of my favourite albums of all time.

MX-80 Sound | Live at the Library
Ariel Pink | Oddities Sodomies Vol. 2
clipping. | There Existed an Addiction to Blood
My Bloody Valentine | Loveless
Jethro Tull | A Passion Play
Ornette Coleman | Dancing in Your Head
The Dead Milkmen | Welcome to the End of the World
Embryo | We Keep On
Death Sentence: Panda! | Spectral Arms
Embryo | Ibn Battuta
Can | Unlimited Edition
Carla Bley | Tropic Appetites
Carla Bley | Escalator Over the Hill
Crime & the City Solution | Room of Lights
Embryo | La Blama Sparozzi

Guldbamsen wrote: Well I ended up drinking a large glass of milk after Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast had died down...and sure that made me ready for the French Zeuhl take on Stevie Wonder I do miss back when my uncle was a farmer. Man...drinking milk straight from the bucket with cream on top is just heavenly! Mr. Bungle? I wouldn’t have taken you for someone who’d dig those guys...but I do love surprises I saw Mike Patton with another band of his called Tomahawk at a Roskilde Festival some 10 years ago (15?). Anyways that was crazy mad! I’d never seen a rock gig where the drummer had sheetmusic by the side Equal measures complexity and lunacy. Weed didn’t help me understand anything...but after a half hour of doing the most weird jig-like dance with a buddy of mine, as well as having downed a litre of horrendous white wine....well suddenly things started to make sense.

My grandparents also had cows, so I know what you mean. They ruined milk forever for me :P
I like this one but the previous two never clicked for me, maybe it's the length and because it's more accessible.
Man, that sounds like an awesome gig for all the wrong reasons XD


On the 3 hour bus trip to Viana do Castelo:
Malady - Toinen Toista
Embryo - Rocksession (I think it's the first time I really paid attention to them. They are amazing, I very much need to get myself a copy of this.)