Recent CD Purchases

[Who Shot Sam?]

Just ordered the Labour of Lust reissue and Elbow's new one, both on vinyl.

BTW I'd forgotten what horny album LoL is. Lots of great lines about tits and lumps in pockets.

[Jack of All Parades]

"The King of Limbs"- Radiohead. Have been playing it all week and trying to allow it to seep into my musical memory. It is about half way there and that may be as far as it progresses. It has not immediately struck a common chord with me like "In Rainbows" did. There is just a little too much emphasis on electronica and a droning tone that is off putting. But there are songs to love. The opener "Bloom" for one that plays creatively with all kinds of 'sounds' as they 'bloom' to form a song picture. I enjoy "Little by Little" as it too builds upon electronic sounds to create a collage about creation. "Lotus Flower" is a delightful love song about falling into a 'groove' and trying to fill the 'empty space' within a person. It also has a strong, enticing vocal by Yorke. I love the falsetto he attains and the reverb in his voice. "Codex" is a strong song with some effective piano. My favorite I think is "Give Up the Ghost"; it is a beautiful hymn for lost souls. I like the record just not certain I love it.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Only on my second play and so far, after the magnificent In Rainbows am finding it quite a let down. As someone elsewhere said, sounds too much like a Thom Yorke solo record. I didn't bother with his solo one much, it was just a bit limited and dull. This is better, but not hugely. The ones you cite are good, but they don't feel like they required much creative energy. It just doesn't seem absorbing in the same way as IR. I saw them touring that, and they played the entire record, and all of it worked. Maybe some of this stuff would come to life live, but it's hard to see it. 3 out of 5 at best.

More thrilling is British Sea Power's Do You Like Rock Music? Saw them live recently and they were great. Stirring, anthemic, individual. I want to get the new one Valhalla Exchange, which has some great stuff on it, but decided to start with this earlier one first as I had some of it on the iPod and wanted the proper sonic experience. They rock.

I also got closer to completing my Lambchop CD collection by at last getting Nixon and Is A Woman, both in new editions with bonus DVD (former) and CD (latter). I started out with their last OH (Ohio) which just blew me away and still does, and I would have to rank as one of my favourite LPs ever. Song after fabulous song. I then went back and got the first four and the penultimate one Damaged. There's good stuff throughout, but nothing for me matches OH. All I need now is Aw Cmon / No You Cmon (always loved that ludicrous title) and I have the lot, Must get the 'Kort' Kurt and Courtney collaboration that Invis Pole was praising.

[Jack of All Parades]

I think you are right Otis. I have played it regularly the past week and cannot warm to it like In Rainbows or past efforts. The few songs I noted earlier get played but I think they will be played in my home with little regularity. This was a mailed in effort by the band, I think.

[Jack of All Parades]

Four albums in the last eight months have consistently stayed with me, National Ransom, The Suburbs, Long Player, Late Bloomer and now So Beautiful or So What by Paul Simon. The last is a stunner. It is a skilled melding of the strains of older American Music forms with rhythms and instrumentation from around the world. Simon takes gospel, r&b, and folk dna and mixes it into an enticing brew of old and new sounds. I love how he builds from rhythms and creates the songs outwards from such sturdy frameworks adding melody and lyric. You do not miss for a moment that there is no traditional bass on the record. Instead there is his gorgeous voice, his skilled guitar and the equally wonderful contributing musicians on instruments like kora harp, djemba drum, or angklung or clay pot. His voice alone is an asset on the album with its natural charm and skepticism.

The usage of samples is subtle and therefore much more effective when the harmonies of the Golden Gate Jubile Quartet are inset into "Love & Blessings" or the harmonica solo by Sonny Terry is added on"Love is Eternal Sacred" or the sermonizing of the Rev. JM Gates is added to "Getting Ready for Christmas Day".

This is an album of assessments as one's life is approaching its end. Questions are asked- what is real? what really matters? what is art? what is permanent? Tough questions and Simon does not flinch in trying to deal with them. He seems to be asking is even beauty itself meaningless; is even meaning itself intangible being so subjective? His answer is "Life is what you make it; so beautiful, so what." Ultimately I get the feeling that what is real and lasting for him is a sort of life force that ultimately can be seen as the ephemeral strains of a doo wop chord as it floats out into the universe and "all that remains when you try to explain is a fragment of song". I strangely find comfort in that notion. I love the humor in the songs: the waiting line and form filling in "the Afterlife", the visiting supreme deity who is tooling around in his vintage car listening to pop stations and muttering 'don't sound like my music to me", the eternal need to get it right in "Rewrite", a billboard of Jay-Z as a Santa deity posed with a child on each knee in Brooklyn.

I can't say that there are not some faults as for many it may seem that it is just 'rhymin Simon in rhythm'. He even utilizes an old rhyme at one point pairing station with destination which is sloppy given its prior appearance in Homeward Bound all those years ago. I love it, though, and cannot stop playing it as its core songs continue to reverberate with me creating aural and lyrical puzzles for my ears. Who cannot love an album that contains a beautiful love song with my favorite word- "Dazzling Blue"?

[Otis Westinghouse]

Sounds great, though the self-referencing rhyme sounds deliberately done with a wry smile. I've always loved Simon & Garf (and interestingly my 18-year old is a fan in the same way I was then), and it's good to know he's putting out vital stuff in this late phase. One PS moment that has stayed with me was on a Classic Album TV show about Graceland, when he sat in a near-trance listening to one of the songs off it, probably the title track, and said 'this was my finest moment, my best work'.

Clearly you need to get Elbow's Build A Rocket Boys to add to the list. I still can't get enough of 'Lippy Kids', which is easily going to be my song of the year if not the decade, with the point where he sings the album title at a higher pitch always giving me goosebumps. Astonishing stuff, and the LP as a whole is superb. It's remarkable how consistently good they've been across 5 albums now, each one containing standout tracks but being interesting and involving throughout. I'm reading a godawful book about them by Mick Middles (no stars there yet, but my 1-star rating yet to be added, why do these duff books about good acts get put out by old hacks, riddled with errors, typos, awful grammar, misused words, inconsistencies, etc. etc.?), which has at least had me listening closely again to the earlier stuff, e.g. the divine title track off their first album, Asleep In The Back. 'Oh you had to ask, didn't you?'

Another one to stay with me is Becoming a Jackal by Villagers, who I recently saw supporting Elbow at the O2. A really strong debut album, not a weak song in sight, almost entirely played and superbly sung by the very talented Conor O'Brien.

King of Limbs not on your list nor mine. Second half improves, though most of it could have been thrown off without much effort in rehearsals, the first half sounds like a bad remix of something vaguely interesting. Hugely disappointing.

[Jack of All Parades]

Otis- I am working on that Elbow- tomorrow is Record Store day in the USA- trying to get people to remember the local record shop- if you can find one- plan to pay a call on Rhino Records and see if I can get the album. "King of Limbs" is in limbo for me, rarely played.

Cannot recommend higher the new Simon- would be a wonderful father/son experience and might make for some fun times when you are motoring together and the ipod is being traded back and forth.

Failed to mention one thing I heard in interviews of late by Simon- he appears to be a big fan of Larkin. Couldn't help but notice a certain similarity to Aubade in his new song 'Love and Hard Times" where the narrator is lying in his bed as dawn is beginning behind the bed curtains and the bedroom begins to come to life with its 'clicks and clacks' and the narrator is in a deep existential fear, and unlike Larkin, finds comfort in the clasp of his love's hand. I prefer Larkin's situation more given my natural disposition. Will explore your other suggestions.

[Otis Westinghouse]

[Jack of All Parades]

A heart felt thank you friend for that one- as I have told you before your introduction of this band to me has been most appreciated. "Build a rocket! Boys" indeed. As one Pynchonian to another love the rocket/angel imagery. And cannot help but notice the return of whistling into a good tune- this, Simon within his new song "Rewrite" and EC with Slow Drag- though I will say I prefer the latter as it is more natural to those two songs as opposed to the more gratuitous usage by EC.

[Jack of All Parades]

Otis- back from Record Store day at Rhino Records and sadly no Build a Better Rocket but did manage to pick up used copies of Cast of Thousands and Asleep in the Back so not a total failure. Looking forward to delving into both records. Sadly it speaks to the state of record stores and the listening audience here in the states that when I asked if they had a copy of the new album the owner said I was the only one to ask for Elbow in years. Also picked up a great used copy of Otis Reading's Otis Blue and a copy of Sonny Rollins All the Things You Are '63 to '64.

[Otis Westinghouse]

WellI guess Elbow are a pretty minority thing over there. Enjoy the first two. I won't tell you my favourite songs - see what you think. All 5 of their LPs have standout songs on them, and all are consistently strong. Not sure I could rate them in order of preference. Possibly my fave is the third, Leaders of the Free World, but hard to say. Enjoy! Otis Blue is a cracker, and I'm sure Rollins is too.

[Jack of All Parades]

I have my homework assignment, and an exhilarating one at that. I can tell you one right off after a first listen to Asleep in the Back and that is the very strong closer "Scattered Black and Whites". The voice of Guy Garvey is magical. It is a wondrous instrument. I look forward to a continued conversation about the band.

[History History]

Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What.

[Jack of All Parades]

It is a very good album, History.

Otis, you are 100% correct. I needed to add "Build a rocket boys!" to my collection. Done and it may well be, though it is still early in the year, my favorite record in 2011, to date. This a a band that can do little wrong in my ears. They seem to be firing on all creative cylinders. There are two bands I would pay to see these days and they are one along with The Arcade Fire.

This groups usage of dynamics is astounding. They build layers of sounds into the songs that then reverberate within a given tune. It is not pyrotechnics but old fashioned craftsmanship and musical ability with an attention to melody and harmony and how to build sound in a pop song while not being constricted to older song structures. I find their songs to be beautiful song poems that stay with me long after the last note has faded[a technique they use to great effect on so many songs on this record- the slow fadeout]. The lyrics are oblique; suggestive in the way they point to a theme. And the themes are grand; love, memory and its tricks and traps, the allure of one's past. I do not know what it is about these writers from Manchester and that area but they have a very appealing lyric style- the indirectness and effective usage of an image or reference is quite appealing. I love the musicianship of this band. The keyboards, guitar, bass and drum are never overwhelming; they percolate around the melody and harmony and move the listener along on quite breathtaking soundscapes. When the compelling vocals of Guy Garvey are added I am in heaven. He may very well be the strongest vocalist going these days. His falsetto can be a most effective tool, as well.

There are too many standout songs on this record. I have yet to identify a dud. Two stand out. Otis has already lauded one- "Lippy Kids". I am going to say for the record that it may well be the best song I have ever heard about teenage angst. In a few telling images it catches that awkwardness one feels at that age as the world opens up to one with all its possibilities. Its salutation to make something special of that time and of one's life is perfectly caught in the command "build a better rocket boys". What is so poignant is that it is coming from a speaker who is looking backwards and remembering a comparable time in his life with the urgency that wasted years brings as he views the 'lippy kids' on the corner seemingly oblivious to the adult world around them just so fixated on the immediate allure of 'kerbstone cool' and the allure of 'freshly painted angels'. It is a tremendous song done to an aching perfection. I have to also mention the whistling which is so right here- it adds a texture to the song that adds a real sense of remorse.

The other stand out for me is "Dear Friends". It may well be the best song of remembrance I have heard since Lennon's "In My Life". It is that good. I love how the song hinges on that central image of friends and the past as "the stars" one navigates home by as the melody and voice billows as if the sails of the ship that takes one back in memory are filling with celestial wind and bearing one back home. It is beautifully executed that conceit and I can not get enough of how the song so gently fades out at the end like the dying sounds that fill Brian Wilson's "Caroline" from so many years back.

Thank you, Otis. This album is and continues to be a treat for me.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Well I thought you might enjoy it! Indeed, a splendid appreciation of a superb record. I join you 100% re 'Lippy Kids' and add one observation, that it's curious but also effective that Garvey often repeats his verses as well as choruses. So here it's just the one set of lines, building to the album title (no 'better' in there though!), and then the same again. I sometimes wonder would be a better song still if he then introduced a new set of words, but somehow it seems not. It's perfect as it is, and to say more would take away the impact, whereas the repetition gets the feeling across fully.

Can't join you enough on the words. Like Morrissey (at his best, back in the day), you get a sense of real care being taken over every word. In 'Lippy Kids' the images don't follow logically, and some are very oblique: 'One long June, I came down from the trees / And kerbstone cool'. How about 'The cigarette senate was everything then'? Isn't that just perfect. There's a real Mancunian/Lancastrian verbal wit that permeates much of his turn of phrase, and again you get it with Moz, and in a more twisted way with Mark E Smith. My mate Bob, rest in peace, was from neighbouring (to Elbow's Bury) Rochdale, as in 'Jesus is a Rochdale Girl', another gem of this, and his conversation and own song lyrics were peppered with such things. Garvey frequently reminds me of him, despite c. 20 years' age difference.

Agree 'Dear Friends' is another standout. Sadly not in the live set, but what a lovely and moving piece. I think the only place on the LP where they falter is the old man singing 'The Birds' reprise. It works thematically, but I skip every time. Once or twice was enough for life.

It strikes me that my very favourite Elbow songs are the slower, more meditative ones, they seem to occupy a space here that no other band can compete with, as well as being great at the more anthemic stuff (which is what's really made their name). 'Lippy Kids', 'Switching Off', 'Great Expectations', 'Scattered Black & Whites'. All amazing songs that will stay wth me forever.

Nice little 11-minute docu here that was on tv the other night, with some good details, e.g. the origin of the whistling on 'Lippy Kids', and the significance of the aformentioned trees in the same song:

[Jack of All Parades]

Thank you yet again for that splendid little background piece. I had not caught that connection to "Scattered Black and Whites" until watching this. "Lippy Kids" should resonate with all as we have all gone through that awkward change towards adulthood. I imagine it resonates for you, like me, because we have also now experienced it with our own sons and daughters. I like how they seem to be such a functioning unit and their sheer enjoyment at creating definitely comes through. I imagine that must be something you take from being in a band, yourself. I am in total agreement with you as to the lyrics that stem from these better Northern writers. It is something I have come to truly appreciate as I peruse Mozipedia from time to time. That engaging obliqueness has been impressed further upon my mind by a recent revisiting of EC's WIWC which suffers so much from a poor, tired lyrical overload. More about that later. I look forward to discussing the earlier records with you in private conversation. I have to say I have had a great time with "Cast of Thousands"; it is such a quantum leap from the first record.

[History History]

It is a very good album, History.

I quite agree, Christopher. At the moment, I just need to listen to it over and over, something I haven't done with any new album lately. It's just so well balanced, lyrically and musically and it has a strange, wonderous atmosphere all of its own. Standouts are Getting Ready for Christmas Day, The Afterlife, Love and Hard Times, Questions for the Angels. At about 40 minutes, it doesn't outstay its welcome either.

[Jack of All Parades]

History, I frequently wonder if that 'strange, wondrous atmosphere' is not a direct result of his amazing writing technique- the ability to build out from the rhythms and embellish around them. I know of no writer of his caliber who has such intoxicating beats in his songs. You are most right when you say it does not overstay its welcome. Once on it passes in a pleasant rush of songs and before you know it you want to hit the replay. I suspect it will sound as fresh to me 30 years from now as it does today. That is a big accomplishment by any musician.

[History History]

History, I frequently wonder if that 'strange, wondrous atmosphere' is not a direct result of his amazing writing technique- the ability to build out from the rhythms and embellish around them. I know of no writer of his caliber who has such intoxicating beats in his songs. You are most right when you say it does not overstay its welcome. Once on it passes in a pleasant rush of songs and before you know it you want to hit the replay. I suspect it will sound as fresh to me 30 years from now as it does today. That is a big accomplishment by any musician.

Yes, you've described his writing technique so well. I think the ethereal nature of the lyrics match the music so successfully here making it thrilling to listen to.

[Jack of All Parades]

Have been immersing myself in the new Fleet Foxes "Helplessness Blues" all day and have been most impressed by their sophomore effort.

I love the mixture of sophisticated harmonies, folk flavoring and this time the inspired addition of sonic treats reminiscent of an old Incredible String Band album[something that I am certain my wife will enjoy and pick up on]. This is an album of beautiful tunes about trouble on a personal note. I love this line in the song Montezuma which is sung from the perspective of one's death bed and it goes-"I wonder if I'll see/Any faces above me or/will it just be cracks in the ceiling?'. I love the melancholy of songs like Bedouin Dress or Lorelai with its waltz rhythm and associations of the Rhine creature or Grown Ocean with its dream allegory echoed in the harmony vocals. An improvement from the first record is the solid anchoring of these tunes by the effective usage of bass and drums which help to provide stronger constructions in the melody line.

Singer, Robin Pecknold, is awash in the late 60s early 70s sound of folk and I love this nod to it from Bedouin Dress- 'if to borrow is to take and not return, I have borrowed all my lonesome life. The borrower's theft is the only regret of my youth'.

This album is sticking with me.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Picked up the new Ron Sexsmith album. Definitely a bigger, more produced sound than his last few efforts. Not sure what to think yet. A lot to like but I don't know that any of the songs have really grabbed me yet. Gonna give it some time.

[Poor Deportee]

What's the poop on Jill Barber? Anybody tuned in to her stuff?

[Jack of All Parades]

I know of her and find her voice a distinctly acquired choice for listening. One I have grown to enjoy. Most unique and my wife says like Edith Piaf. Know of her work with Ron Sexsmith on Chances. Have created a Pandora station for her. Her new Moon album makes for a good listen. Enjoy this video-love the synchronized swimming-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guVjJC9A_hM

She and Madeline Peyroux have been rewarding finds for me in the last decade.

[Poor Deportee]

I know of her and find her voice a distinctly acquired choice for listening. One I have grown to enjoy. Most unique and my wife says like Edith Piaf. Know of her work with Ron Sexsmith on Chances. Have created a Pandora station for her. Her new Moon album makes for a good listen. Enjoy this video-love the synchronized swimming-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guVjJC9A_hM

She and Madeline Peyroux have been rewarding finds for me in the last decade.

Peyroux is great - thanks for this, Chris. I picked up 'Moon' today. Great voice!!

[History History]

Two Way Monologue - Sondre Lerche.