What are You Listening To? Thread

[TC Talks]

I saw her at Merlefest last year. She is great.

[matt1]

I wish that Bonnie Raitt do the remake of the John Fogerty 1986 song "Change In The Weather" (from "Eye Of The Zombie") (long album version & audio only) Bonnie would do a great version of that!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqII4-kqC_g

[Honeyman]

I saw her at Merlefest last year. She is great.

Always puts on a tremendous show. Might be the best slide guitarist ever.

[TC Talks]

I saw her at Merlefest last year. She is great.

Always puts on a tremendous show. Might be the best slide guitarist ever.

For a white woman... Spend some time at Kingston Mines or Legends in Chicago and I'd say she isn't even the best alive.

[moldyoldie]

In a Glass House (1973, [2026])
-Gentle Giant
When this group opened for Jethro Tull at Cobo Arena in '72, I had never heard of 'em and found the music mostly interesting, but inscrutable. Naturally, I had forgotten about them.
Fast forward fifty plus years and I come across a BBC concert video on YouTube with a group called Gentle Giant, and I'm thoroughly mesmerized by their amazing musicianship and how much fun they're having on stage! So much so that I've collected their entire studio recordings and even a couple bootlegs. Incredible band! Just goes to show how musical tastes can change over a lifetime. It's lead me to dive deeper into British and European prog.
I've just received a newly remixed and remastered edition of their 1973 album In a Glass House -- and it sounds fantastic! The original release was only available in the United States and Canada as a high priced import until 1992 when a reissued CD was released by the band's own label. This was because their US label Columbia rejected the album as uncommercial. As is often the case with '70s-era British prog bands, the music stems from a grounding in classical and European folk idioms, not American blues! We hear unique inventive meldings of Renaissance madrigals, classical, modern rock and jazz, and multi-part vocal harmonies. Everyone in the band is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist! I once described them as perhaps the proggiest of British prog bands and I believe the description is still apt (King Crimson devotees may argue). They might be an acquired taste (pun intended per an earlier album title ), but if one is looking for something completely different....
My recommendation for the uninitiated is their 1975 album Free Hand; while their finest, most fully realized studio conception is 1972's Octopus. You may also want to check out one of their several live sets available on YouTube!

J-Tull Dot Com: Another Cast of the Net (1999, [2026])
-Jethro Tull
Also just received is this latest in the continuing series of beautifully packaged re-releases of the Tull discography in convenient bookshelf-sized boxsets. It includes a disc of the original mix, another of a new remix, a disc of unreleased bonus material including live tracks (a marvelous constant in this series of releases!), as well as a Blu-ray disc of most of the above in 5.1 surround, Dolby Atmos, and 24-bit stereo...if that's your thing. I listen in plain ol' stereo.
Though the days of Aqualung and Thick as a Brick are long gone by the time of this album's original release, the music here is arranged with the usual amalgamation of instrumental timbres, interesting rhythms, and tasteful melodies one associates with the band. Ian Anderson's flute just kept getting better with age and his voice, though mellowed, is in fine fettle following a disturbing bout of near-asthmatic hoarseness heard on albums preceding this. Lyrically, Anderson's mature observations of life and events in general are still encapsulated in his usual clever wordplay. The remix sounds outstanding! My favorites are the opening track "Spiral" and especially the closing track "A Gift of Roses". However, I have no idea what the minimalist "Hot Mango Flush" is supposed to convey.

F.J. Haydn: Symphony #26 in D minor "Lamentations"; Symphony No. 49 in F minor "La passione"; Symphony No. 58 in F major
-The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, cond.
As a cleansing of one's aural palette, Haydn's symphonies usually do the trick for me. Though he's usually associated with high art tied to good humor, these short early symphonies are from his more melodramatic "Sturm und Drang" period, performed here by one of the better "period instrument" ensembles to come out of England in the '80s.

[Bobbertt]

F.J. Haydn: Symphony #26 in D minor "Lamentations"; Symphony No. 49 in F minor "La passione"; Symphony No. 58 in F major
-The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, cond.
As a cleansing of one's aural palette, Haydn's symphonies usually do the trick for me. Though he's usually associated with high art tied to good humor, these short early symphonies are from his more melodramatic "Sturm und Drang" period, performed here by one of the better "period instrument" ensembles to come out of England in the '80s.

When I was working, Haydn's symphonies were perfect headphone music, with those short, energetic, melodic movements.

BBC Music magazine recently had a good cover story about Haydn's symphonies:

https://www.classical-music.com/feature ... nies-guide

[moldyoldie]

BBC Music magazine recently had a good cover story about Haydn's symphonies:

https://www.classical-music.com/feature ... nies-guide

Looks like interesting reading, thanks for the link!

[Bobbertt]

I've been watching this a lot lately. It's a good picture of the freak scene in the mid-70s.

[moldyoldie]

The Sound of The Smiths (2008)
-The Smiths
Continuing my exploration of artists which passed me by for one reason or another, this is a long compilation of short single-length tracks from the career of a band which was apparently very big in Britain during the '80s, but stayed on the fringes of the charts here in America. Driven by the vocals and lyrics of Morrissey and unique guitar stylings of Johnny Marr, the band's raison d'etre was ostensibly to veer away from the synth-driven pop which was so prevalent in the post-punk new wave era.
Morrissey's pensive crooning sounds so much like that of other male vocalists of the era from groups such as Joy Division and Depeche Mode that it would be difficult to delineate between them, but I found Marr's studio-enhanced guitar stylings did set the group apart despite the overly-prevalent "'80s style" production which seemed to inundate the industry at the time. I didn't bother delving too deep into Morrissey's lyrics, but the melodies here are varied, well-wrought, and I found the entire 23-track album an ingratiating listen to which I'd feel compelled to return. I have to confess, however, that only one song rang familiar, "How Soon Is Now?" which pops up on Sirius/XM's First Wave quite often.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

Love the Smiths! Is this is on vinyl? Where did you find it?

[TC Talks]

I still own every UK and USA release by the Smiths, including the EP club vinyl. It's about 37 12" discs.