Aphex Twin - Wet Tip Hen Ax

Tony Bennett and Bill Evans: Some Other Time

It's raining and I'm off to see Death of a Salesman. So here's a song for a rainy night, courtesy of The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album. The image is a sketch of Evans by Bennett which appears in a tiny reproduction on the inside of this album and as the cover to Blue in Green. Who knew Tony Bennett was such an artiste?

Brian Eno - Bell Study with Distant Delay

M83 - Gone

Steely Dan: The Caves of Altamira

Off of The Royal Scam. Becker and Fagan write of the cover art - "before long we find ourselves staring into the maw of the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none, (excepting perhaps Can't Buy a Thrill). Why are those buildings turning into reptilian horrors or vice versa? What squalid back alley of the human condition is meant to be invoked by this contused nightmare palette? What manner of man - ill-shod, unshaven - dares sleep peacefully through this fearsome and repulsive protomorph?"

The cover reminds me of Ghostbusters, I'm slightly ashamed to say.

Thomas Fehlmann - Schöne Grüsse

Neil Young: Motion Pictures

Well all those people think they've got it made
But I wouldn't buy, sell, borrow, or trade
Anything I have, to be like one of them
I'd rather start all over again

At some point we'll post, track by track, all of On the Beach. Because this album, called "one of the most despairing albums of the decade" by Rolling Stone when it was released, is that good. For me it might even beat out Tonight's the Night (to say nothing of Trans) as my favorite Neil Young album. Currently, this is the song I'm coming back to. Ruminative, confrontational...a bit like Mike, actually.

Slide guitar courtesy of Rusty Kershaw. He also hand wrote very odd liner notes to the record.

Joachim Spieth - You Don't Fool Me B1

Grant Green: I Can't Stop Loving You

Grant Green's take on the Don Gibson standard, off of Goin' West, an album recorded in 1962 but not released until 1969.

The lineup:
Grant Green, guitar
Herbie Hancock, piano
Reggie Workman, bass
Billy Higgins, drums

From Nat Hentoff's liner notes:

"Grant Green's tone--warm but strong, flowing but controlled--is fused into "I Can't Stop Loving You" so that while the song remains pulsating with sentiment, it does not become awash with sentimentality. The performance also illuminates the ruminative lyricism of Herbie Hancock who also--as on every track--demonstrates the considerable art of unfailingly tasteful accompaniment. And as for Mr. Higgins, his brushwork is a joy to the more subtle senses."

Indeed.

The Doors: We Could Be So Good Together

"The Doors were different, The Doors interested me. The Doors seemed unconvinced that love was brotherhood and the Kama Sutra. The Doors' music insisted that love was sex and sex was death and therein lay salvation. The Doors were the Norman Mailers of the top forty, missionaries of apocalyptic sex."

From Joan Didion's great essay on the end of the 60s "The White Album," where she writes, amongst other things, of visiting The Doors in the studio during the recording of "Waiting for the Sun." She also mentions Morrison's 'black vinyl pants' at least four times in as many pages.

Yo La Tengo - The Race Is On Again

Grateful Dead - If I Had The World To Give (outro)

Recorded "live" inside the pillowy acoustics of the Cleveland Music Hall, Monday, November 20th, 1978. Arguably the best part is at 0:27.

...and speaking of thanatos, in case you missed the mix we did in December '07, it's back up again at non-collective, with a brand new title! Loads of other great mixes available there as well. Get thee thither.

Vic Godard & The Subway Sect -
Nobody's Scared
Out Of Touch

Be Bop Deluxe - Sound Track

Am I making this up, or is there a scene in Fast Times where Judge Reinhold is washing his car in the driveway, listening to "American Girl"? For some reason this song reminds me of that scene.

Available on: Futurama. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker.

Shop Assistants -
Train From Kansas City
After Dark

The Pioneers - Long Shot Kick De Bucket

Simply a classic that's been hitting the mark for me lately. I like drum machines, but good luck catching this groove with one. Gotta love the discrepancy between the tempo the drummer counts out and the tempo the band (quickly) arrives at.

Produced by Leslie Kong.

Gilded Youth - Please Don't Kiss

If you are of roughly college age and were recently dumped by your girlfriend/boyfriend, you may want to listen to this. Watch for a sound quality upgrade on this one soon (whenever the record gets here from France).

Gilded Youth on myspace

Flamin' Groovies: Yesterday's Numbers

An overdue return of the Flamin' Groovies since Mike's January '07 post.

[Photo courtesy of Life in Lomo]

Orange Juice - Flesh Of My Flesh (long version)

Mixed with reckless abandon by Dennis Bovell, who was most likely also on hand for this one.

The Emperors: Karate

Check out the history of this track from this funky site.

November 1, 1978
The Howard Theater, Washington, D.C.

P Funk -
Cosmic Slop
Give Up the Funk > May We Funk You
Red Hot Mama
Into You
Standing on the Verge > Headstrong
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes > Maggot Brain
One Nation Under a Groove
Mothership Connection

The Replacements: Bastards of Young

Big B posted "Swinging Party" about a year ago, and in the comments I alluded to this, my favorite song off of Tim. Now, almost a year later, I've gotten around to posting it. Touching on disappointment, income taxes, alienation, and sharecropping, this song has it all.

The Smiths -
Girlfriend in a Coma
Work is a Four Letter Word
I Keep Mine Hidden

Here's a vinyl rip of the last Smiths release. Dedicated to Emmett, today.

Brilliant.

Hey folks, I've been a bit spotty in my posting lately. Sadly, the obligations of "real life" have left me with no time to do what I really want to be doing, i.e. posting songs on this site and studying The Bible. But I'm happy to announce that I have put together the 66th installment of our show for Viva Radio, which drops today at 2 PM. Archived Viva shows can be accessed here, as always. Thanks for listening. See you soon...

Everything is coming up Love...

John Holt: In the Springtime

(a double-shot of Holt to kick start the season)

The Paragons: The Tide Is High

The Dream Syndicate: Until Lately

They say he was in a good position
A man of pride and ambition
Until lately

Yes, it just goes to show how wrong you can be. I love how Steve Wynn yells out, "He was an ordinary guy!"

3rd Bass: Brooklyn-Queens

Can you believe that it's been twenty years since The Cactus Album? Where's the remastered anniversary edition? I was listening to this CD recently - these guys really didn't like MC Hammer. So here, from my dusty music collection to your ears, is some late 80s hip hop, with some "Best of My Love" sampling. Running man, anyone? Enjoy.

Aside: Prime Minister (Sinister) Pete Nice now co-owns a bar in Boston with a member of the Dropkick Murphys. It looks terrible.

Paul Zaza - The Payback

Um... yeah. Thanks to Citizen Kane for this one. Can't find jack $hit about this on-line (let alone get the record), hence rolling with a bootleg from the Beats In Space webcast. My French is execrable but is this about Québécois separatism?

Good cover version.

Sparks - Saccharin And The War

Dinosaur jr.: In a Jar

And in other jar-related songs...

Tortured Soul - In Motion

Buy it. Seriously.

The Only Chrome-Waterfall Orchestra - Nairam

From the album Mike Gibbs directs The only Chrome-Waterfall Orchestra. Arguably the best album title and sleeve design of all time.

Essential Logic - Fanfare In The Garden

Stud Leather - Cut Loose

Prescient sounds from London's The Stud Leather. Thanks to Robin Wills for this one. Best minimalist drum breaks since "Birthday". Hallelujah.

Gregory Isaacs - Cool Down the Pace

George Harrison -
Awaiting On You All
Art Of Dying

Hott City - Feelin' Love

Thanks to our friends at Ambulansen for this rip, which is slowed down a taste. It's difficult to mount an argument against the "percussion" part that kicks in at 1:22.

Enjoy a quiet evening at home with Hott City.

Grateful Dead -
Scarlet Begonias
Touch Of Grey
Fire On The Mountain

Performed July 13, 1984
Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA

Thinking a bit about the article that was printed in the NYT the other day... I don't care much for the "best show ever" discussion, but I am interested in this "Survival of the Fittest" idea - that the crème de la crème rises to the top. If a show was widely circulated in the days before the Internet, does that make it a great show? Obviously 5/8/77 is a great show, and the soundboard that circulates, the Betty Board is also of such amazing quality that if you care at all about the Grateful Dead, it is required listening. The show is also from a period in which the Grateful Dead are generally accepted to have played at their near-best if not their best. Regardless of whether or not it is one of their best performances, I get a kick out the fact that every Deadhead knows where Barton Hall is, and the mere mention of Barton Hall triggers a recollection of the date 5/8/77.

In my earliest days of trading tapes through the mail, I ended up with 7/13/84; only Set II if memory serves me correctly. It sounded funny to me back then. A little thin, and a little fast - and quite a contrast to the Dead that people probably initially hear - the Dead of 67-72, or the late 70s. It is a fun tape, but not one I would throw into my tape player too often. I also think it was widely traded, and I am unsure why. Maybe it was the placement of the fairly recently (within 2 years) composed Touch of Grey, or the Dark Star encore, but otherwise the rest of the show is, in my opinion of course, ho-hum. I do like the jam between Scarlet and Touch, and in general the Fire is played very well. Maybe it was the venue, which is right up there with the Frost Amphitheater as perhaps the best places to see a show. But that too, is a point for discussion.

Anyway. Emmett posted the Scarlet > Fire from 5/8/77 about a year ago for those of you who would like to compare.

Coming tomorrow - a post containing all 44 live performances of Easy Answers.

BONUS BEATS, from the same show. I was reminded that this song from the first set is also worth a listen. Thanks, Rich.

Units - High Pressure Days

Music from San Francisco's The Units. Thanks to Caterwauling at Waxidermy for the rip.

BONUS BEAT$

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Delaney & Bonnie - Groupie (Superstar)

Original air date 6/20/08. Love the mix on this one.

Two posts on the World Wide Web that might be worth your time:

1) Terry Riley's In C for free from Amazon.

2) The NYT running a piece on the Grateful Dead. Don't miss the photos, the vote for the best show ever, or the discussion on the vote, in which I felt compelled to add a comment.

I have some Otis Redding lined up for the morning. Goodnight.

"So much confusion in this world below..."

Mahalia Jackson: Standing Here Wondering Which Way to Go

John Lennon: Watching The Wheels (acoustic)

Yo La Tengo: Somebody's Baby

Gonna shine tonight, make her mine tonight...

Augustus Pablo: Memories of the Ghetto

David Crosby: Song With No Words (Tree With No Leaves)

Speaking of Jerry Garcia, that's his searing guitar at the end of this, one of Crosby's finest lyrical efforts, IMHO. Off of If I Could Only Remember My Name.

Jerry Garcia Band - Palm Sunday

February 21, 1979
Hatfield Polytechnic BBC Rock Hour

The Police -
Can't Stand Losing You
So Lonely
Fall Out
Hole in My Life
Truth Hits Everybody
Message in a Bottle
Peanuts
Roxanne
Next to You
Can't Stand Losing You (Reprise)

Chris Bell: Speed of Sound

Fred Neil: Other Side to This Life

Discography here. The photo below is pulled from the link showing a young Bob Dylan, Karen Dalton and Fred Neil, circa 1961.