avant-garde Archive
09 Aug 2019
The Drive to 1981 Begins: A Look Back at Robert Fripp’s Masterful ‘Exposure’ (Part 2)
Continued from Part One … Fans of King Crimson’s Red receive a wonderful treat with “Breathless.” Though the specific players on each track aren’t noted, the song – very much a cousin to Red‘s title track – features a very progressive Narada Michael Walden on the drum kit, and Tony Levin (of future Crimsons) on
08 Aug 2019
The Drive to 1981 Begins: A Look Back at Robert Fripp’s Masterful ‘Exposure’ (Part 1)
Guitarist Robert Fripp has long been one of music’s most intriguing figures. Largely operating outside the pop mainstream (and, when he can, outside the traditional machinery of the music business itself), Fripp is that unique artist who expects certain things from his audience. He believes – and operates according to a belief – in the
22 Jul 2019
You Are Cordially Invited: John and Yoko’s ‘Wedding Album’ at 40
As the Beatles launched their punningly-named Apple Corps in 1967, the group also started a number of offshoot/subsidiary business lines. Apple Records would be the most well-known (and truly the only successful) of those, but there was, for a time, Apple Films (Magical Mystery Tour, Let it Be), Apple Publishing and an experimental record label,
14 May 2019
Hundred-worders for May 2019: Vinyl
A subtle hint to any press agents or label reps who might happen to read this: a near surefire way to get your client’s album reviewed on Musoscribe is to send me a vinyl record. Unless I wholly detest it – and that’s not likely to happen if you check in before sending to make
26 Apr 2019
Hundred-word Reviews for April 2019: Jazz
I’m sent a lot of music for potential review, and for that I’m grateful. Generally, I can winnow through the stack and narrow it down to a manageable pile; put another way, a lot of the stuff I hear is unremarkable (i.e. not worth remarking upon). But sometimes I’m awash in great music that I
27 Feb 2019
Frank is Sleeping: Zappa’s ‘The Yellow Shark’ at 25
By the time The Yellow Shark appeared on record store shelves in November 1993, fans knew that the end was very near for Frank Zappa. The iconoclastic composer-musician who often quoted the words of one of his heroes, Edgard Varèse (“The present-day composer refuses to die!”) would succumb to prostate cancer a mere month after
26 Jan 2019
Album Review: The J.&F. Band – From the Roots to the Sky
Though some fans focused on the good-timing jam-band characteristics of the Allman Brothers Band, the long-running celebrated group from the American South had its roots in jazz. Though fully embraced by rock audiences as a more melodic exponent of the musical aesthetic of the Grateful Dead, from the very beginning the Allmans were influenced as
15 Nov 2018
Hundred-word Reviews, November 2018 Part 1
More hundred-word reviews. If you’ve wandered in here before, you know the drill: they’re all worthwhile and deserve deeper coverage. These ten are all archival, reissue or compilation releases. Oakland Elementary School Arkestra – The Saga of Padani Let’s begin by acknowledging that this disc isn’t for all tastes. Imagine the Residents meeting Sun Ra,
08 Nov 2018
Notable Vinyl Releases, Part Three
These quick reviews cover an assorted lot: two compilations, a reissue and a 45rpm single all in needle-hits-groove physical format. Warren Zevon – My Ride’s Here If you only know a few things about Zevon, it’s that he did “Werewolves of London,” that he had a celebrated sardonic sense of humor (imagine a rock-oriented Randy
22 Sep 2018
Album Review: Patrick Grant – Fields Amaze and Other Strange Music
Anything that crosses my desk and making mention of Philip Glass warrants a closer link. But the placid soundscapes of Glass’ work aren’t at all what you’ll find within Fields Amaze. This is a remixed, remastered, re-whatever of Patrick Grant’s 1998 work. Created for percussion and tuned instruments, it’s a varied collection of instrumentals that