{"id":25195,"date":"2023-05-08T05:30:34","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T09:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25195"},"modified":"2023-05-15T08:52:28","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T12:52:28","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-may-2023-vinyl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/08\/hundred-word-reviews-may-2023-vinyl\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred Word Reviews, May 2023: Vinyl!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Me, I dig vinyl. I\u2019m happy to sidestep arguments concerning sound quality versus their digital counterparts; while CDs and even streaming have their place, I prefer the tactile, participatory experience of listening to records. And I like it when people send me records; I like it a lot<\/i> (subtle hint right there).<\/p>\n

Some did, and recently. Quite an assortment, too: jazz, punk, country(ish), electrofunk and Here\u2019s what I think of each of \u2018em, distilled down to 100 words.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bill Evans \u2013 Treasures<\/i><\/b>
\nHonestly, this one deserves deeper coverage than I\u2019m able to give it in this particular space, so I\u2019ll start out breaking my own rule and go way past 100 words. From Elemental Music (one of several Zev Feldman-curated imprints) comes this 3LP(!) set from the jazz master. The first disc is drawn from two concerts in Denmark, both 1965; here Evans is accompanied by trios. The second record features a Danish radio broadcast of solo Evans from \u201865 and a 1969 concert with full orchestra (and includes two readings of \u201cWaltz for Debby\u201d). The third LP serves up two more Denmark radio broadcasts from \u201866 and \u201869; Eddie Gomez is on hand for both, and drummer Marty Morrell drums on the later recording. Sound quality is first-rate, of course. Impeccably packaged, the only thing this collection lacks to earn a 5+ star rating (but hey, I don\u2019t even do<\/i> ratings) is liner notes*. It\u2019s annotated clearly enough, but a lavish booklet and those deeply researched expert essays I\u2019ve come to expect from Zev and his esteemed associates are lacking here. As a result, in a world in which I did<\/i> give stats, this would rate a mere 5 out of 5. In other words, it\u2019s essential, but if you\u2019ve read this far, you knew that once you saw the names Evans, Gomez, Feldman etc.<\/p>\n

* UPDATE\/CORRECTION:<\/strong> The album does in fact include liner notes<\/strong>; a packaging error resulted in them not being included in my copy. You can be sure they’re excellent.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tyler Keith & the Apostles \u2013 Hell to Pay<\/i><\/b>
\nThat this LP was cut in a mere two days is key to its immediacy. Imagine Iggy\u2019s Stooges hanging out with Alex Chilton and his pals during the sessions that yielded Bach\u2019s Bottom<\/i>; that gives you a hint as to the character of this raw, rough and ready slab of rock. Unvarnished and possessing all of the spirit that makes rock \u2018n\u2019 roll the vital art form that it (at its best) can be, this rocks, and hard. From the initial sonic blast of \u201cCast Away,\u201d the record grabs metaphorical hold of the listener, and it never once lets go.<\/p>\n

\"\"Vic Ruggiero \u2013 Stuff in My Pockets<\/i><\/b>
\nIf you\u2019re one of those people who loved that first Modern Lover record but heard, well, most everything else Jonathan Richman did only to wonder, \u201cWTF?\u201d then you\u2019ll want to hear Stuff in My Po<\/i>c<\/i>kets<\/i>. It\u2019s cut from similar, quality cloth, albeit with the influence of classic country folded into the mix. Ruggiero knows his way around a memorable tune, and the up-close-and-personal production fits these songs like a glove. The thrilling \u201cEveryday Things\u201d will take you back to My Aim is True,<\/i> and \u201cJust Like You\u201d will leave you exhausted in its (heh) Aftermath. It\u2019s a wonderful musical travelogue.<\/p>\n

\"\"David LaMotte \u2013 Still<\/i><\/b>
\nWhen he\u2019s not on the road or engaged in some or other worthy endeavor, this singer-songwriting treasure calls Western North Carolina his home. I\u2019ve had the pleasure of interviewing him on multiple occasions. He\u2019s always thoughtful and engaging, and those qualities are reflected in his original music. This album \u2013 his umpteenth, if I\u2019m counting right \u2013 finds LaMotte joined by a veritable Who\u2019s Who of our regional music scene (oh, and Leland Sklar!). But their presence is almost certainly down to two things: what they add to his musical vision, and their simpatico to what he\u2019s about musically. A complete delight.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tomek \u2013 Fairlight and Funk<\/i><\/b>
\nMusic fiends who paid attention to the technological advances of the \u201880s will have heard of the Fairlight CMI; it was (is) a synthesizer of sorts capable of reproducing most any sound. Yeah, you\u2019ve heard that before, right? Well, it worked: Frank Zappa realized entire albums using the thing. Does it sound a bit wonky and sterile to 2023 ears? Yes, but it has its charms. An artist called Tomek thought so, too; he recorded a bunch of no-wave\/funk with it in 1983. Imagine My Life in the Bush of Ghosts<\/i>, but created with (almost) only a Fairlight. Weird? Yes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Me, I dig vinyl. I\u2019m happy to sidestep arguments concerning sound quality versus their digital counterparts; while CDs and even streaming have their place, I prefer the tactile, participatory experience […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,31,38,42,49,62,64,65,73],"tags":[3101,2849,5124,4296,5125,3183],"class_list":["post-25195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electronica","category-funk","category-incredibly-strange","category-jazz","category-new-release","category-rawk","category-reissue","category-review","category-vinyl","tag-bil-levans","tag-david-lamotte","tag-tomek","tag-tyler-keith","tag-vic-ruggiero","tag-zev-feldman","cat-26-id","cat-31-id","cat-38-id","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","cat-73-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25195"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25268,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25195\/revisions\/25268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}