What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

Somewhere Else Before CD

E.S.T.

2000 Columbia > Superstudio Gul Records

Jazz - the Next Generation, October 27, 2004
By Michael Morrison (FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Somewhere Else Before (Audio CD)

E.S.T. coolly combines jazz virtuosity with rock and techno elements to make music that both immediately rewards (the catchy, propulsive "Dodge the Dodo" and the pensively melodic "From Gagarin's Point of View") and fosters repeat listening (hypnotic "The Wraith"). Piano man Esbjorn Svensson pours melodies from his fingers without being overbearing. Bassist Dan Berglund is not content to simply hold down the bottom; he uses the bow and electronic devices to bring his instrument to the forefront. Drummer Magnus Ostrom ties it all together with his battery of percussion. I've read some reviews that deride E.S.T. for their melodic and rhythmic accessibility. What rubbish! Jazz is more than Ornette Coleman. E.S.T.'s killer tunes and obvious musicianship mean more to me than all the 45-minute sax solos in the world. If that's what you like, don't pick up this album. But if you enjoy strong melody, rhythm and musicianship, buy this album (or indeed any of E.S.T.'s albums).

Track listing

1. Somewhere Else Before
2. Dodge the Dodo
3. From Gagarin's Point of View
4. Return of Mohammed, The
5. Face of Love, The
6. Pavanne (Thoughts of a Septuagenarian)
7. Wraith, The
8. Chapel, The
9. In the Face of Day
10. Spam-Boo-Limbo
11. Dark Water - (hidden track) <-----HIDDEN TRACK ALERT

 

[Dennie]

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band -- Remastered CD

Beatles

1967/2009 Capitol/EMI Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Before Sgt. Pepper, no one seriously thought of rock music as actual art. That all changed in 1967, though, when John, Paul, George and Ringo (with "A Little Help" from their friend, producer George Martin) created an undeniable work of art which remains, after 30-plus years, one of the most influential albums of all time. From Lennon's evocative word/sound pictures (the trippy "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," the carnival-like "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite") and McCartney's music hall-styled "When I'm 64," to Harrison's Eastern-leaning "Within You Without You," and the avant-garde mini-suite, "A Day in the Life," Sgt. Pepper was a milestone for both '60s music and popular culture. --Billy Altman


1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With A Little Help From My Friends
3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing A Hole
6. She's Leaving Home
7. Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite
8. Within You Without You
9. When I'm Sixty Four
10. Lovely Rita
11. Good Morning Good Morning
12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13. A Day In The Life
14. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Documentary

Bonus Picture from inside CD Booklet:

 

[Dennie]

My last one for the evening....

Come On Home -- CD

Boz Scaggs

1997 Virgin U.S. Records

Bobby Bland, Jimmy Reed, T-Bone Walker . . . Boz Scaggs!, November 4, 2001
By stranger2himself (Down Here) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Come on Home (Audio CD)

I grew up on Ray Charles, James Brown, soul, blues, country & gospel. I've been listening to and collecting music for 40 years, and have approx. 3,000 recordings. Simply put, this is one of the best, most soulful, powerful, bodaciously BAD records I've ever heard! There is not a weak cut here. Boz sounds like he's been holding this in for 30 years! The production & playing are flawless, but not too slick. The "live-in-the-studio" sound is preserved. There are no "highlights", every cut is astounding. With that in mind, "Love Letters" brings tears to my eyes, and, like the previous reviewer, I fall to my knees when Boz testifies "I've Got Your Love". His vocal chords should be enshrined; his heart and soul could provide electrical power to most of North America. If you like ANY kind of blues or R&B, you will surely dig this!

"It All Went Down the Drain"
"Ask Me 'Bout Nothin' (But the Blues)"
"Don't Cry No More"
"Found Love"
"Come On Home"
"Picture of a Broken Heart"
"Love Letters"
"I've Got Your Love"
"Early in the Morning"
"Your Good Thing (Is About to End)"
"T-Bone Shuffle"
"Sick and Tired"
"After Hours"
"Goodnight Louise"

 

[No-L]

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music.....

French Kiss -- CD

Bob Welch

1977/1992 Capitol Records

French Kiss is the solo debut by former Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist Bob Welch. The songs, with the exception of "Sentimental Lady", were intended for a projected third album by Welch's previous band, Paris. However, the group fell apart in 1977 before recording could begin. So instead, Welch used these songs for his debut solo album.

For the most part, French Kiss presents a mix of hard rock guitar, disco-ish rhythms and sweeping strings. The big hits were "Ebony Eyes", which peaked at #14 in the US, and a revised version of "Sentimental Lady", which peaked at #8, a song that Welch had originally recorded with Fleetwood Mac in 1972, for the album Bare Trees.

"Sentimental Lady" - 2:52
"Easy to Fall" - 3:31
"Hot Love, Cold World" - 3:39
"Mystery Train" - 3:07
"Lose My Heart" - 1:55
"Outskirts" - 3:19
"Ebony Eyes" - 3:33
"Lose Your..." - 0:45
"Carolene" - 3:13
"Dancin' Eyes" - 3:20
"Danchiva" - 3:15
"Lose Your Heart" - 3:16

 

[No-L]

 

[No-L]

 

[mazersteven]

Neil Diamond :handgestures-thumbup:

 

[No-L]

I've seen him in concert several times. AWESOME!!!

 

[No-L]

LOL. Couldn't help myself!!!

 

[Dennie]

Dreaming of You -- CD

Selena

1995 EMI Latin Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Released three months after her murder in 1995, Dreaming of You introduced the Tejano queen to the mainstream pop audience. Four new tunes recorded with producers Keith Thomas and Guy Roche envisioned Selena as a dance-pop diva similar to Janet Jackson or Mariah Carey, but with a Latin twist. Far more arresting are the two classic mariachi numbers and a bilingual duet with David Byrne recorded for the movie Don Juan DeMarco, in which Selena had a bit part. The contrast between her passionate invitation to "come dance with me" and Byrne's nerdy white-guy delivery indicated her wide-open creative potential. The rest of the album consists of remixes of Selena's Latin-pop hits, including a masterful version of "Techno Cumbia" that bring out the hip-hop and reggae flavors in the groove. The tragedy was that such a promising introduction also served as a sad farewell. --Rick Mitchell

1. "I Could Fall in Love" Keith Thomas 4:41
2. "Captive Heart" Mark Goldenberg, Kit Hain 4:23
3. "I'm Getting Used to You" Diane Warren 4:03
4. "God's Child (Baila Conmigo)" (featuring David Byrne) Selena Quintanilla, David Byrne 4:15
5. "Dreaming of You" Franne Golde, Tom Snow 5:14
6. "Missing My Baby" A.B. Quintanilla III 4:13
7. "Amor prohibido" A.B. Quintanilla III, Pete Astudillo 2:55
8. "Wherever You Are (Donde quiera que estés)" (featuring Barrio Boyzz) K. C. Porter, Miguel Flores, Desmond Child 4:29
9. "Techno Cumbia" A.B. Quintanilla III, Pete Astudillo 4:44
10. "El toro relajo" Felipe Bermejo 2:20
11. "Como la flor" A.B. Quintanilla III, Pete Astudillo 3:04
12. "Tú sólo tú" Felipe Valdés Leal 3:12
13. "Bidi bidi bom bom" Selena Quintanilla, Pete Astudillo 3:41

 

[Dennie]

Fleetwood Mac -- CD

Fleetwood Mac

1975/1990 Reprise Records

Amazon.com

Given their monumental legacy, it's hard to imagine that the so-called "classic edition" of Fleetwood Mac essentially came together casually over chips and margaritas at an L.A. eatery; the then-obscure duo of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks (whose own mid-'70s debut album had initially gone almost straight to the cut-out bins) became the crucial axis of the legendary band without so much as a formal audition. As the eponymous title suggests, the 1975 Mac realignment seems like a fresh start, though tracks like Christine McVie's smooth-jazz inflected "Warm Ways" hearken back to the Bob Welch/Bare Trees/Heroes Are Hard to Find era. But it's Buckingham's compelling, updated take on '60s California folk-pop, informed by the mystique of Nicks's proto-New Age song-sorceress presumptions, that breathed new life into the veteran, chameleonic band on now-familiar songs like "Monday Morning" and "Rhiannon." His chemistry with McVie is no less powerful, yielding such Mac staples as their collaboration "World Turning" and suffusing her "Over My Head" with nervous, insistent guitar rhythms.

"Monday Morning" (Lindsey Buckingham) – 2:48
"Warm Ways" (Christine McVie) – 3:54
"Blue Letter" (Rick Curtis, Mike Curtis) – 2:41
"Rhiannon" (Stevie Nicks) – 4:11
"Over My Head" (C. McVie) – 3:38
"Crystal" (Nicks) – 5:14
"Say You Love Me" (C. McVie) – 4:11
"Landslide" (Nicks) – 3:19
"World Turning" (Buckingham, C. McVie) – 4:25
"Sugar Daddy" (C. McVie) – 4:10
"I'm So Afraid" (Buckingham) – 4:22

 

[mazersteven]

Disc one

1. "Ceremony"
2. "Procession"
3. "Everything's Gone Green"
4. "Temptation"
5. "Blue Monday"
6. "Confusion"
7. "Thieves Like Us"
8. "The Perfect Kiss"
9. "Sub-culture"
10. "Shellshock"
11. "State of the Nation"
12. "Bizarre Love Triangle"
13. "True Faith"
14. "1963"
15. "Touched by the Hand of God"

Disc two

1. "Blue Monday 1988"
2. "Fine Time"
3. "Round & Round"
4. "Run"
5. "World in Motion"
6. "Regret"
7. "Ruined in a Day"
8. "World (The Price of Love)"
9. "Spooky"
10. "Crystal"
11. "60 Miles an Hour"
12. "Here to Stay"
13. "Krafty"
14. "Jetstream"
15. "Waiting for the Sirens' Call"
16. "Turn"
17. "Temptation"

Singles is a two CD compilation of New Order's singles from 1981–2005, released on October 3, 2005. Unlike the CD version of earlier singles compilation Substance, the B-sides are not included. While Substance aimed to showcase New Order's 12" singles, Singles instead features mostly 7" versions, some of these being quite rare as well as differing from album versions.

Rising from the ashes of the legendary British post-punk unit Joy Division, the enigmatic New Order triumphed over tragedy to emerge as one of the most influential and acclaimed bands of the 1980s; embracing the electronic textures and disco rhythms of the underground club culture many years in advance of its contemporaries, the group's pioneering fusion of new wave aesthetics and dance music successfully bridged the gap between the two worlds, creating a distinctively thoughtful and oblique brand of synth pop appealing equally to the mind, body, and soul. New Order's origins officially date back to mid-1976, when guitarist Bernard Sumner (formerly Albrecht) and bassist Peter Hook -- inspired by a recent Sex Pistols performance -- announced their intentions to form a band of their own. Recruiting singer Ian Curtis and drummer Stephen Morris, they eventually settled on the name Joy Division, and in 1979 issued their landmark debut LP, Unknown Pleasures.

 

[Dennie]

Damn! -- CD

Jimmy Smith

1995 Verve Records

"This cat is the eighth wonder of the world" Miles Davis, July 18, 2005
By Jazzcat "stef" (Genoa, Italy Italy) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
This review is from: *** (Audio CD)

Miles used to think this about Jimmy Smith, and he was right. Jimmy really was a marvel of the jazz world! He was an incredible bopper but he also invented the organ jazz thing. He has been incredibly influential. And rightly so because in a sense he invented a way of playing jazz, organ soul jazz. But this one is probably the best late album by Jimmy Smith (and it is straight ahead jazz, bebop I might say). He played exceptional music 'til his last days, nevertheless this album is one of the best of his late years (1995 .... you can buy Off the top too, the album he recorded with Benson, Turrentine, Carter, Tate in his late years, the eighties maybe, it's fabolous!!!!). He is accompanied here by a cast of great, really great "new" cats (Nicholas Payton, Roy Hardgrove, Mark Whitfield and more.. ) but don't forget, Jimmy is still the star. Even if it's not an historic recording from Smith (50's, 60's) it is of that quality. You can believe me. Jazz of the highest quality with an old LION still growling as he used to! It is an album of standards and Jazz originals. Among the best tune I point out the blues opener, "Papa's got a brand new bag" from James Brown songbook, played here as a thunderous Jazz anthem. I remember to have read that in the sixties when James Brown (which would like to play the organ and he played in a childish way in his concerts) heard Jimmy Smith playing, he literally shot his Hammond Organ!! I can't think what he could do if he had the opportunity to listen to this Smith's version of his "Bag"!!! Hi hi hi hi !!! =))))) Then I would say "Scrapple from the apple" a line from Charlie Parker's pen. Finally I would say that this album is very very well recorded, audiophile quality I'd say. My Avalon speakers really appreciate this one! BUY this one absolutly before it goes out of print. Believe me.

Track listing

1. Papa's Got a Brand New Bag
2. Sister Sadie
3. Woody 'N' You
4. One Before This, The
5. Watermelon Man
6. This Here
7. Scrapple From the Apple
8. Hi-Fly
9. la Mode, A

 

[Dennie]

Verve Jazz Masters 25 -- CD

Stan Getz & Dizzy Gillespie

1994 Verve Records

Recorded between 1953 and 1960. Includes liner notes by Michael Ullman.

Personnel: Stan Getz (tenor saxophone); Dizzie Gillespie (trumpet); Sonny Stitt (alto saxophone); Paul Gonsalves, Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone); J.J. Johnson (trombone); Oscar Peterson, John Lewis, Lalo Schifrin, Wynton Kelly (piano); Herb Ellis (guitar); Ray Brown, Art Davis, Wendell Marshall (bass); Max Roach, Stan Levey, Chuck Lampkin, J.C. Heard (drums); Candido Camero (tambourine).

Producer: Norman Granz.
01. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
02. Dark Eyes
03. Be-Bop
04. It's The Talk Of The Town
05. The Mooche
06. The Way You Look Tonight

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music.....

All Natural Ingredients --CD

Fattburger

1996 Shanachie Records

San Diego's Fattburger is one of smooth jazz's elder statesgroups, and could easily rest on their laid back laurels if they chose to. Instead, the powerful playing and eclectic tempos of All Natural Ingredients combine to create one of their most hard hitting works to date. A good deal of the new energy comes from snappy electric guitarist Evan Marks and Hollis Gentry, an original member who guests here with cranked up, jazzed out solos on flute and sax. While laid back softies like "Till Then" have the trademark feel, it's the firepower of hypnotic urban jams like "Coronado" and "100% Fatt" which kicks these ingredients into high gear. Tommy Aros gets zesty Latin percussion workouts on the feisty original "Do That Again," while Gentry and keyboardist Carl Evans (doing the blues) fuse to make their version of "Oye Como Va" one of the wildest in recent memory. Another well-read cover, the summery shuffle of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," rounds out what amounts to this band's revitalization as they enter their second decade in pop-jazz consciousness. ~ Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide

So Far So What
Everybody Wants To Rule The World
The Grip
Oye Como Va
100% Fatt
Do That Again
Lo-Cal Swing
Coronado
'Till Then
The Good Life

 

[Towen7]

I heard an interview with Norah on NPR this week so I picked this up yesterday. The jury is still out on how much I like it. It's essentially a break-up album. The composition and pace of the songs is not really what I expected from her but thats not surprising since it was produced by Danger Mouse.

 

[mazersteven]

1. Plainsong
2. Pictures Of You
3. Closedown
4. Love Song
5. Last Dance
6. Lullaby
7. Fascination Street
8. Prayers For Rain
9. The Same Deep Water As You
10. Disintegration
11. Homesick
12. Untitled

Disintegration is the eighth studio album by English alternative rock band The Cure, released on 1 May 1989 by Fiction Records. The record marks a return to the introspective and gloomy gothic rock style the band had established in the early 1980s. As he neared the age of thirty, vocalist and guitarist Robert Smith had felt an increased pressure to follow up on the group's pop successes with a more enduring work. This, coupled with a distaste for the group's new-found popularity, caused Smith to lapse back into the use of hallucinogenic drugs, the effects of which had a strong influence on the production of the album.

Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk rock in the late '70s, few were as enduring and popular as the Cure. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (born April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for its slow, gloomy dirges and Smith's ghoulish appearance, a public image that often hid the diversity of the Cure's music. At the outset, the Cure played jagged, edgy pop songs before slowly evolving into a more textured outfit. As one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the group created towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the time goth caught on in the mid-'80s, the Cure had moved away from the genre. By the end of the '80s, the band had crossed over into the mainstream not only in its native England, but also in the United States and in various parts of Europe. The Cure remained a popular concert draw and reliable record-seller rhroughout the '90s, and their influence could be heard clearly on scores of new bands during the new millenium, including many that had little to do with goth.

 

[Dennie]

History - America's Greatest Hits -- CD

America

1975/1990 Warner Bros. Records

Amazon.com

This is about as treacly as pop can get, yet something about it endears and endures. Forget the Neil Youngish banality of "Horse with No Name." The best America songs feature a delicate yet intricate interplay of acoustic guitars that creates a tableau for sweeter-than-sweet vocalese. Just try not to sing along to "Ventura Highway" or "Sister Golden Hair." Try not to be suckered into sentimental reminiscence when listening to "I Need You" or the superb "Daisy Jane." And if your heart hardens when listening to the low-key lope of the "Muskrat Love," you must be cold-blooded. --Tod Nelson

Side 1

"A Horse With No Name" (Dewey Bunnell)
"I Need You" (Gerry Beckley)
"Sandman" (Bunnell)
"Ventura Highway" (Bunnell)
"Don't Cross The River" (Dan Peek)
"Only in Your Heart" (Beckley)

Side 2

"Muskrat Love" (Willis Alan Ramsey)
"Tin Man" (Bunnell)
"Lonely People" (Catherine Peek, Dan Peek)
"Sister Golden Hair" (Beckley)
"Daisy Jane" (Beckley)
"Woman Tonight" (Peek)

 

[Dennie]

I heard an interview with Norah on NPR this week so I picked this up yesterday. The jury is still out on how much I like it. It's essentially a break-up album. The composition and pace of the songs is not really what I expected from her but thats not surprising since it was produced by Danger Mouse.

I hope she gets and keeps a.... Man, ahhh..... Woman..... errrr... Lover! "The Fall" was a "Break-up" album also. It's not a bad album, but a "break-up" album none the less! :handgestures-thumbdown:


Dennie ...... :angry-tappingfoot:

PS I may be available if she calls!!! :eusa-whistle: