now playing

just so you won't think that the james hinkle and johnny case discs are _all_ we've been listening to around la casa lately, here's what's on the top o' the cd stack:

charles mingus -- the great concert of charles mingus: the 1964 european touring band w/eric dolphy. i usedta buy anything i could find by this lineup. this is one of the best.

glass insects -- cool and unusual punishment: thirty-five minutes of deniz tek from radio birdman doing interesting things with gtr feedback in a montana studio a few yrs back.

iggy and the stooges -- year of the iguana: while i will prolly go to my grave thinking funhouse is the greatest rawk rekkid of all time, the james williamson / "iggy and the..." incarnation was arguably a step forward in terms of music as well as violently self-destructive substance abuse patterns. over the yrs, the oeuvre has been repackaged unto death (including a recent 6-cd brit release that i'm deliberately avoiding); this concise sampler is one of the better ones (altho it lacks "search and destroy" and "gimme danger"; nobody's perfect). listen to "i got a right" and "gimme some skin." marvel at the fact they were recorded in 1972. anyone who thinks punk started in england (or new york) is underinformed.

gang of four -- entertainment!: artschool brits discover politics, beefheart, and the ghost of jimi hendrix. a sound like splintered shards of glass. later they went disco. now they've come back to cash in. this was their finest hour.

skip james -- she lyin': the most delicate-sounding of delta bluesmen, and the most bloody-minded.

son house -- the original delta blues: both robert johnson and muddy waters learned from him. i don't even care that alan wilson had to re-teach him his own songs when he was rediscovered in rochester, ny, ca. '64. as rory gallagher said, "an ace album."

elvis costello and burt bacharach -- painted from memory: such gorgeous melodies. such great singing. there are lines in this as good as anything in, say, fitzgerald. pick hit: "this house is empty now."

harry partch: the harry partch collection, volume 2: when i was a kid, i spent a yr in champaign-urbana, illinois, where (i later learned) harry partch's disciple danlee mitchell was an artist in residence. in college, we used to go the the library to listen to partch's "u.s. highball" to the amazement of our peers, who'd ask incredulously, "you listen to this for yr own pleasure?" i still think of the out-of-print columbia recording of "barstow" like a great hit single. i used to own his book genesis of a music before i had it swiped by a guy who paid $35 to have his name changed from "flynn" to "o'flynn." an outsider artist, a grand visionary, a crazy old hobo, take yr pick.

dave and daver -- jazz lines: a great homegrown jazz rec, who'd a thunk it, in the grand style of '60s blue notes by miles alumni. dave williams' toons stick in yr head like hancock and shorter's did, and the band (karnes, williams, jonathan fisher, sam walker) puts 'em across with the same combination of musical muscle and finesse. a year ago, dave karnes promised a sophomore outing with the crazy forward motion of a club set, with lotsa noisy drum solos (in the manner of joe henderson's four). bring it on.

sinead o'connor -- throw down your arms: the eccentric irish chanteuse sings classic roots reggae (peter tosh, bunny wailer, burning spear) from the old days, accompanied by sly and robbie, and doesn't disgrace herself. she seems to be singing from the middle of her range more these days, and thankfully, she hasn't grown dreads. (thanks to caroline collier for the turn-on.)