Now PLAYING on my Turntable

Hawkwind - "Doremi Fasol Latido"

Great record, great sound. I have the 1972 German pressing, and it is so much more enjoyable on vinyl than the later CD re-issues, trust me.

The liner notes are hilarious, all spacey-galactic bullshit written by someone who may have smoked too many bongs on a cold Monday night or something. We are reminded that "Lemmy the Lurch" (of later Motörhead fame) played bass and 6-string guitar on this space rock masterpiece, and may have contributed the odd vocal here and there.

Both sides start off really strong ("Brainstorm" on Side 1 and "Lord of Light" on Side 2) and the onslaught goes on from there until the needle hits the end of the record.

A wonderful piece of wax.

Long live vinyl.
:)

Now PLAYING on my Turntable

Holger Czukay - On the Way to the Peak of Normal

This may not be my favorite Holger Czukay album (that would be "Der Osten ist rot"), but it's still a solid effort, and it keeps on getting better every time I listen to it. I have the Japanese pressing, so that definitely helps. Awesome sound.

As always, this Czukay effort - which came out in 1981 - is light years ahead of its time and still sounds fresh and innovative in 2011. Not surprising as he was the bassist for Can, the great and influential krautrock band.

Oh! and by the way, it's next to impossible to find on vinyl anymore. I'm holding on to my copy, for sure!

More on Holger Czukay.

Here's an excerpt of "Ode to Perfume", which is featured on from this album (takes up the entire Side 1):

Long live vinyl.

:)

Now PLAYING on my Turntable

Tony Scott, Shinichi Yuize, Hozan Yamamoto -- "Music for Zen Meditation and other joys"

Quite possibly the greatest album of musical improvisation ever recorded. Perfection. Every note in its rightful place.

Long live vinyl.

:)

You probably won't be able to find it on vinyl, so you'll have to settle for the CD re-issue:

Écoute actuellement sur vinyle // Current vinyl listening pleasure

Actuellement sur la platine.../Currently on the turntable...

Ruth Laredo, piano - 24 Preludes, Op. 11, 5 Preludes, Op. 74 & Poem, Op. 32, No. 1

Desto Records DC 7145 (Release date unknown)

"America's First Lady of the Piano."

Very nice album. Her playing is wonderful, and the recording is crisp and clear.

The LP has been long out of print, but appears to have been re-issued on CD:

Écoute actuellement sur vinyle // Current vinyl listening pleasure

Actuellement sur la platine.../Currently on the turntable...

Steve Kuhn and Ecstasy - Motility
ECM Records, 1977 (ECM 1094)

Steve Kuhn, piano
Steve Slagle, soprano and alto sax, flute /// saxos sopranos et alto, flûte
Harvie Swartz, bass /// basse
Michael Smith, drums /// batterie

A superb album on ECM Records (1977) where Kuhn's many talents are in show. One highlight is Swartz's amazing bass solo on Deep Tango. /// Superbe album d'ECM datant de 1977 qui illustre la fluidité, le lyrisme et la créativité de Kuhn. Performance à souligner : le solo de basse de Swartz sur la pièce Deep Tango est une pure merveille.

*****

Strongly recommended. /// À conseiller fortement.

*****

This out-of-print LP is currently available as part of a 3-CD set from ECM: /// Épuisé depuis longtemps, ce disque est maintenant compris dans un ensemble de 3 CD contenant trois des premières oeuvres de Kuhn sur ECM :

You may also be interested by this one (on CD): /// L'album suivant est également fort intéressant :

Écoute actuellement sur vinyle // Current vinyl listening pleasure

Actuellement sur la platine.../Currently on the turntable...

Juliette Gréco, "Juliette Gréco"

Columbia FS 528
Avec André Popp et son orchestre

Face 1

1. On n'oublie rien
2. La cuisine
3. Il n'y a plus d'après
4. C'était bien
5. Jolie môme
6. Nos chères maisons

Face 2

1. Le temps passé
2. Les pas réunis
3. Paname
4. Les imbéciles
5. La famille Dupanard
6. Le gros Lulu

Quel superbe disque! Gréco, à mon avis, est la plus sensuelle de toutes les chanteuses de langue française. Mais il s'agit d'une sensualité toute sereine, qui prend son temps. Il n'y a plus d'après et Les pas réunis, toutes deux écrites par Guy Béart, sont particulièrement réussies.

Pour plus d'information, consulter l'article de Wikipédia sur Juliette Gréco.

Écoute.../Listening to...

Actuellement sur la platine.../Currently on the turntable...

Comrades "a popular history of signs"

Great, yet overlooked 80s synthwave band.

You'll find a great blog entry about this LP on the Fantod Under Glass blog.

Great stuff!!

Écoute.../Listening to... Golden Era of Dixieland Jazz

Sur la platine /// On the turntable:

The Golden Era of Dixieland Jazz, 1887-1837, with "Pee Wee" Erwin on Trumpet, Buster Bailey on clarinet, Vic Dickenson on Trombone, Claude Hopkins on Piano, George Wettling on Drums, and Milt Hinton on Bass.

On Design Records (DLP 38).

Great version of "When the Saints Go Marching In".