July's Most Listened To & Must Buys?

OK, July's only a couple of days old, but the most listened to thread from Groovehandle is way back in the past now, so what've you all been listening to? Also, what are you planning on buying this month?

Obviously, Glastonbury took up a lot of listening time but have found time to play a few albums:

Los Lobos - How Will The Wolf Survive?
Los Lobos - And A Time To Dance
Richard Thompson - You Me Us
The Music - The Music
BB King - Blues On The Bayou
Eugene 'Hideaway' Bridges - Born To Be Blue
Waterboys - Fishermans Blues / Dream Harder
Sharon Shannon & Friends - The Diamond Mountain Sessions
Eels - Beautiful Freak (can't stop playing this one, cheers for the CDR Dom!)

There's quite a few things I need to check out, either courtesy of the library or when I get some spare £ this month:

Slovo - anything I can find by these, saw 'em at Glasto
Dropkick Murphys - Blackout
Love - Forever Changes Live (unless they delay it again, I was there and it'll be nice to hear it in high quality - although the bootleg I have is OK).
Afro Celts (Sound System) - Anything by these, they were great too!
Goldfrapp's latest - heard this one at Doms prior to Glasto and very impressed.

New (debut?) albums by all of the following:
The Electric Six
The Thrills
The Darkness

Lots of bands with The in the title but all have been hyped quite a lot so interested to hear what the fuss is all about.

 

i'll second electric six - had it cranked round to 3 o'clock on danger - high voltage on wednesday and the house was rocking - litereally, the little thai pots i have on my windowsill were moving!
also future shocks - phantom theory, very good dance / techno, slightly poppy and very enjoyable.
gomez's bring it on and liquid skin double set also hit the floor this month and look to be enjoyable but i need to listen more...

just spotted the goldfrapp too... i'll second that as a top piece of electronica too.

cheers


julian

 

Aim - Cold Water Music

Aim - Hinterland

Aim - Means Of Production (The Singles 1995 - 1998)

John Coltrane - The Olatunji Concert

John Coltrane - Giant Steps

OMG what a mix Jazz & Trip-Hop :techno:

 

Rocking good choices Sgt.

A ludicrous amount of stuff bought this month. A few of them:

- Essential Logic, "Fanfare in the Garden", ace compilation (well, CD 1 at least) of fab post punk funky punkery.

- Steve Lacy/Mal Waldron, "Live at Dreher Paris 1981", stunning soprano sax & piano duo album on 4 CDs. Some wonderful Monk tunes, and originals. One of Lacy's best albums.

- Coltrane, "Live Trane: Underground", 12 CDs of unreleased live Trane from 1961-1963, from a CD-R tree. Nuff said. Doesn't get much better than this.

- Farida, "Mawal & Maqamat", Iraqi maqam singer, brilliant band.

- Ornette Coleman, "Crisis", had this on CD-R for a while, finally managed to get hold of the original Impulse vinyl release (it's never been reissued, Ornette owns the rights and seems to have no desire to make it available, for some reason). 1969 NY live performance, with Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Denardo Coleman. Really fierce and focused, catches a stellar group at their peak.

-- Ian

 

heck Ian July is only 4 days old, how did you get that much music in! hehe

Afro Celts, ya very good, and you know where I heard them first was as my mother-in-laws, I didn't she had taste in music, I had to revise my that!

What's of the system at the moment is the Ministory of Sounds Chillout Session, its great to work to.

Also Progressive Euphoria, I like compliations, hearing the same artist for 70 mins can sometimes get really boring, no matter how good they are.

I would like to hear however:
The Electric Six
The Thrills
The Darkness
As from the stuff I saw on the telly they were really good. I would also like to here more:
Polyphonic Spree as I enjoyed seeing there set too, one of the few bands that are less "commerical".

 

I like the sound of that.

Anyway, one or two from the current crop of July listenings...
Art Ensemble of Chicago - Ancient to the Future
Capella De Ministrers - Trobadors - great compi of top 10 hits from 11th century Spain.
La Luna de Tomasa - La Macanita Phospherous cante hecho en Sevilla. The real thing.
La Tarentella - L'Arpeggiata - erm prog Tarentella on baroque instruments this one has to be listened to to be understood (it's on the gloriously wacky French "Alpha" label)
Hermeto Pascoal - Eu e Elas for my monthly fix of the bearded albino one's genius
Long John Oliva's ac Jazz Project features Omar Sosa - NOT acid Jazz, but Yoruba inspired son Cubano.
Wagogo tribespeople - Masumbi - Wagogo Entertainment music on Ocora - great dance music from Tanzania
4degrees com Passo - Samba & Choro compi of recent choro music
Sayyed al-Dowwi - The hilali Epic - Incredible musci on this cut-down 2-hour excerpt from the great tale of the Hilali peoples' flight into exile in the 11th century (what is it about the 11th century this month). Two rababa (violas) and some Nilotic percussion work form a beautifully stark desert-like backdrop Sheikh Sayyed al-Dowwi's surprisingly sonorous chanting/singing. This is on the Institute du Monde Arabe's own label.
Last Poets - Best of Nuff said.
Sufi Music from Turkey - on the very dodgy "Arc" label from the UK - this is billed as "relaxing" sufi music - yeuuch. in fact it's a solid set essentialy by members of the Turkish Music Ensemble of the State Conservatory. It's just the packaging that's iffy. Maybe a lirttle weak on the percussive side.
Zara - Zara Big voiced Istanbul Diva. Good stuff on two CDs.

 

Mmm - had that in the discman this morning - well nice and for £7 a no brainer - good old FOPP!

Other stuff I've been spinning:
Fire - Electric Six
Hallucinogen in dub
Sun spot - Dark Soho (yaaaaaaaaaawn they all say!)
Hidden step - Ozric Tentacles
Slovo's album (can't remember what it's called and it's buried in my rucksack)
The Stone Roses - only took me 14 years to actually hear this album all the way through!

I picked up 33 LPs and 2 CDs for £53 from MVE this weekend (eek) - I spun a couple last night (uncleaned):
Remember you're a womble (he eh eh - yeah, for real - love the violins on that!)
Kev's back - return of the yobbo - Kevin Bloody Wilson (bit worn, but the cover looks great at LP size!)
Bat out of hell - Meatloaf - excellent but it gets stuck on "2 out of 3..." - probably dirt as the thing's not scratched
Shakespeare's sister (both of) - Hormonally yours is warped to hell

Tonight I intend to spin that copy of The Music that I paid a fiver for on double vinyl - not expecting miracles but you never know - musically I *know* theyr'e good though.

Ian - should have put Slovo on at Bren's
Leon - I'll bring Electric Six down next time I'm in Exeter (FE thingie)

 

Uh, meant to say what had people been listening to over the last month, but forgot to finish the sentence! What Afro Celts CDs have you got, not owning any I'm kinda looking for recommendations here!

Yes, you did do well at MVE, managed to get it all back to Exeter in one piece too? Good stuff, I was pleased to find I hadn't actually got Tapestry or Introducing The Hardline... on vinyl, was convinced I had when I bought them.

So, what do you make of the Roses album then? 14 years to get round to buying it... it'll probably take you that long to get round to hearing half of what you bought this weekend

Be sure to let us know what The Music sound like on vinyl - i.e. whether it's better than CD. Definitely should've put the Slovo album on at Bren's, I'm sure he'd have probably liked it and I want to hear it. Bring it down on the weekend of the FE thing.

I see there's a new Nitin Sawnhey album out on July 14.

 

Not been at home for last few days so not had chance to listen much this July (all 7 days of it).

Aquired quite a few so far though

Those that i've had a chance to listen to:

Kid Koala "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" One of Ninja Tunes many talented artists! Hip Hop of the Cut an paste Dj Shadow type. Only one spin so far (heard MOst of it previously) and I loves it!

David Holmes. "Come get it I got it", "Presents the free association", "Bow Down to the exit sign", and "This Films crap let's slash the seats"
Had Bow down... and come get it.... already but have just got thers too. Big fan of the two I already had and after one listen to The free association that's a top album too! Not had chance to play slash the seats yet though.

Roots "Phrenology" One listen to after hearing a fair bit on MP3. Good proper hip hop

Also got Pink Floys DSOTM 30th anniversery edition. Always relied on nicking my dads copy of this in the past.

Got CPT Beefhearts "trout mask replica" a few days back but haven't had a chance to listen to it since my previous thoughts were expressed on the thread. Nice and strange! Me thinks me gonna like it! Also got my hands on a 1965-80 album too, but not had chance to play it.

Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention Cruising with Ruben & The Jets. Picked it up for few quid in the HMV sale. Not impressed at all! Not the sort of zappa I've previously heard and enjoyed!

I got my hands on a few jazz cds as well. Given the Miles Davis ones a spin and the Martin Taylor "Solo" album too. (thoughts on the "nice" thread)
There's also a few others I've not had a chance to play:
Cecil Taylor, Mingus, Coltrane, David S.Ware, Albert Ayler, AMM, and Brubeck that I've not had a chance to listen to yet.

Will be back at my own pad on tuesday so have alot to listen to

MOre to follow............

Oh, and had a Barry White compilation on the go quite a bit too! RIP big man!

 

And you should now be listening to it every day right the way through for the next 14 years! Classic!

 

Uh oh - if that's the one I heard round at a mate's party this weekend (Ian - help us out here!) I'd have to agree with my mate Loveday's sentiments on it - sounded like a cat being whipped against a drawing pin wall while a dog was boiled alive in a cooking pot - with someone having an epileptic fit with a drum stick...

Each to their own of course

And yeah - WHY did I wait so long - the Stone Roses album rocks! I'll give 2nd coming (£3 on CD from MVE!) a spin later to complete the package I reckon.

Ian - will try to spin The Music tonight - but bear in mind it's on the Reading system so won't be as good (the source isn't as good anyway).

 

A fair discription I guess! Still, it does sound good though

Not a big fan of "The Music". Quite dissapointed with the album and found it very average.

The second coming got loads of mixed press at the time of release. I guess it was inevitable it'd get a bit of "not as good as the previous ones", but IMO it's still a quality album! Not got the same casual (baggy?) swagger to to it of the previous works but still a good listen! John Squires guitar work on some of the tunes is top draw! Be prepared for a long intro, and an even longer outro! I think it's track 99? that's the "hidden" one. Not the usual 10 mins or so of silence, just loads of short tracks of silence. So just skip to the 90s once it's finished. Sounds like theyre having a bit too much fun for a band close to splitting up and apparently feuding!

 

Yes, it was Trout Mask Replica that was played at Bren's place on Saturday night, although you did actually (at the time) say you quite liked a couple of the tracks. I'd give it a chance again when not under the influence and wanting to hear something totally different and see what you think.

Track 90 on Second Coming is the bonus one. Certainly agree that it is a great album, although not quite as good as their first. You can certainly tell that John Squire dictated the sound of the record, it was his self-indulgence which supposedly fuelled many of the problems, the rest of the band having to wait around in the studio "while John sat in his bedroom perfecting every single note and chasing lines" according to Mani (the bass player).

 

Amazing how a man so obviously talanted, and said to be the driving/creative force behind the roses ended up making such shite after their split! And yet Ian Brown who was slated towards the end (can't sing for s@#t etc.....) went on (IMO) to make some really good tunes!

I was a bit young to really be into them during the first albums, but did used to nick them off my older brother and grew to be a fan during the "5year gap". I remember the first time Love Spreads was played on radio. Was a massive build up and Though it was obviously different it wasn't bad At the time the music press were full of "MOve over, the kings are back etc....." But they were only too happy to dismiss the Second Coming. Yes it's not as good, but take it on it's own merits and it's still a quality album!

 

Yeah, and the comparative lengths of time to get material out. Squire seems to be dragging his heels and producing 2 crap albums in 9 years whereas at least Browny's getting on with it, 3 decent albums (plus a remixes disc) and a fair few tours. I saw The Seahorses on their tour and was very disappointed, while the album was dull I thought Squire might at least put on a good live show... wrong, he didn't even seem to know where he was and was only really up for the between song breaks where he could disappear behind the speaker stacks for "refreshments"! They were limp and pathetic, Third Eye Blind supporting blew them off the stage.

 

Ill second that

Also got back into the Propeller heads - Decksanddrumsandrockandroll

And some nostalgia with led zep, floyd, rush and even michelle shocked

 

July's only listened to !

Finally - on 5th day of the month - managed to find the time and then only just ! to turn the hi-hi on.

Soul II Soul -Club Classics Vol whatever. Great to hear this again after all those years, but why the acapella version of Back to Life ???. The full "orchestrated" version was one of the real high spots of the album on vinyl.

The Best of Brian Ferry + Roxy Music

Berlioz - L'Arlesienne Suites 1 and 2 and Symphony in C

Frank Zappa - You are What You Is

Macy Gray (first album - forgot the title)

Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun

 

TO be fair - yeah, it wasn't ALL bad - like that Zappa one I borrowed (Weasels ripped my flesh) there's some moments of genius buried there, but on the whole the Beefheart isn't an album I would come to very often when having a listening sesh I don't think...

MO - I played "The music" last night and quite like it - but the vocals are really quite annoying - bit thin and whiney a'la Bret Anderson, but the guitar work I really liked. A fiver for two slabs of fairly heavy vinyl was a no brainer either way - could sell it for more on £-pay

 

Ive just bought 'The Music' on double vinyl second hand aswell.

Music x-change in Notting Hill Gate London had a few in, think I paid £6 for mine.

I like the general sound and playing, but theres just no songs on it.... like 60 minutes of jamming....?!?! not massively keen after 2 plays of it.

I bought John Lee Hookers 'Mr Lucky' on vinyl too. Now THAT was a cracker. guest players include Ry Coder, Van Morrison and others.

Also Tom Pettys 'Full Moon Fever' for just £4. Some absolute belting songs on this golden oldie - 'free falling' is my favorite.

I love second hand vinyl!

 

Yep - there were about 8 copies on Saturday - I got the cheapest one 'cos I had about 32 other LPs, 1 laserdisc and 2 CDs so didn't want to break the bank. As it happened The Music was the most expensive single item I got. I know what you mean about the jamming thing but I quite liked that The vinyl is well heavy isn't it?

COOL! I've never heard the album all the way through, but what I've heard was blinding - really should get round to buying it.

So do I. As Lou Reed said, it's my wife and my life! (Well, up to a point anyway)