Non-Classical Music Listening Thread!

[SimonNZ]

"Crooner: The CBS Years 1928-1934"

I'd been wanting a good set of early Bing, not some budget label knockoff with no notes, and this 3cd Columbia set ticks all boxes. What I hadn't expected (though should have) was just how saccharine and lackluster the material he was given at this time was.

[AnotherSpin]

I gave a listen to Cheaper Than Cheep, a live album from Frank Zappa's peak period. Good reminder of why he was once worth admiring — and why, at times, it's hard to sit through even thirty minutes of his music.

On the one hand, this is vintage Zappa: a flawless band, razor-sharp precision, lightning-fast shifts from jazz-rock to burlesque and back again — and, of course, the trademark humor that originally set him apart from both musical and social conventions.

But on the other hand, Cheaper Than Cheep lays bare the tiring underside of his act: the same old gags, the endless flirting with crudeness, the constant winking as if to say, "See how clever and funny I am?" There are no surprises. The endless excess, the relentless stream of "in-jokes," and the exhausting show of "I can do anything" end up sounding like a kind of nagging monologue. Theatricality tips into caricature. Zappa playing a parody of Zappa.

Cheaper Than Cheep is a document of an era when Zappa was still in full command of his abilities, but already stewing in his own formula. It's still worth hearing — but more as a historical artifact than as living music that can surprise or inspire.

[SimonNZ]

An album I'd owned in my late teens or early twenties, but dismissed. Reacquiring it now I find my palette much more appreciative.

[SimonNZ]

On the one hand its an album I hardly ever feel like playing. On the other hand I know that whenever I do I always find something more and something new to admire.

[Karl Henning]

Vol. 2: The Helsinki Concert

[SimonNZ]

"Texas Guitar Killers"

[Karl Henning]

"That ain't the way to have fun, son!"

[71 dB]

The most recent music purchase that has arrived:

Tangerine Dream - Coventry Cathedral 22 (CD1)

[steve ridgway]

The most recent music purchase that has arrived:

Tangerine Dream - Coventry Cathedral 22 (CD1)

Oh, did they play there again?

[71 dB]

Tangerine Dream - Coventry Cathedral 22 (CD2)

Oh, did they play there again?

Yes. Sunday March 20, 2022. I guess they released the concert only now because it's the 50th anniversary year.

[71 dB]

These two CDs arrived last night and I have listened them. They are CDs (culled?) from Swedish radio music archive (Grammofonarkivet). The benefit of these music archive CDs is that they have been kept well by people who know how to handle physical music formats.

Jane Wiedlin - Tangled
Coldcut - Some Like It Cold

I also listened to this on Spotify:

Kesha - .

I have pre-ordered it album on CD, but Rarewaves just shipped it to me because it was released today on July 4 (Kesha's first independent album release on her own Kesha Records label).

This is not the strongest Kesha album based on the first listen, but the opening track "Freedom" is excellent. Pop music has become quite dull in general (all the crap in the world that we have experienced since Covid-19 hit us has made people VERY cynical I think and it has affected also pop culture in a negative way), but at least Kesha still has some edginess/creativity in her music.

[SimonNZ]

The gentlest gamelan album I've heard (from ethnographic recordings at least). A good recommendation for anyone who struggles with the mad complexity and volume that is more common.

[Number Six]

Cabaret (2021 London cast)

Eddie Redmayne is taking a moment to adjust to, after a lifetime of Joel Grey and Alan Cumming. But Jessie Buckley is great, after two numbers.

[Number Six]

Kesha - .

I have pre-ordered it album on CD, but Rarewaves just shipped it to me because it was released today on July 4 (Kesha's first independent album release on her own Kesha Records label).

This is not the strongest Kesha album based on the first listen, but the opening track "Freedom" is excellent. Pop music has become quite dull in general (all the crap in the world that we have experienced since Covid-19 hit us has made people VERY cynical I think and it has affected also pop culture in a negative way), but at least Kesha still has some edginess/creativity in her music.

I will have to check it out. I liked her last few records. Actually, I have enjoyed almost everything she's done, but the songwriting has become more mature and thoughtful as the years go by.

[Number Six]

Toto: The Seventh One (1988)

Not a good choice as I am winding down, as these guys always get me boppin'. But I do love them so. . .

[steve ridgway]

Tangerine Dream - Coventry Cathedral 22 (CD2)
Yes. Sunday March 20, 2022. I guess they released the concert only now because it's the 50th anniversary year.

I've been listening to the original Tangerine Dream - Coventry Cathedral recording from the In Search Of Hades box. It has some familiar flute, mellotron and tapes but is mostly ambient bleeps, drones and whooshes - the trademark sequenced synth bass lines never got going. It's perhaps as well the tapes got lost and the Ricochet audio was used for the film instead as it's a lot more exciting and varied.

[71 dB]

I will have to check it out. I liked her last few records. Actually, I have enjoyed almost everything she's done, but the songwriting has become more mature and thoughtful as the years go by.

The new album feels less mature (almost a 180 compared to Gag Order) which is surprising* to me. Kesha is a pop music genius and she takes surprising steps that are hard to anticipate. Kesha has been saying lately that people need "fun" music because the world is so troubled.

However, I have only listened to the album once on Spotify. I plan to continue listening of that album when the CD arrives. My opinion is likely to evolve.

* Of all the albums she has put out, this one feels almost the least "independent" which is ironic as this album is supposed to be an expression of artistic freedom, but then again, this kind of irony is not beyond unique individuals like Kesha.

[71 dB]

I've been listening to the original Tangerine Dream - Coventry Cathedral recording from the In Search Of Hades box.

I never bought these boxes. Too expensive considering a lot of the boxes are music I already own. The Coventry Cathedral 22 twofer I bought is the cheaper option: There is also a deluxe box with a few extra tracks, 48 page book and a Blu-ray of the concert, but the price is ridiculous.

[SimonNZ]

[Number Six]

Ultra Lounge: Space Capades