Stars Like Grains of Sand

William Parker & In Order to Survive Posium Pendasem ★★★ ★ William Parker is a great griot that serves to translate the Tone World to the rest of us, who are not necessarily capable of reaching such a destination. I think I doubted the existence of such a realm, when listening to his interviews I denounced them in my mind as some pseudo-intellectual bs. But really after listening, and paying close attention, I've come to realize that when Parker reaches this zone there's almost nothing that can stop him from pouring his soul out into the recording. I'm sure witnessing it for yourself would be a completely different and metamorphic experience. I am still kicking myself at the fact that I sat next to his fantastic musician and didn't have the courage to say anything to him. He had a meditative presence surrounding him and I could tell that he was all about the music. Not only does he venture into the pure spiritual realm of the Tone World, but he takes ...

Air Air Lore ★★★½ Any time you see a group or musician performing standards done "their" way, it generally grants two results. One being, the material is really recycled or uninteresting. Another lending to the creativity the musician(s) has, stretches the boundaries of known standard compositions into something unique and representative of that performer's music or life. They treat standards like putty which can molded by them in any shape, form, or fashion. Those two results guarantee that any "standards" album can be a risk. And I've found that taking that risk is mostly worth it. An album like  Standards  by Derek Bailey is taken to the extremes, he twists and turns each song into a mutation that would be unrecognizable if it wasn't for the track titles. While Air doesn't reach the conceptual heights of that album, they put a spin on these ragtime standards that is still exciting and different than anything else. This must have be...

Karlheinz Stockhausen Gesang der Jünglinge · Kontakte ★ ★ ★★ I guess this type of music throws people off, the usual crowd at least. And I understand that as I was also pretty thrown off on the first listen. My knowledge of Stockhausen and his music is pretty inadequate, but I remember listening to "Gesang der Jünglinge" a time before and exiting the tab before I even got myself straightened out. I still have much to listen to but now I have a better understanding. The two pieces here are all about exploration, testing the waters and pushing boundaries. No matter how strange this sounds now, and back then, it's helped pave the way for other artists in many genres. The diversity in sound and synth use is unlike anything I've heard before, perhaps the closest example would be some Iannis Xenakis works. These both are early early works and I can't imagine the shock of the classical community in the 20th century when these were performed. I'm even s...

Basil Kirchin Worlds Within Worlds ★★★ I have not ever heard of Basil Kirchin or listened to anything he's been involved with. But I can say, if the rest of his music sounds similar to this; perhaps there's something to indulge in. Not with frequency or strong fondness but more to do with my curiosity and magnetic appreciation of all things organic. And this type of organic mutation is a bit of a secretive monstrosity, looming in the depths and darkness which the jungle holds under its vast canopy. The title for the album is pretty apt, the creation of another musical world with the instruments inside a world of natural music. That natural music being the sounds, calls, and roars of a jungle that is teeming with life and the unknown. And this merging of worlds is what keeps me interested, to be here for when it solves itself and creates a perfect homogeneous mixture of the two. Unfortunately that never really seems to happen, but it gets pretty damn close. Close...

George Stavis Labyrinths ★★★½ Recommended to me, most likely due to my recent Fahey listens. And this release is also featured on the Vanguard label, which issued one of my favorite Fahey albums, The Yellow Princess . Like Fahey, Stavis is a member of the American Primitivism movement which was blossoming during the sixties into the seventies. That can also be somewhat inferred from the album cover. It absolutely resembles spray can cheese. Something I could come across at a yard sale or thrift store and toss aside, and not even bat an eye. But if I do actually come across this record, I'll make sure to pick it up. While the geeky Dungeon and Dragons looking Stavis might seem harmless, in reality he brings a world of flavors into action that I did not expect coming into this. A mix of jazz, Indian raga, country and Appalachian banjo playing, and components from his psych rock days with the band Federal Duck. Speaking of that band, the percussionist Tim Acke...

Morton Feldman / San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Stephen L. Mosko, Joan La Barbara, Ralph Grierson, Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick Only: Works for Voice and Instruments ★★ ★ ★ An assortment of various Feldman pieces performed by SFCMP and most notably, Joan La Barbara. What's enticing about this compilation is the fact that all the pieces seem to be at a much shorter length than any other Feldman compositions I've heard before. To be fair, my experience with him is slightly limited. Especially when it comes to any vocal arrangements, which is what this release focuses on. The recording here is superb too, up to par with any ECM New Series release I could think of. The only difference is, perhaps that while ECM has a "lighter" sound, New Albion is stark, direct and darker. They prove to be a good contrast to each other and makes me more interested in delving deep into their perspective discographies. Joan La Barbara provides a mature and experienced to...

Charles Mingus Right Now: Live at the Jazz Workshop ★★★★ Mingus! Live during what many people consider his prime in music making. Not only through his output of albums but also in live performance and composition writing. Recorded in 1964 and released in 1966, by this time Mingus had finished some of his most intense and exciting music, including The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady  as well as Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus . For this session however, Mingus has switched out the usual suspects of his band including Jaki Byard and Eric Dolphy. I read somewhere that Dolphy was, on the very same day of this session, recording the last performance of his life which would be released as Last Date . It is unfortunate that we don't get to see his usual band play these twenty three minute long steamers, but there's something exciting and new here. Mingus is the elder statesman, holding about a decade more of experience over everyone's head. The band is dangerous and dr...

Martin Siewert & Martin Brandlmayr  Too Beautiful to Burn ★★★ ★ ★ This has taken longer than it should have. I honestly didn't believe an Erstwhile record would be this important to me. I've been listening to this album basically nonstop for four days now, through all different environments. Whether it be falling asleep, waking up, concentrating on every detail, putting it in the background, or trying not to doze off in a class; I've done it all in order to see what secrets this music holds beneath its surface. Martin Siewert and Martin Brandlmayer are two musicians that have never reached my ears before, and since they have, I've made sure to add some of their other releases to my listening list in order to see if this was a true representation of their music or merely a one-off album that sounds different from anything else they've put out. While I won't find that out for a while, I'm really excited to see. Firstly I wanted to say that what ...

Terry Riley Les Yeux Fermés / Lifespan ★★★ ★ A compilation of soundtracks for two independent films, both of which I've never heard of or seen. The first soundtrack is just two long pieces, both around eighteen minutes. They act more like a journey or method of traveling, down a desolate but well-known trail. Like the Silk Road after the Black Death; empty but full of history and marked remains that lead the way. The second film soundtrack is in six shorter pieces that each seem a bit different and not cohesive. They just take on a theme and run with it for a short period of time and make the most of it. And it's definitely fun to see Terry Riley create songs like that, it's rare to see tracks from him that are less than fifteen minutes long so it truly gives some insight into the mind of the long haired hypnotist hippie.  “Journey From the Death of a Friend” is a very Rileyesque track for the most part. Meditating and playful, it’s like regaining energy a...