Trouble With Dreams » music

Esbjörn Svensson, I’m Glad I Knew You

sam — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:16:40 +0000

Esbjörn Svensson died yesterday, he was only 44, and I always think of you when it comes to Believe, Beleft, Below. You said you loved it, I think it was the first time I really stopped to listen properly and you were right, it’s a joy, another world between the storming Did They Tell Cousteau? and the uplifting Elevation of Love – it’s the kind of music to make me want to curl up and stop everything forever, because nothing I do will match its simple perfection.

I wanted you to give it a whirl, in his memory.

Esbjörn Svensson Trio – Believe, Beleft, Below

February 5th

sam — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:06:21 +0000

Tape Loop, keeps on turning round, forever.

Hey, I reappeared, with everything intact.

Life went by, I spent a silly amount of time in Appleton Tower’s labs, and my musical life became electronica oriented – Amon Tobin, Venetian Snares, Pitch Black. I discovered the Amen Break and its extraordinary implications for the music we know. Electronica and piano. Brad Mehldau, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans could have my soul any day.

I was told by a child that ‘I’d like to go to Jamaica because I really want to kill some zombies’, and suddenly I’d rather like to visit this Jamaica that only exists in the world he inhabits.

Mogwai Fear Satan became my example definition of the sheer incredible nature of life. I’m surprised there’s not some kind of prose written along to it; starting from small groundings we get higher and higher and higher and higher until eventually we peak in minutes of glorious noise and from there it’s gentle fade out to the eventuality of death.

Didn’t I stop writing here because I was going to use LastFM’s journals?

Oh, and I discovered that googling ‘flamboyant american penis‘ returns zero results. :-(

Mexican Standoff

sam — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 02:09:32 +0000

Days are happy and spent watching Six Feet Under and thinking about going outside to museums of surgeons but we watch the rain fall instead and it’s much better. I have a new flat in a brilliant location but it doesn’t feel like a home, it feels like a student flat and it’ll take a while to adjust. 47 Arden Street has been awesome and it feels odd saying so because the others seem so adamant the year was just a bit crap really. Whatever. Eh, it would have been great if it wasn’t for people having different agendas.

Two things have happened in the world in the last few days. One involves Japanese people getting carried away with their video games and breaking their arms, the other one of the worst possible ways to die. (’A woman in Australia has been killed by her pet camel after the animal may have tried to have sex with her.‘) :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/

I cracked and downloaded the FoFR theme (if only someone would say what FoFR stands for) for foobar and it’s amazing and gorgeous and all this, but it’s not my quaint foobar that can handle several playlists of 15,000 songs and rename and tag and move files and still perform wonderfully. Though it is rather nice to have some glamour to my media player.

++Age;

sam — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:45:50 +0000

A birthday and people congratulate you (I hope with hand-clapping) because Facebook reminds them. Yesterday we went to the Museum on the Mound which was totally worth it because we a-built the Bank of Scotland and b-cracked the safe to get a reward of chocolate coins. And today we shall go to the beach, fingerscrossed the weather stays pleasant.

I put a few photos from travels on Flickr, take a look and tell me they’re hot. I managed to post so little on the way I didn’t get to use a single Mogwai song title.

Untitled 1

sam — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:54:51 +0000

Last night I saw Martin Taylor and tonight I dragged Mike to a free gospel thing, with Big Al Carson (nickname thoroughly deserved). Martin Taylor was virtuosic, of course. Firefox is telling me virtuosic isn’t a word, but whatever. But he’s just so .. safe. He won’t suddenly do something outrageous and unexpected, he’s perfectly content with the style he’s totally perfected. It’s understandable I suppose, though this being the fifth time I’ve seen him or whatever it’d be cool to be unsure of what I was going to hear. Courtney Pine was in the town playing Coltrane that night, I’d have like to have gone to that but instead but it sold out damn you small queens hall capacity. Martin Taylor is hardly a second best though.

And then Big Al Carson. It was a free event, listed in the Jazz & Blues festival calendar so we thought we’d take a look - turned out to be a gospel church service, in effect, though it was great fun. The place was packed full and by then end everybody was in the spirit. Hurrah, eh. A rousing rendition of ‘When the Saints.. to finish. Is it compulsory at every gospel-esque concertgig?

An Addiction to Hands and Feet

sam — Wed, 16 May 2007 23:31:05 +0000

Did I ever mention how wonderful Regina Spektor’s voice is? Human of the Year gets more and more powerful everytime I hear it. A morning of concentration and I’m free for summer. The new Wordpress release is nicknamed Getz, in honour of the tenor saxophonist who took every opportunity to chat up any attractive woman around. I suppose you can get away with that when you’re musically genius.

We’ll be poking our toes around Warsaw in twelve days now. I’ll totally use Mogwai song titles for posts along the way - We’re No Here, Yes! I Am a Long Way From Home and A Cheery Wave From Stranded Youngsters are a few (though hopefully not the last, I suppose). Smooth connection: These are some great Mogwai sessions. Download My Father, My King and You Don’t Know Jesus if you only want a taster. I have no idea how long they’ll remain available. And go see them live if you get the chance; I can’t think of any band more intense.

This is pretty astonishing.

(Almost) Eurovision time again

sam — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:05:01 +0000

Great selection of lyrics at the BBC:

Oh, don’t call me funny bunny
I’ll blow your money, money
I’ll get you to my bad ass spinning for you.

Gotta tease you nasty guy
So take it don’t be shy
Put your cherry on my cake
And taste my cherry pie.

Sounds hot?

This is the Ukrainian entrant:

Righto.

PS. Seems to have become a BBC themed post - more terrible lyrics.

A wonderful song

sam — Mon, 07 May 2007 19:36:12 +0000

By Sidsel Endresen and Bugge Wesseltoft, two Norweigan musicians. If you like Portishead, shades of Massive Attack, the trippy side of life, then take a listen. It’s too good not to share.

Chanced upon it on a compilation of Nordic jazz. If you’re subscribed to eMusic the whole album is currently free.

A Summeryjazzyelectronic kind of mix

sam — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:09:14 +0000

Plenty of crackers and good for the summer:

Lemon Jelly – Page One (lemonjelly.ky)
Felix Laband – Whistling in Tongues (Dark Days Exit)
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra – Sister (Who is This America?)
Acoustic Ladyland – Iggy (Last Chance Disco)
Jaga Jazzist – I Could Have Killed Him in the Sauna (The Stix)
Jimmy Smith – The Cat (The Cat)
Rodrigo y Gabriela – Mr Tang (Live Manchester And Dublin)
Masada – Ne’eman (Live In Sevilla)
Explosions in the Sky – The Birth and Death of the Day (All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone)
Stan Tracey – Starless and Bible Black (Under Milk Wood)
Lemon Jelly – Kneel Before Your God (lemonjelly.ky)
Skalpel – 1958 (Skalpel remix) (1958)
Acoustic Ladyland – Cuts & Lies (Skinny Grin)
Charles Mingus – Better Git It In Your Soul (Mingus at Antibes)

If you want a copy, well, ask.

Masada: Jazz brilliance

sam — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 01:18:49 +0000

I was going to write something about friends in Portsmouth and Gloucester and how my last week was awesome, but then I ran most of the way home from the pub and my chest decided to hate me. THEN I turned on Masada’s Live in Sevilla and was completely caught out by the utter brilliance of the music and got completely excited.

The quality of support and jousting and play between John Zorn on sax and Dave Douglas on trumpet is entirely ridiculous and each member of the quartet seems to know exactly what the others might do, any given moment, even at 90mph. Zorn’s solos squeak and squeal and wail everywhere, always getting ever more intense, never once faltering. Douglas’ counterpoints to Zorn work brilliantly. The rhythms supporting are tense and pumping with energy. It’s how jazz should be. I’d really love to see them live - it seems almost bizarre I’ve never heard of the group before.

Ne’eman and Nashon are particular highlights, scarily fast and complex.

I have this down under silly because it’s so, SO fucking good it’s unreal.