The Taco Jockey Returns...sort of...

One of the best blogs that I stumbled across in making this one was a hilarious offering by a young man who called himself the Taco Jockey. He worked for Taco Bell and the blog was an insightful and funny look at the daily ups and downs of that particular line of work.
The writer is no longer employed by Taco Bell and with the loss of that job came the demise of the Taco Jockey.
I just recieved an e-mail from the Taco Jockey's author and was pleased to find out that he's employed again (this time at a press) and, more importantly, is blogging about it. Check out PRESSMAN PRESS and together we'll see if this job will bring out the laughs like Taco Bell did.

As for me, as you've already noticed, I haven't been blogging much.
Don't know when that will change. It's indicitive of just how little is going on in my life right now.
I will, however, KEEP IT GANGSTA!

What I Like About Jazz

For me, it's all about the interplay/rapport between players when it comes to jazz. Love to hear a soloist work off of what the piano player is laying beneath and vice versa. The best drummers of 'em all (with the possible exception of Danny Carey) are jazz drummers. They get to do so much more than just lay down a backbeat. You can listen to practically any jazz tune, concentrate on JUST the drums, and walk away entertained.
I prefer at least one horn in any small ensemble jazz set. There are a few piano/bass/drums set-ups that I've heard that are decent (I've got 'em by Bob James & Duke Jordan, but then that Jordan set is blessed with the presence of Roy Haynes, one of jazz's finest drummers so it's bound to be worthy). Tenor sax is my preferred "4th Instrument" but if we're talkin' Miles Davis I'd just as soon change my vote to trumpet. Quintet is even better with tenor and trumpet.
Then again, there's nothing like the massive ensemble that Miles put together for the recording of Bitches Brew. I shan't go into a rant, as I have often proclaimed my love for this album. But there's something aboout the bizarre entrance of a bass clarinet into the, until then, traditional jazz instrumentation. But once it's in the mix it's incredible, making the funkiest lines ever composed on bass clarinet.
Bitches Brew is not your typical jazz album, not even your traditional fusion jazz album, as it is composed of edited sequences that have been re-pasted into different orders by the artist...but nevertheless deserves the accolades it has recieved throughout the years as the birth of fusion.
Speaking of which...when it comes to fusion, make no bones about it, it rarely gets much better than WEATHER REPORT. Consistantly they have impressed me from the days before Jaco Pastorius joined on bass, to the glory days, when his playing raised the bar for bassists everywhere, up until now, in the post-Pastorius days. Just pick something of theirs and you're guaranteed to love it.

Counting Crows Recoverring the Satellites Track by Track

Counting Crows Recovering the Satellites...Track by Track

1. "Catapult"...Lots of synthesized flutes that conjure up the glory days of the mellotron. At times it puts me in mind of "Strawberry Fields Forever", but that's about the only thing it shares in common with that Beatles classic. Mid-tempo, guitar saturated rocker ensues. Duritz stays in control for the most part, even if his list of "I wanna"s is too long. I've never thought this was a good opener, but it's not a bad song.
2. "Angels of the Silences"...This was the first single from the album and I remember hearing it on the radio before the LP came out. It is quite different fare than anything on the first album. More of an edge, rocks just a little harder. If you can get past that you'll probably enjoy the song and really the album as a whole. Excellent melodies from Duritz, whose passionate delivery is tailor made for a song like this. Great song.
3. "Daylight Fading"...Hands down, my favorite song from this album. I want to say that it brings back fond memories of what REM used to sound like, for some reason I have always associated it with that band, but when I hear it now I can't figure out why I ever made that connection. It sounds richer than any of that old REM fare. Duritz once again nails it. Just listen to those guitars pouring out notes that fall like raindrops...such a beautiful sound.
4. "I'm Not Sleeping"...Lots of tension building and release make up the bulk of this track. Lyrically quite erotic and Duritz sings 'em like he means 'em. The bridge is a bit too heavy and sounds like an excuse to utilyze the orchestra that has already made it's mark quite well in the chorus. There are aspects of "I'm Not Sleeping" that I thoroughly enjoy but they are ruined by the bridge and especially the completely unneccesary (nursery rhyme-esque) rant at the close.
5. "Goodnight Elizabeth"...Here we have the first song on the album that sounds like it might be an outtake from August and Everything After. Even so, there are all these shimmering quitar parts that show up in the background which differentiate the song from the more stark, spare debut. Duritz rain obsession finds an outlet in some of these lyrics. Decent song, though.
6. "Children In Bloom"...This is one of the heaviest songs I think the band has done. The production here kind of tones down the rawness, but it's there and you don't have to listen too hard to hear it. Duritz' falsetto misses a couple of times and the ad-libbing of the last several bars is unnecessary, but on the other hand he does some incredible singing earlier on in the song.
7. "Have You Seen Me Lately"...Nice chord changes and what do you know, Duritz is breaking up with someone! And in no uncertain terms, either, as he opens with "Get away from me...This isn't going to be easy but I don't need you, believe me"... Ouch! More rain obsession. The thing about this song is that it's all really quite good EXCEPT the chorus, and we all know how important the chorus is. It still manages to be one of the better songs here.
8. "Miller's Angels"...Actually quite a beautiful song if you can ignore the bridge and the "Hey, Romeo" chorus end tags. Another one that could have been on the debut. The good thing about this one is all the backing music, the stuff behind the piano and vocals. It really helps push the song into another realm. The end piece is nice, too.
9. "Another Horsedreamer's Blues"...I have to be honest, I have never liked this song at all. Part of it is the orchestra that seems superfluous. The lyrics do nothing for me and Duritz verges on the histrionics here that have been know to ruin the band's live performances.
10. "Recovering the Satellites"...After the last track it's good to hear the band come back to the more experimental fare of the records first half. The melodies merge with the music perfectly and finally a bridge that works. Just as I've always disliked the last song, this one has long been a favorite.
11. "Monkey"...Monkey? Huh? My recollection is that I've never cared for this song, but even though it's got a lot of faults ("...got Ben Folds on my radio now...") it doesn't sound quite as bad as I remember. A throwaway that might have made a nice B-side.
12. "Mercury"...An apparant attempt to strip down all the loud instruments and get back to basics...unfortunately, it's also probably the most boring song of the lot.
13. "A Long December"...Were it not for this song I would have suggested that the whole album be limited to the first 10 songs...This is the second single from the album and it's a song that, unlike the first single, sounds exactly like what you'd expect from the band that put out August and Everything After. It's half power ballad and half anthem, all drenched in melancholy and the hope that "maybe this year will be better than the last". Just a stellar track, IMO.
14. "Walkaways"...Sounds like a decent demo, may well be just that. But anything is going to have a hard time following the last track.

Meme-Ology (yeah, I'm still alive...physically, at least)

Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. I've considered blogging the REASONS for the absence in detail, and who knows but that I might do just that, but it won't be today.
Instead, to keep things going, I have decided to fill out a meme for you all, since I haven't done one in so long. This one I found at From the Circle City to Crop Circles...Kel's Little Adventures.
It's called "Meme-Ology".
Enjoy.

GRUB-OLOGY
What is your salad dressing of choice? Right now it's Honey French, but I'm starting to get burned out on that. I can't stick with one for very long without the aforementioned burn-out factor. That said, if I'm eating at Ken's Pizza you KNOW I'm chowing on some Alpine Italian.

What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Taco Mayo

What is your favorite sit down restaurant? Chili's is pretty good, but my wife got food poisoning there last time we visited so I've had a hard time getting her to go back with me...

On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? Depends on the service, but I try to adhere to the 15% rule.

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Pizza

Name three foods you detest above all others. 1. Liver 2. All seafood. 3. Beets

What is your favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant? I don't care for Chinese. The few times I've eaten from a Chinese buffet (not by choice, btw) I just chose the stuff that wasn't made with fish or chicken. I guess egg rolls are okay with that sweet red sauce, but I couldn't eat many of 'em.

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, red onions, green peppers and lately I've had a hankering for plain old cheese.

What do you like to put on your toast? real butter and grape jelly

What is your favorite type of gum? Eclipse spearmint

TECH-OLOGY

Number of contacts in your cell phone? What cell-phone?

Number of contacts in your email address book? I think there are about 25 or 30, but I don't use my e-mail all that often.

What is your wallpaper on your computer? Right now it's the Black Cat firecracker logo tiled.

What is your screen-saver on your computer? My son has this thing for The Phantom of the Opera, and he has put up quite an elaborate POTO screen-saver on our computer. It's actually kind of cool.

Are there naked pictures saved on your computer? Maybe a few artistic renderings...:)

How many land line phones do you have in your house? Just one...don't know why anyone would care, though.

How many televisions are in your house? Three, but only one gets watched with any degree of regularity.

What kitchen appliance do you use the least? Waffle maker...although it does make some pretty doggone delicious waffles!

What is the format of the radio station you listen to the most? Changes with the general mood I'm in...lately it's been scads of Modern Jazz on XM Satellite Radio.

BI-OLOGY

What do you consider to be your best physical attribute? My eyes.

Are you right handed or left handed? Right.

Do you like your smile? If it's not a self-conscious smile I don't mind it, but otherwise I don't.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? 2 or 3 teeth.

Would you like to? I can't think of anything I'd want removed.

Do you prefer to read when you go to the bathroom? If it's going to be a visit of any length, then yes, I do. Reading material of choice lately has been Esquire magazine, but I've just supplemented the bathroom reading hamper with a recent copy of the Collector's Choice Music catalogue, so I may get behind on the other stuff.

Which of your five senses do you think is keenest? Probably my hearing, tinnitus and all notwithstanding

When was the last time you had a cavity? Oh, I'm sure I have a few even now. I'm afraid that if I go to the dentist I'll wind up losing a good 2/3rds of my teeth, so I've avoided it (even though I do enjoy going under that nitrous oxide.

What is the heaviest item you lift regularly? I dunno...how much does a stainless steel fork weigh?

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Nope, unless you count passing out as a result of excessive marijuana intake...if you do, well I suppose there have been a few times...

MISC-OLOGY

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? NO. God, no..

If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? Ian.

How do you express your artistic side? Well, my artistic side has been hiding from me lately, but the general rule is that it prefers to be expressed by playing the guitar, writing songs and doing fun junk on the computer (like this blog, fer instance).

What color do you think you look best in? Black.

How long do you think you could last in a medium security prison? Not too long. I'd lose my mind pretty quick

Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake? Just the other day I accidentally swallowed a sunflower seed still in it's shell.

If we weren’t bound by society’s conventions, do you have a relative you would make a pass at? Of course not.
How often do you go to church? I used to go every Sunday morning, but since I just had this psychotic episode a couple of months back and I'm still sort of recuperating from that I have only gone once in about a month and a half. I'm kind of in a strange place spiritually and have not wanted to go to the church I'm a member of.

Have you ever saved someone’s life? True story: When I was just a little kid, probably between 8 & 11 years old, I was sleeping with my brother and father (hard times, I don't think my bro and I even had beds of our own) and I had this dream that a local cafe where my mom worked at the time was on fire...I woke up, smelled smoke and then looked under the bed to find that it was on fire. I woke up my dad and brother, alerting dad to the situation, and he put the fire out. So I guess I saved all our lives that night.

Has someone ever saved yours? One of the developmentally disabled guys I used to work with alerted me to a driver who was squeezing into the same exit I was and I'm pretty sure it would have been a fatality wreck if he hadn't done that, because I didn't see the other guy. So I have to give him recognition (thanks Mike!).

DARE-OLOGY

Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000? I don't think so.

Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? No.

Would you have sex with a member of the same sex for $10,000? No.

Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? No.

Would you never blog again for $50,000? Probably. Who's offering? ;)

Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000? No.

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? No.

Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000? This is getting ridiculous. No, of course not.

Would you shave your head and get your entire body waxed for $5,000? Now there's something I wouldn't have an aversion to doing for money, but howzabout up-ing the ante to $10,000?

Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000? YES. That would be SO easy to do.

AB7A

One of the most literate and out right mucisally knowlegable guys I know has joined the ranks of "us bloggers" (didn't want to say the word "blogosphere", as I am concerned that it has slipped out of fashion). He goes by the name "Skvorecky" in the injternet community where I communicate with him, but his blogger name is AB7A (enigmatic moniker, I know)...likewise his blog is called AB7A, and it is well worth checking out.
Seriously, this bloke knows his stuff and he is a writer par excellance.
So CHECK HIM OUT!

More N&B Refugees

Here are a few more "photoshopped" pieces that I am rather fond of. More to come, but I'll try not to bore you with an onslaught of 'em...

Photo Clearance

Gonna be clearing out a lot of photos from my Shutterfly account, most of which were used on the Nausea & Bliss blog that I shut down a couple of months ago. I decided I'd throw a few of them up here as I go. Some are not too bad and halfway artistic. Others, like the one above, are just curiousities.

Aphex Twin I Care Becuse You Do

I have to confess that it took me a long, long time to appreciate Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin). I had read many reviews of his music and they had almost unanimously agreed that his electronic music was "the next big thing" in that genre. Being a fan of "old school" electronica (such as Kraftwerk and Bill Nelson's electronic projects as well as the really pioneering stuff bu Iannis Xennakis and Charles Dodge), I was very interested in checking this Aphex Twin guy out...
If I recall correctly, that chance came in 1991, when I ordered a copy of I Care Because You Do from a record club.
I remember putting it on and trying to "get into" it, but alas, it was just TOO different for me (and that's saying something about how unique the album is, because I usually enjoy total originality)...
Or maybe I should say that it didn't sound like what I expected an "electronic" album to sound like...and it didn't. It was very percussion-heavy, much more so than the electronic music I'd championed previously. The instrumentation didn't sound like the synthesizers I had come to expect. In fact, they often didn't sound like anything I'd ever heard before in my life.
Time has passed and I've developed a true love for the genre known as "Braindance/IDM/Glitch". The credit for that goes to Autechre. From there I decided to give Aphex Twin another chance and ever since then I've been a hardcore fan of his music.
Even so, I Care Because You Do has remained a fairly difficult record for me to get into. That said, I do enjoy it tremendously these days.
I can't really proclaim any tracks as "favorites", as I like most all of them. The only one I don't really care for is the intentionally annoying "Ventolin (Video Version)".

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music

Lou Reed Metal Machine Music

Rockets spiralling out of control, into the atmosphere from fiery blue planets. All communication dead at the very last second, too late to send the message..."We have penetrated the earth's pencil-thin membrane, our hopes rest on thunderheads".
And, of course, they do.
Lou Reed must have been shooting some mighty fine heroin during the sessions for Metal Machine Music.
A collection of 4 precisely timed (16:06, if your interested) vignettes of total cacophony that have been name-checked by noise-meisters Sonic Youth as well as several who reside in various mental asylums around the world.
The Sonic Youth tag is legitimate. You can almost conjure a mental picture of Thurston Moore zoning out to the whole Metal Machine Music album, trying to find ways to turn the pure noise into catchy , post-punk indie rock.
At any rate, there's nothing truly ground-breaking on the album, "musically" that is. Iannis Xannakis and Karlheinz Stockhausen are but two postmodern composers who have created material that's every bit as jarring as MMM (moreso in some cases)...
The "huh?" thing about this album is that it was released by a man who was on the verge of becoming every bit as popular as any rock star of his day (think David Bowie or, to a lesser degree, Iggy Pop). "Commercial Suicide" indeed, and no doubt the good folks at RCA were NOT pleased.
If you forget all of that and just listen to the music, you may be surprised. Indeed, it has aged very well (as so many of Reed's compositions tend to do) and the astute listener will hear lots of things going on beneath the surface veneer of chaotic chatter. Indeed, having become very familiar with the works of Aphex Twin and Autechre, I hear this album with "new ears", ones that are much more sensitive to Reed's electronic pioneering.

My "YouTube" Music Archive

With the advent of YouTube, I have taken the liberty of creating a BLOG that features all of the really cool vintage music videos from artists that I have much respect for.
It's well worth checking out, even if it is only in it's initial stages.
Thanks.