- Solas, “Darkness, Darkness”: One of my favorite Irish
bands doing a great cover of an old song. - A Silver Mt. Zion, “Goodbye Desolate Railyard”: a decent
ASMZ track, but not an outstanding one. - Mogwai, “Acid Food”: Anything by Mogwai is terrific. This
is no exception. - Kansas, “Myriad”: One of my favorite tracks of the latest
from Kansas. - Metaphor, “Stella Maris”: I just got this album today, and haven’t even gotten to listen to it all the way through yet, so I haven’t really formed a strong opinion yet. But it sounds like Metaphor, and that’s a good thing.
- Rush, “The Enemy Within”: A classic old Rush tune.
- David Sylvian and Robert Fripp, “Jean the Birdman”: this is
pretty much what you’d expect from Fripp and Sylvian. Sylvian’s
crooning; Fripp playing with tape loops and strange tonality. Even
though it’s what you expect, it’s still amazing – these are two of the
most creative guy’s you’ll find anywhere, and when they work together,
the result is something special. - Porcupine Tree, “The Moon Touches Your Shoulder”: A bit
off of PTs most traditionally progressive album. Not my favorite
bit of the album, but the whole album is amazing. - Kruzenshtern & Parahod, “Sippurim”: K&P is one of my
favorite things to listen to lately. I usually describe it as
progressive klezmer, which I think is accurate; but it’s also
not really adequate. These guys are stretching the boundaries so
far that it’s hard to describe. There’s a very strong Klezmer element;
but also very strong Jazz and Rock influences. Their stuff is hard
to track down, but well worth the effort. It’s really spectacular. - Tie the Bonnet: Traditional Irish, from the masters. Lunasa
is wonderful. This, however, is not one of my favorite bits by
them. Like many popular Irish bands, they tend to over-rush
the tempo. It’s damned impressive, but it deprives the music of some
of its heart. This stuff is music to dance to – but they’re playing it at tempos that no one could ever dance to.
Friday Random 10, August 22
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