Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Self Indulgence: The Musical

Was called upon by a famous hippie yoga blogger to give a top seven albums list...which I’d consider way too shameful a self-indulgence...without an excuse (note that this one was in response to reader demand)...even if I’m gonna ignore the rules as always...so, here’s seven I feel like talking about right now, in no particular order:

Miles Davis—In a Silent Way: no diss to anybody’s favorite Windham Hill or Sanskrit chant music, but this is what I practice yoga to—a bunch of soon-to-be-major figures of what would come to be known as jazz-fusion enjoying a trippy groove while the Dark Prince lets out muted wails from places deeper than most would ever dare to go....

Joni Mitchell—Court and Spark—I hate slickness, and this is about as slick as 70’s pop albums get—but it’s about slickness, giving up Paris and People’s Park for the city of the fallen angels, and feeling unfettered and alive for the surface thrills of stroking the star maker machinery...because trying to hold on to that fabled romantic idealism has simply come to hurt too much....

The Clash: Sandinistait’s up to you not to hear the call-up, you must not act the way you were brought up...that pretty much says it...not sure what can be added that won’t be lame, other than to evoke how it felt at sixteen to see Joe Strummer up there, belting out Police on My Back to a stadium filled with classic rock fans waiting to see the Who and not at all open to this punky shit—defiant absolutely, thriving in a world of manic sound as the slings, arrows, and orange peels fell impotently to the stage....

Cat Power: The Greatest—saw Chan Marshall in a club in Philly last Spring—no more of the legendary drunken rambling interspersed with the occasional bit of a song, or bursts of tears ending a show three minutes in—but the kind of painful nakedness of expression previously seen in videos of Janis Joplin or Billie Holiday...what most would call being fucking nuts...though it can make for some kick-ass music...when I lay me down, will you still be around? when they put me six feet in the ground, will the big fat beautiful moon be around?....

Bob Dylan: Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Volume 8—to say that when Dylan accidentally leaves the tape machine running before going to the toilet, the result is still better than 99% of the music-product painstakingly produced by just about anybody else is a tired cliché. It’s also true. While contemporaries fade away or make repeated lame attempts at relevance, Bob, reinvented as an old-weird-vaguely-19th-century-dude, growls I crossed the green mountain, I slept by the stream, heaven blazing in my head, I dreamt a monstrous dream....

John Coltrane: A Love Supreme—another great one to do yoga to, though even better through headphones with feet dangling over the rim of the Grand Canyon...really...try it and you’ll see.....

The Grateful Dead: Buffalo, July 4th 1986—dude...I actually don’t like even have this tape anymore...but this show was like seriously...whoah...like I was there n’ it was like a hundred degrees n’ I was gettin’ like really fuckin’ weirded out n’ shit, n’ then they played The Wheel n’ I like listened to the lyrics...round round robin run around, gotta get back to where you belong, a little bit harder just a little bit more, a little bit further than you’ve gone before...n’ then like everything was totally cool...seriously....

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love music. All kinds and you thrill me with these intimate descriptions of the music that thrills and inspires you.

Thanks for a list of stuff to check out.

Linda-Sama said...

thanks for playing! and I'm going to check out that Miles Davis one right now....but really, ya gots ta get ya some Alice Coltrane....

Linda-Sama said...

check out my post today at AHC....

Daisy Deadhead said...

KISSES for including the Dead!!! :D

Yup, they always sneak up on you with heaviness when you least expect.

Unknown said...

Hey, as a Dylan & Dead fan you might enjoy our recent discussions on Dylan and the Dead.

Helen said...

"The Wheel" always was and remains one of my fav Dead tunes. Brings back a lot of memories.

Peace.................

Anonymous said...

Dr. Jay, you can find that Dead show here

By the way, I'll be adding your selections to the Blogger Album Project.

Unknown said...

Here's the stream of your "lost" GD show. Nice Esau!

Buffalo 7.4.86

Anonymous said...

Sounds supa cool to me!

Anonymous said...

I like totally <3 (heart) you n' stuff.

Carol said...

OK. I'll have to check out Cat Power. I've never heard of her.

And I have to tell ya. You commented on a blog post I wrote about my dog and now my Buddha dog is gimping around on three legs. And not complaining a bit. I'm very impressed!

Lana Gramlich said...

What, no Floyd? ;)

Janet said...

Sandanista makes my top albums list as well. My memory of seeing the Clash in conservative Grand Rapids was during the Rock the Casbah tour. As devoted punk rocker and concert veteran, I will acknowledge it was the most scary show I ever attended. At one point during the crowded, sweaty night I actually pulled my feet up to see if I could remain suspended by the crush & and was horrified to see I could. What a thrill:-) I still have great appreciation for their tight sound and intelligent political message. RIP Joe!

Rhiannon said...

Some good choices here...for me I would put Laura Nyro's "New York Tendaberry" as I've always felt it was and still is the best album in the world "ever"..I've read some reviews on Amazon.com by people that state the same..you either loved her stuff or you hated it..soul, funk, beauty, passion, rock, and her speaking her own language that you understand or don't..I've always thought a lot of her songs in this album are almost like visualizing a play going on in your head for each song..you can almost see and feel it.

I love Joni Mitchell...but the Malibu song will always be my favorite..:o)

I loved Nico's albums and thought she was quite unique...I still have them all..along with Lou Reed and Velvet Underground.

"and it was alllllrrriiggght"...he he..

Rhi