Lyrad's Random 10

Ali Farka Toure is one of of the great guitar players of all time. His combination of blues guitar with traditional Malian form is amazingly trance inducing. I don't have a lot to say about him that hasn't been said about his skills or influence, but I have always loved how beautifully the mayor of Niafunke's voice worked with the guitar. It was a shame to lose him in 2006. Here is a clip of his son, Vieux Farka Toure, from M. Duss' original post on Alterdestiny.

1. Ali Farka Toure--Jangali Famata
2. Howard McGee--Up in Dodo's Room
3. The Louvin Brothers--You're Learning
4. Blind Boy Fuller--Lost Lover Blues
5. Ray Colcord--Along Came a Spider (from the soundtrack to The Amnityville Dollhouse)
6. John Coltrane--Body and Soul
7. Old 97s--Oppenheimer
8. The Bomboras--Keep in Touch
9. The Pretenders--Middle of the Road
10. Roberto Nicolosi--Vampiro! (from the soundtrack to Black Sabbath)

Lyrad's Random 10

Off the top of my head, Susie Ibarra is the only Asian-American female jazz drummer I can think of. I'm sure there are more, but I've never heard of them. She's an amazing drummer who has worked with pretty much everyone in the NY jazz scene over the years and has emerged in her own right as a very good improvisational band leader. "Ancients" comes from her Flower after Flower album on Tzadik. Here, she plays drums, kulintang (Filipino gamelin) and various percussion with violin, two clarinets, flute, trumpet, bass, accordion, and piano. Depending on the track, the improvisations are either quite beautiful or quite difficult, but it's an intriguing album that deserves multiple listens. Of note here is Pauline Oliveros on the accordion. She has developed a "deep listening" style of playing the instrument that uses the reverberations of the recording space (she once recorded in a two million gallon underground cistern that has a 45 second reverberation time) to influence and change her sound, often resulting in walls of noise. When this is added into this mix of master instrumentalists, it's something to behold.

1. Susie Ibarra--Ancients
2. Fred Frith, Mark Dresser & Ikue Mori--Hello, I Must Be Going
3. Ivie Anderson--Twice Too Many
4. Nico Fidenco--Make Love on the Wing (from the soundtrack to Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals)
5. Benny Goodman--Tiger Rag
6. Seks Bomba--The Cat [for Marvin]
7. Guy Klucevsek--Viavy Rose Variations
8. Antonin Dvorak--Domov muj [My Home] (Overture) for Orchestra, Op.62a (Czech PO; Libor Pesek, cond)
9. Trusty--Goodbye Dr. Fate
10. Roy Budd--Fields of Green and Skies of Blue (from the soundtrack to Soldier Blue)

Lyrad's Random 10

There's obviously no reason to explain who Jello Biafra is. If you don't know, you have my sympathies. Anyway, he's no stranger to collaboration. His albums with Al Jorgensen as Lard, "Prairie Home Invasion" with Mojo Nixon, "Tumor Circus" with Steel Pole Bathtub, and "Never Breathe What You Can't See" with The Melvins are all great stuff. This rework of "Kali-Fornia Über Alles" is from the second collaboration with The Melvins, "Seig Howdy!" (great title), a collection of cuts that didn't make the first album and some remixes. The lyrics are reworked to start with the California recall election putting Schwarzenegger into power and moves on from there stream of consciousness. As usual, it's both hilarious and true, though a little bit over the top (and, though I love what he sings, I'm really not much for his voice, but that's not really his point). Some choice lines from the song: "I'm Governor Schwarzeneger/Pretty soon I'll be dictator," "Steroids for the master race," "It's the Homeland Security police/You're a terrorist and so is your niece." Good stuff, plus it has sludgy Melvins business behind it; how could I possibly argue.

1. Jello Biafra w/The Melvins--Kali-Fornia Über Alles 21st Century
2. Kid Ory--Dippermouth Blues
3. Fabio Frizzi--Main Title (from the soundtrack to Zombie)
4. Neurosis--Training
5. Blind Willie Johnson--Church, I'm Fully Saved Today
6. John Jacobsson--Pieces (3) for Clarinet, Viola & Piano; 2. Lyriskt Intermezzo (James M. Hinson, Cl, Christine Hinson, Va, Linda Perry, Pn.)
7. Sergei Prokofiev--Philosophers for Chorus & Orchestra (New Philharmonia Orchestra of St. Petersburg [conductor and choir unknown])
8. T.Rex--All My Love
9. Ween--Hippy Smell
10. Mandrill--Road to Love

Lyrad's Random 10

The theme to the classic Sergio Leone western, originally written by the great Ennio Morricone, has never been so adequately covered...'80s style. Material was the one really great project of bassist/producer Bill Laswell. His fusion of jazz, rock, and hip-hop was groundbreaking and, sometimes, very strange. This cover of the great western theme was from the sessions for Material's "Memory Serves" from 1981. Probably their best lineup, it included Laswell on bass with co-founder Michael Beinhorn on keys and electronics; Sonny Sharrock, Fred Frith, and Henry Kaiser on guitars; Billy Bang on violin, Henry Threadgill on sax, Daniel Ponce on percussion, and Anton Fier on drums. That's some kind of lineup, and the album itself is fantastic and I wish the song here had actually been included on the album, although I can see how it doesn't really fit on an album. The song is played pretty straight in the melodies, played on the guitars, but it's full of every break beat from '81 you could imagine and sounds plain weird. It's a great novelty next to the original and a fun cover from a legendary band, but I'll stick with Morricone's original.

1. Material--For a Few Dollars More
2. Clifford Hayes' Louisville Stompers--Frog Hop
3. Memphis Minnie--Fish Man Blues
4. Elmer Barton--Bummer's Reel
5. Frank Sinatra--You're Sensational
6. Jane's Addiction--Been Caught Stealing
7. Girls under Glass--Desire Lasts Forever
8. The Meat Purveyors--The Bottle Let Me Down
9. Tool--Undertow
10. North Carolina Ramblers--Pearl Bryant

Lyrad's Random 10

Fantomas is one of two supergroups that former Faith No More frontman Mike Patton participates in. Consisting of Patton on vocals, Buzz Osbourne (Melvins) on guitar, Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle) on bass and the great Dave Lombardo (Slayer) on drums. Over the past ten years, this band has put together four widely varied albums, often evoking John Zorn's Naked City projects, but from more of a metal standpoint than Zorn's jazz platform. The album represented here is The Director's Cut, which contains themes from films from The Godfather and Rosemary's Baby to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and this track, the '70s BBC thriller Vendetta. It's a great song that's mostly instrumental, though Patton uses his voice for rhythm and random noises. This is certainly their most conventional album with some honestly pretty songs on it (the themes to Charade and Experiment in Terror, most namely).

1. Fantomas--Vendetta
2. Big Bill Broonzy--Rukus Juice Blues
3. Dillinger Escape Plan--When Acting as a Wave
4. Oscar Benito--El Cumbanchero
5. Piero Piccioni--One More Time (from the soundtrack to Quel caldo maledetto giorno di fuoco)
6. Claude Debussy--Syrinx for Flute (Johannes Walter, Fl)
7. Steve Earle--I Can Wait
8. Masami Nakagawa--Arirang
9. Led Zeppelin--The Rain Song
10. Bill Frisell--Perritos

Lyrad's Random 10

While Deep Throat is a pretty important movie in the history of cinema, the soundtrack to the movie is not as much. It is so unimportant that the artists performing on the album are completely unknown as far as I can find. The record was originally given out as a promotion for select theaters, and then was forgotten about for years and years. This song sounds more like a police chase cue than "pussy cola," though I can't say I'm sure how that's supposed to sound.

1. Artist Unknown--Pussy Cola (from the soundtrack to Deep Throat)
2. David Lynch--Go Get Some (from the soundtrack to Mulholland Drive)
3. Rasputina--State Fair
4. Ludwig van Beethoven--Sonata No.7 in D for Piano, Op.10, No.3; 3.Minuetto (Allegro) & Trio (Edwin Fischer, Pn.)
5. New York Dolls--Trash
6. Khevrisa--Ahavo Babbo Shteyger (Yiddish Traditional)
7. Al Hopkins & the Bucklebusters--Mississippi Sawyer
8. Marty Robbins--The Little Green Valley
9. Lemmy--Cut Across Shorty
10. Bill Frisell--Shenandoah

Lyrad's Random 10

Frank London is an amazing trumpet player but, more importantly, London helped greatly in revitalizing the klezmer scene in New York (such as it is). His arrangements are fantastic combinations of traditional klezmer melodies with jazz improvisation that will sometimes also include metal guitars and latin rhythms. This album is called Di Shikere Kapelye, which appropriately stands for Band of Drunks, is just about the finest concept for a klezmer album. All brass and drums, they recorded the album at the Knitting Factory in one session after a night of drinking. They play their asses off and Di Shikere Kapelye is pure drunken Jewish fun. Countless glasses must have been smashed during its recording.

1. Frank London's Klezmer Brass All-Stars--Ot Azoy, Dovidl
2. Melvins--Oven
3. Handsome Boy Modeling School--The Hours
4. Bonnie Prince Billy--Another Day Full of Bread
5. Townes Van Zandt--You Are Not Needed Now
6. Ludwig van Beethoven--Sonata No.31 in A-Flat for Piano, Op.110; III. 2.Adagio ma non troppo (Stephen Kovacevich, Pn)
7. Merle Haggard--Sing a Sad Song
8. Old 97's--Por Favor
9. Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant--An Attempt at Jealousy
10. Dead Prez--50 in the Clip

Lyrad's Random 10

There's no doubt about the greatness of Earl Scruggs. His banjo is legendary and his work making "mountain music" with Lester Flatt after both left Bill Monroe's tyrannical band was, to me, better than the music's inventor. In any event, scores of praise have been laid on Flatt & Scruggs over the years and there's no good reason to lay it on thicker. The recording (one of 50 billion) of "Orange Blossom Special" was done at the Newport Folk Festival sometime between 1959 and 1966, the discs are not clear when the individual recordings were made, and is released on Vanguard's "Best of Bluegrass" 3-disc set. This set, along with it's companion "Best of Blues," is highly recommeded and an essential set in my collections. These years were right at the heart of the folk revival and, while there was a lot of cheese that came out, there was a lot of real respect for the tradition at that point that really hasn't been seen since.

1. Earl Scruggs--Orange Blossom Special
2. Mose Allison--The Gettin' Paid Waltz
3. The Fugees--No Woman, No Cry
4. Artie Shaw and His Orchestra--Traffic Jam
5. Angelo Badalamenti--Montage (from the soundtrack to The Straight Story)
6. Mystery Girls--Brown Bag Blues
7. Miles Davis--Drad Dog
8. Oscar Benito--El Canelazo
9. Ramblin' Jack Elliot--Talking Fisherman Blues
10. Manitas de Plata--Mi Sentimento

Lyrad's Random 10

Little information is available about Antoni Rutkowski, a Polish Romantic composer who lived 1859-1886. In fact, beyond his dates and a quote in a book about Ignacy Paderewski [Paderewski: The Story of a Modern Immortal by Charles Phillips], which describes Rutkowski as a close, but short-lived, friend of his "...whose creative powers were exceptional, lived long enough to see his boyhood companion reach the height of fame; but himself only in his thirties when he died [he wasn't quite in his thirties...he's a writer, not an arithmetician, give him a break], he might have achieved high rank, especially as a composer, had he been spared." His cause of death is a mystery. This sonata is a playful work with interesting and complex interplay between the violin and the piano that is reminiscent of Tchaikovsky and other contemporaries from the East, with a large helping of Polish traditional music on top of it. It's good stuff. I wish I could find more about him, or at least hear some more works but, according to what I can find, this cd of 19th and 20th century Polish violin music is the extent of his recorded catalog.

If anybody has further information [friends at Detritus Review, I'm looking at you] on this obscure Polish composer, or some recommendations to more of his work, I'm all ears.

1. Antoni Rutkowski--Sonata in c for Violin & Piano, Op.5; 4.Rondo. Finale; Adagio. Presto (Tyrone Greive, Vn; Ellen Burmeister, Pn)
2. Gustav Holst--Beni Mora (Oriental Suite) in e for Orchestra; 3.In the Street of Ouled Nails (London SO; Gustav Holst, cond)
3. Tom Waits--Bottom of the World
4. Matthew Shipp--Pastoral Composure
5. Blind Willie McTell--Chainey
6. Maritime Murder--Copache
7. Artist Unknown--Hot Buttered Beans (from the soundtrack to Manimal [some '70s porno])
8. Lou Reed--Metal Machine Music
9. Golden Gate Quartet--Bye and Bye Little Children
10. John Zorn--End Titles (from the soundtrack to The Golden Boat)

Lyrad's Random 10

Clarence "Tom" Ashley was one of the original old-time recording artists and one of the best. A great banjo player with a good voice, Ashley sang and played banjo for a medicine show starting in his teens. He started recording in around 1925 with the Carolina Tar Heels and recorded his largest hit in 1929 with "Coo Coo Bird." He continued to tour until 1933, when he quit recording entirely for nearly thirty years until 1960 when the first of the recordings that represents the Watson and Ashley albums were produced. The original releases were before Watson's fame, he doesn't play a major role in every song, and were issued as two volumes of "Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's." This was, however, right at the beginning of the folk revival and Watson was about to break big. After these recordings, Ashley saw a good resurgence and was even booked to an eighteen date tour in England. He died a few years later, in 1967, leaving a small but excellent catalog.

1. Doc Watson and Clarence Ashley--Sitting on Top of the World
2. Material--Square Dance
3. Ray Charles--A Fool for You
4. Bumblebee Slim--How Long Blues
5. Blind Willie Johnson--Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)
6. Dale Watson--Bright Lights and Blonde Haired Women
7. Johannes Brahms--Quartet No.1 in c for Strings, Op.51, No.1; 3.Allegretto molto moderato e comodo (Lener Qt)
8. Memphis Slim--Help Me Some
9. Leadbelly--In New Orleans (House of the Rising Sun)
10. Larry Clinton & Bea Wain--Stop and Reconsider

Lyrad's Random 10

James McMurtry lives in Austin and is a regular up in Denton. I had the pleasure over this past Christmas Eve to see him at Dan's with Erik, who I assume had a good time, since he was with me. He's always a great show and his often politically-tinged songs bring out all the old lefties in town. For Texas, there are a lot of them.

This recording of "Fraulein O" is from his album Live in Aught-Three, which Erik reviewed a few years ago. It's a funny song, and not one of his political songs. It's about some woman he was interested in. Who knows if it's autobiographical, but the part of the song that has always struck me is strange. He sings:

Course you had that boyfriend
With the Cheverolet
He never met Will Rogers
I'd be willin' to say
It's safe to say
He never met Will Rogers

How does meeting Will Rogers make you sexier? I think it just makes you old.

1. James McMurtry--Fraulein O.
2. Reszo Seress--Caravan for String Quartet (Kronos Qt)
3. Django Reinhardt--Fantasie
4. Tango Saloon--Carol
5. Jimmy Reed--If You Don't Want Me
6. Tomahawk--Sweet Smell of Success
7. Jesus Lizard--Starlet
8. David Shea--Initials B.B.
9. Eloise Bennett--Love Me Mr. Strange Man
10. Fantomas--Surgical Sound Specimens from the Museum of Skin

Lyrad's Random 10

"D.B. Blues" is a Lester Young song, but I don't have to tell anybody how great a bandleader Young was. This song is off of a compilation featuring trombone virtuoso Vic Dickenson, who played in virtually every major big band from the '30s into the early '50s. From Young to Sydney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins and on, Dickenson was everywhere. He was primarily a session man, but eventually led his own bands by the end of his career. The trombone has never been the most respected instrument for soloing in jazz, though the instrument was represented in most big bands, but Vic Dickenson was the exception. He was often granted extended solos that illuminated his breathy tones, much the same sound on his trombone that Stan Getz found on the saxophone, and his speedy delivery at any tempo. The solos are surprisingly emotive yet still maintain the energy level necessary for success in early big bands. I'd recommend the album this track comes from, "A True Trombone Master," from the EPM Jazz Archives label, but it is long out of print. This is too typical of jazz labels, which pull albums off the market without replacing them with viable alternatives, reissues, or the like. Especially for the more obscure artists and session players like Vic Dickenson, the market is never going to show large sales for them, but there are enough fans of early jazz to at least keep the albums marginally available to those who love it.


1. Lester Young w/ Vic Dickenson--D.B. Blues
2. Bob Dylan--The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
3. Rodion Shchedrin--Concerto cantabile for Violin & Orchestra; 1.Moderato cantabile (Maxim Vengerov, Vn; London SO, Mstislav Rostropovich, cond.)
4. John Zorn--Worms (from the soundtrack to She Must Be Feeling Things)
5. Nour Eddine--Dar Eddamanat
6. Roy Budd--Ride on (from the soundtrack to Soldier Blue)
7. Al Cook--When a Man Gets in Trouble
8. Radiohead--Anyone Can Play Guitar
9. Johannes Brahms--Symphony No.4 in e, Op.98; 1.Allegro non troppo (Cologne RSO; Rudolph Bashai, cond.)
10. Iceburn--Drop

Lyrad's Random 10

The style of free jazz that John Coltrane popularized in the mid-60s started a string of artists whose improvisations became progressively more frenzied and spaced-out. Pharoah Sanders is the most popular outside of Coltrane, but Albert Ayler was one of the best and one of the most forgotten, especially given his extreme saxophone prowess. Challenging and often brutal to listen to, given time his music takes on a spiritual and meditative tone, even if it's sometimes hard to understand. The song below is from the masterful concert series that Impulse released as "The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings," and is one of the finest jazz albums that I own. Ayler is a time commitment but one that can prove very rewarding. Unforunately, Aylers life was cut far too short by his suicide at the age of 34 after jumping off the Statue of Liberty ferry. His body was found three weeks later. Ayler's star burned short but burned very bright.

1. Albert Ayler--Spirits Rejoice
2. Max Reger--Sonata in B-flat for Viola & Piano; 2.Vivace. Allegro (Josef Klussen, Va; Sachiko Kayahara, Pn)
3. Jim & Jesse w/Carl Story--Cripple Creek
4. Nigogos--Hicaz Sarki
5. Tom Waits--Whistle Down the Wind
6. Morton Feldman--Crippled Symmetry for Flute, Bass Flute, Piano, Celesta, Glockenspiel & Vibraphone; Region 1 (California EAR Unit)
7. Red Norvo--Hallelujah
8. Magic Slim and the Teardrops--I Got Money
9. Guns 'n Roses--Night Train
10. Digital Underground--The Way We Swing

Lyrad's Random 10

God is one of my all time favorite groups, but has also proved the most elusive. About twelve years ago, I was spending my spring break in Breaux Bridge, LA. The brother of a friend of mine had this album, "The Anatomy of Addiction," by a band called God. It was some of the most bizarre and heavy music I'd ever heard, a combination of free jazz, industrial, and hardcore metal. When I got back to New Mexico, I looked for the album, but couldn't find it. I searched and searched, but there was nothing. For years, any time I found a copy online, the cd was prohibatively expensive, in the $100 range. Finally, when I was in California, I happened upon a used copy of a different God album, "Possession," and bought it. It took me another four years to finally find a reasonably priced copy of "Anatomy," but finally found it about three years ago. My ten year search for this album was well worth the wait; it is than I remember.

God is a supergroup comprised of avant-garde saxophonist Tim Hodgkinson of Henry Cow, Justin Broadrick of Napalm Death and Godflesh, Kevin Martin of Techno Animal, and a great supporting cast. It is very satisfying to have an album which states, "All songs written by God." In recommending the album to as many people as possible, it came as no surprise to see how inaccessible the band is to people; too much jazz for metal fans and way too much metal for jazz fans. Regardless of their feelings, they are wrong. God is, for my money, one of the best bands to ever lay music to tracks.

1. God--On All Fours
2. Memphis Minnie--Lean Meat Won't Fry
3. Had Bennink & Eugene Chadbourne--Corcovado
4. Rolling Stones--Angie
5. Alemayehu Eshete--Tchero Adari Negn
6. Johnny Cash--Old Doc Brown
7. Ennio Morricone--Party Probito (from the soundtrack to I Malamondo)
8. Lyle Lovett--Here I Am
9. Jimmy Bertrand's Washboard Wizards--I Won't Give You None
10. Darkwell--Ladies' Choice

Lyrad's Random 10

When I first got into college and first got heavily into jazz, Charlie Hunter was more accessible to me than anybody. Between the Charlie Hunter Trio and T.J. Kirk, his guitar work skirted closely enough to rock for me to understand some of what he was doing but was unique to me and helped to expand my horizons greatly on what the guitar was capable of. While the trio primarily played original songs, T.J. Kirk was the namesake of the three artists they played: Thelonius Monk, James Brown, and Roland Rashaan Kirk, all of whom I'd also become interested in at the same time (the original name, which made more sense, was James T. Kirk, but a lawsuit from the Roddenberry family ended that quick). I don't know what Charlie Hunter's been up to for the past ten years or so, but I was always extremely impressed with his play style and the 8-string guitar he used to play melodies and, at the same time, pluck out bass lines. He emulated Joe Pass in a lot of ways, but used the ideas from Pass and made them his own.

1. T.J. Kirk--Four in One
2. Nico Fidenco--Eternal Anguish (from the soundtrack to Emmanuelle in a Women's Prison)
3. Entropia--Mara's Theme
4. Chipper Thomas--Wars of High Germany
5. Charlie Barnet--You're Looking for Romance
6. Jesper Thilo--Strike up the Band
7. Scratch Acid--Holes
8. Sergei Rachmaninov--Symphonic Dances (3) for Orchestra (or 2 Pianos), Op.45, 3.Lento assai [Royal Liverpool PO; Sir Charles MacKerras, cond.]
9. Naked City--Victims of Torture
10. Chris Knight--Bring the Harvest Home

Lyrad's Random 10

As early as recorded music existed in Germany, so did the tango. The style reached great popularity before WWI through Latin artists, but soon German bandleaders (who were likely previously only working with polka) began adapting the music for more German sensibilities. Much of it, as a result, comes across as much polka as tango and, with much of the Latin influence absent, feels very flat. This is not always the case, as evidenced with the album, "Ghetto Tango," that this first track comes from. The recordings are current, but Cooper and Mlotek have dug up and re-recorded a fantastic sampling of tangos from the Jewish theater just previous to and during WWII. Mainly recorded with small orchestras or unaccomanied, the songs display an emotional range (undoubtedly due to the duress they were under) that much of the genre could not touch. While I'm not the biggest fan of show tunes in general, and this most assuredly is that, many of the lyrics here are chilling displays of the lives they lived.

1. Adrienne Cooper & Zalman Mlotek--Fun der Arbet
2. Nirvana--Marigold
3. Guy Klucevsek--Road Runner
4. Virgin Prunes--Pagan Love Song
5. Miles Davis--Bitches Brew
6. Booker T. Laury--You Can Go Your Way
7. Dokken--Breaking the Chains
8. Teddy Wilson--As Time Goes By
9. Mr. Bungle--Retrovertigo
10. Masada Chamber Ensemble--Shamor

Lyrad's Random 10

I'm probably ignorant of the whole issue, but DC punk pretty much begins and ends with Dischord Records for me. Through the label and the policies therein, Ian MacKaye is an example and a hero for all aspiring and independant musicians. After the demise of the great Minor Threat, MacKaye was forming the even greater Fugazi and enlisted the services of guitarist Guy Picciotto and drummer Brendan Canty. They were two of four members of One Last Wish, a short lived act that grew out of the remnants of Rites of Spring that formed in May 1986 and was gone by January of '87. MacKaye met the band while producing their one recording session which, outside of "Burning in the Undertow," remained unreleased until 1999 under the title 1986. "This Time" is a track on the 20 Years of Dischord boxed set and is emotional and highly melodic in a way that few honest punk songs have been. It's not the greatest thing on the set, but it does serve as something of a ballad on the compilation. They aren't anywhere near as good as what they were (Rites of Spring) or what they would become (Fugazi), but it fits in the time and gives a slightly different perspective on what some of these musicians were capable of.

1. One Last Wish--This Time
2. Ennio Morricone--The Penitent (Theme) (from the soundtrack to The Penitent)
3. Prince & the Revolution--Take Me with U
4. System of a Down--Atwa
5. Jewlia Eisenberg--The Moon and Asia
6. Bill Laswell and Jah Wobble--Alsema Dub
7. Fiddlin' John Carson--Georgia Wagner
8. The Mars Volta--Tira Me a las Aranas
9. Steve Earle--Another Town
10. Memphis Slim--Nobody Loves Me (Every Day I Have the Blues)

Lyrad's Random 10

Back in the old days, when I put significantly more hazardous substances in my body than I do now, I experienced plenty of hallucinations. Some were good, some were not so good, but almost none of them were visual. I was never one to get confused about what I had seen. I would, instead, hear the some of the most bizarre sounds and voice, much more than I could ever comprehend. As a result, a lot of the nights I spent in this state took place in my room, in the dark, with whatever music I could find, which sent my mind into fantastic places that no sober person could ever reach. When those times were all said and done, the two artists I pulled out more than anyone else were Bill Frisell (specifically, for whatever reason, This Land, an album which no person could rightfully call "trippy") and Orb. I don't listen to a lot of that same music anymore, but nor do I have the same appetites I once did, but I have always found Orb densely innovative and very listenable, especially for its genre.

"Oxbow Lakes" is the third song of Orb's 1995 Orbus Terrarum, which I find to be their best work. It is full of the same thick sampling and slowed down house beats of their other albums, but somehow feels less clean than other efforts. While industrial sounds and noise are heavily utilized, "Oxbow Lakes" is the anomaly. Led almost entirely through by a few bars from a piano solo, the beats slowly wrap around it, always keeping that central acoustic them rather than using the acoustic noises to accentuate the electronic beats. It's good to break up the noise of the rest of the album, though the noise is welcomed back until the best song, the final song of the album, "Slug Dub," finishes off the experience in grand fashion. On the right combination of chemicals, the children's story told in this song can stick with one for years.


1. Orb--Oxbow Lakes
2. Billy Bang--Silent Observation
3. Zamir Choir of Boston--Hallelujah, Amen
4. Jimmie Rodgers--Whippin' that Old T.B.
5. Leon Russell--Am I that Easy to Forget
6. Alicia Keys--The Life
7. Mary Stafford--Arkansas Blues
8. Dmitri Shostakovich--Festive Overture in A for Orchestra, Op.96 (Dallas SO; Andrew Litton, cond.)
9. El Stew--Vintage
10. Dr. Octagon--Bear Witness

Lyrad's Random 10

Bill Frisell is one of my favorite artists of all time. His guitar sounds are uniquely American, but not washed out with commercial style. Every few years, he seems to morph is style into something new and, often, something great. This is a traditional cover from an album that he made with Petra Hayden, the daughter of legendary bass player Charlie Hayden (from Ornette Coleman's band and his own Liberation Music Orchestra). She plays violin and occasionally sings on the album. The album is all covers ranging from the traditional song presented below to Tom Waits to Foo Fighters. It isn't his best album, but there are some very good cuts on it. Were it anybody but the Fris, I'd never had picked the album up but I'm glad I did. It's different from his usual offerings for, if nothing else, the vocals. It sometimes verges the easy listening realm, but Petra has a sweet voice and a good violin sound. In combination with Frisell, who plays a decided supporting role in these cuts, it is not just very listenable, but it's a valuable, relaxing album that I really don't listen to enough.

1. Petra Hayden & Bill Frisell--Bai-La Taigam
2. Dmitri Shostakovich--Ballet Suite No.3 for Orchestra (Moscow CO; Constantine Orbelian, cond.)
3. Blind Willie McTell--Stomp Down Rider
4. Henri Adrien Lous Kling--Characteristic Etudes (40) for French Horn; 5.Allegro (Stephen Hager, fr hn)
5. Merle Haggard--Swinging Doors
6. Francesco DeMasi--7 Winchester per un massacaro [seq. 6] (from the soundtrack to Seven Winchesters for a Massacre)
7. Joe Maphis & Zen Crook--Dueling Banjos
8. Oslo Kammerkor--Uventa Brudlaupssjau
9. General Patton vs. the X-Ecutioners--Get up, Punk! (Joint Special Operations Task Force)
10. Bill Monroe--Shenandoah Breakdown

Lyrad's Random 10

Alex Moore was one of the first of his Texas contemporaries to record his piano blues, but he scarcely recorded anything after those first few cuts in 1929. Obscure, but highly skilled, Moore pounded the keys hard with a rhythm that accompanied his strong, full tenor vocals. He earned the nickname "Whistlin'" Alex Moore for his extended and, apparently piercing, whistle solos between verses (though I haven't heard any cuts where he actually does this). Like so many blues artists nationwide, he was essentially forgotten after those early years, and worked his regular everyday jobs until his retirement in 1965, though he consistently played in bars and took engagements the whole time. Like so many others also, he was rediscovered in the mid-60s during the big European blues revival and, now retired from working, toured with the American Folk Blues Festival throughout Europe. In those years, he was contracted for what turned out to be the majority of his recordings and, with his strength of voice still intact, made something of a late career of performing. In the late '80s, before his death in 1989, Dallas and the state of Texas honored him by making his birthday, November 22, "Alex Moore Day."

From his early years as a delivery boy tinkering around on white folks' pianos to his last days, the piano was everything to him, to the point of saying that the reason he never married was that he was too much in love with the piano. Whatever he says, I'm sure there were other reasons, but he was an excellent artist who deftly mixed jazz, blues and ragtime into one of the best-played examples of early Texas piano blues.

1. Alex Moore--Come Back Baby
2. Jesus Lizard--The Best Parts
3. John Lee Hooker--I'll Never Trust Your Love Again
4. Perry Bradford--I've Learned To Do Without You Now
5. The Roots--Thought @ Work
6. Tom Waits--Sixteen Shells from a Thirty-Ought Six
7. Fredrik Soegaard--Multiverse for Guitar, Percussion, Computer and Tape (Soegaard Ensemble)
8. John Prine--Aimless Love
9. Roy Budd--Kidnapped (from the sountrack to Paper Tiger)
10. White Zombie--Creature of the Wheel