Last.fm is changing the way I listen to music. or actually, having a computer with much more disk space is changing the way I listen to music. I used to be a complete-albums-only man. I'm going to ponder on whether this is a good evolution or not.
meanwhile, having read the new issue of Paris Transatlantic (at the moment I happen to be listening to some field recordings by
Dan Warburton), I set out to stroll through the
Weasel Walter discography a bit, and discovered I vehemently disliked most of the stuff I heard by
The Flying Luttenbachers and other combos, and had no interest for the rest of it. funny I never clearly realized that. I hate impotent tech-wankery and punkish atmospheres. well, at least now I don't have to bother with them again.
also, how overrated are
Hototogisu? seriously. read any review and it's like the beginning of a new golden age of psychedelic music will unfold as soon as you hit that play bottom... but when you do it's just very boring noise-drone stuff that has been done to death. plus, any band that releases 15 albums per year should be shot. quality control, for God's sake! the cd-r underground is eating itself. jump ship now!
Best albums I listened to in the course of last week:
Oren Ambarchi's
Grapes from the estate,
Tomas Korber's
Effacement,
Steve Roden's
Winter couplet. no surprises there. onward.
Robert Wyatt,
Rock bottom. beautiful.
Dona Dumitru Siminică in Asphalt Tango's
Sounds from a bygone age series (thank you twIXta). I played a song from this one at NdhW's birthday bash, but most of the attendants were not impressed (enough). not my problem. furthermore,
Schwimmer (
Michael Thieke,
Alessandro Bosetti,
Sabine Vogel &
Michael Griener), one of the better Creative Sources releases. a
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds covers album (they're covering others, not the other one around),
Harry Partch's
Delusion of the fury (first time ever I heard that),
Destroyer's
Rubies, and
Polwechsel's last album.
more classics:
Xasthur's
Nocturnal poisoning and
Leonard Cohen's
New skin for the old ceremony. also listened to a fair bit of
Andrew Hill and
John Surman. the
Stephan Mathieu and
Janek Schaefer collaboration (using stuff they found at and around
John Tavener's house) had a couple of very enjoyable moments.
on Monday I laughed myself silly with several hours' worth of
"Weird Al" Yankovic parodies, back to back with the original pop songs. I almost went into seizure during his take on
R. Kelly's mini-opera, and I had to admit to a liking for the
Chamillionaire track (and the cover version, of course). We'll file that under 'guilty pleasures'.
oh, and I had myself a frostbitten nostalgia day with some
Darkthrone,
Marduk (
Those of the unlight of course, they went to hell soon afterwards, and not in a good way) and
Immortal.
finally I also delved into the
Tom Waits box and played some of our (NdhW and myself) old
szintetizátor tracks. good times.
haven't seen a whole lot of movies this week. for shame. but, a couple of keepers: Bresson's debut
Les Anges Du Péché, an obscure Fassbinder made-for-tv
Angst Vor Der Angst (good one! has almost all the great Fassbinder women, except Hanna Schygulla. actually it was this movie that made me put on the Cohen album), and - already seen years ago, still enjoyable - P.T. Anderson's
Hard Eight, with an excellent Philip Baker Hall and a hilarious but tiny role for the always excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman (check out that hair-do).
eh.. 'play bottom' should have read 'play button'. hello, Freud?
John Surman
