Vinyl Record Reviews #3

 

Joni Mitchell - Song to a Seagull - I swear the title of this record is nowhere on the record itself, and I had to look it up, but it is Joni Mitchell's first album as far as I can tell, so it wasn't too hard to figure it out. I listen to these vinyls while I am working for the most part, so I didn't catch a lot of the lyric content, but the vibe Joni Mitchell is immaculate 60's/70's folk music. I'll probably end up listening this a bunch and figure out what the songs are about eventually. 

 

Bob Marley and The Wailers - Natty Dread - Bob Marley is an artist I have listened on the radio and just know through cultural osmosis. I feel like I have an analysis of the song No Woman No Cry in my head, but I don't remember ever actually seeking it out. It is nice to finally sit down and listen to it, and it becomes evident that it really does manage to be both fun to listen to, and tell stories of oppression and rising up. Similarly to Joni Mitchell, I can see myself throwing this on every so often to internalize the music. 

 

Miles Davis - Facets - I consider Kind of Blue a vinyl record must have, so getting this feels like I am finally branching out a bit. It is also a good contrast to Dixieland Jazz which is very energetic and aspirational, and Facets instead feels more chill and introspective. It is a great jazz record, but while Dixieland is more for game night, Facets feels like something you should play while having drinks and talking with good friends.

 

The Judy Collins Concert - Like Kind of Blue, I have Judy Collins #3, and this record is getting more into their catalog. Being a concert record, it has more crowd favorites, and sing a longs, but that is part of fun of vinyl. Vinyls records with the right system allows you to feel like you are actually there, and recreating some of the best music moments. I can't help and sing Bottle of Wine when she says, "sing it again" with the crowd.

Vinyl Record Reviews #2

Maynard Ferguson - It's My Time: So Maynard Ferguson is known for being an expert trumpet player, and plays other brass instruments as well, so when I got this record, I was expecting more jazz with good solos. It turns out that Maynard Ferguson has two periods, the "bop" era which I am familiar, and then his "pop" era which this record covers. Which means that there are these elaborate pop compositions and every so often you hear a brass instrument solo. Sometimes it works very well, and other times it sounds like the equivalent of having some gaudy, off-putting plate-setting, and then a tiny piece of a medium-rare cooked steak in the middle. I grew to like it as it finished, but it isn't the best introduction to Maynard Ferguson, unless you really dig adult easy listening, then it is probably the best introduction you could have. 

Wendy Carlos - Switched-On Bach: Switched-On Bach is one of my favorite albums of all time. The moog synthesizer with Bach's compositions feels as fresh and fun than as they did in the late 60's. Unfortunately, while it isn't hard to find a copy of this vinyl under $10, it is strangely (though maybe not that strange when you consider the music industry) not available on any music streaming services. It is a shame, because it is an amazing technical feat, and the original vinyl unintentionally dead-names Wendy Carlos, as it was made before they were open about their transition. I would love for this to re-released. Heck, I would probably re-buy the vinyl if there were any cool extra materials, but in the meantime, I will listen to this classic re-invention of classic music perfected.

Grand Award Dixieland Jazz - I put all my record collection in an app called Discogs, and for the most part, it seems to have all the vinyls one can buy, but for the life of me, I could not find this record in their database. I could find Will Bradley and Bobby Byne who play on it, but this specific record is nowhere to be seen. It seems to be a pretty decent selection of Dixieland Classics, but it is hard to really review with the idea that I don't even know if anyone else could even find it. If you happen to find this in some $1 bin somewhere, and you want some Dixieland Jazz, give it a whirl! 

Piano Ragtime with the Phenomenal Dukes of Dixieland Vol. 11: Much easier to find, and with the 7 nerdy looking white dues in candy cane looking coats, it would be hard not to. My dad listens to so much Dixieland jazz that it is impossible for me to judge the music on any semblance of objectivity. It is the music that is painted all over my childhood, many car trips, and now my adulthood. Playing it just reminds me of my dad, which is something I need sometimes. I also appreciate it shouting out Buddy Bolden as this album could not exist without him. There is a sad irony about the back of the record sleeve calling him one of the "immortals" of jazz, without really going into how he apparently got diagnosed with schizophrenia and died in a mental institution. RIP to a legend.

Vinyl Record Reviews #1

During this past Thanksgiving, my dad gave me permission to take records from his collection in the basement, and I decided to do some short reviews of what I got. I plan to update this as I listen to more records. With no further adieu:

Mahalia Jackson's Silent Night: A lot of times you hear Christmas music, and it is dull, mediocre, and you forget why people even bother to play it other than tradition. Mahalia Jackson manages to make these cliche songs into something worth listening to again. 

Koto Vivaldi: It is an interesting effort to bring something that normally played by a full orchestra to a quartet of koto, but it does highlight how sometimes you lose a certain quality in the conversion. For example, the presto of the Winter movement were made for a string instrument with a bow, and the koto just doesn't quite fit, as you can't really move your fingers in a way that matches the rapid succession that you can with a bowed instrument. It is a fun novelty, nevertheless, especially since on the back on the record it goes into the history of the koto, and the poems that Vivaldi may have wrote for the 4 seasons. 

Pigs Eye Jass Fidelity First Vol. 2: The back of this record just describes sine waves, and the type of room they recorded in, and the only clue you have to what type of music the record has is that it lists the instrumentation of songs titled "mr. jelly lord." I thought it was going to be more experimental, but it is just a very solid jazz record. I should look Piges Eye Jass and see what their deal is, but good record overall. 

Jean Miche Jarre Equinoxe: Such a classic electronica record. It aged like fine wine. It is such a perfect encapsulation of what we thought the future and space were going to sound like.