Well, it was only supposed to be the "fifteen favorite CDs of 2006"... but as a tribute to the dearly departed Tower Records, and therefore probably my last year of quality deep-catalog browsing and impulse music buying at an actual record store, the list is hereby expanded to twenty...
[1] Frank Sinatra: Vegas
At long last... a treasure trove of previously unreleased (legitimately, at least) live Sinatra performances from the vaults, beautifully packaged as a four CD + DVD box set. You get to experience The Man not only in his swinging 1960s prime but also during his under-appreciated post-"retirement" phase, including a remarkable 1978 Caesar's Palace show on the DVD. (Too bad they edited out some of Frank's more outrageous comments from the monologues, though...)
if (preg_match('/]+)?>/', '') { echo '' } else { echo '
[2] Moondog: Rare MaterialA welcome reissue of the out-of-print and fantastic
Big Band album in its entirety, along with a second CD of Moondog rarities including some wonderful stuff from the impossible-to-find
Bracelli. I only wish there was more truly "rare material" like this included here instead of several readily available tracks from Moondog's Prestige albums. Please keep 'em coming, ROOF Music!
'; }
[3] Rhys Chatham: Die Donnergotter
[4] Rhys Chatham: An Angel Moves Too Fast To See
' } else { echo 'Table of the Elements happily reissued the contents of their phenomenal but now out-of-print Rhys Chatham box set on individual CDs this year, so if you missed out on hearing these incredible electric guitar
symphonies the first time around, you've got another chance to experience some of the most rockin' avant garde music ever recorded. Forget about
Glenn Branca... Rhys Chatham is the real shit. (But buyer beware:
Two Gongs is only for die-hard drone-heads...)
'; }
[5] Bonnie "Prince" Billy: The Letting Go
' } else { echo 'Everything comes together perfectly on
The Letting Go, probably Bonnie "Prince" Billy's finest effort to date. The harmony vocals by Dawn McCarthy are Will Oldham's secret weapon here, along with the subtle and seductive acoustic arrangements. Basically, it's an indie-folk-pop dream come true.
'; }
[6] John Coltrane: Fearless Leader
' } else { echo 'If you don't already have this stuff, now's your big chance... Here are all of Trane's Prestige sessions as a leader newly remastered and repackaged as an attractive and relatively affordable six CD set. His soloing on the uptempo tunes has the impressive and dazzling pyrotechnics, but it's the ballads on these recordings that are truly breathtaking.
'; }
[7] What It Is! Funky Soul & Rare Grooves (1967-1977)
' } else { echo 'Wow! Behold — a major label compilation that unearths buried nuggets from its vaults instead of the same old "greatest hits" over and over again. Warner/Rhino may be a little late to the "rare groove" party, but they arrive in high style with this nifty four CD box of mostly obscure vintage funk, R&B, Soul, Disco, and Jazz tracks, many of which have never been previously released on CD. Dig it!
'; }
[8] John Foulds: Dynamic Triptych / Music-Pictures III
From the good folks who brought us the awesome Three Mantras a couple years back, another CD of colorful, striking, ahead-of-its time, and, uh, dynamic music by John Foulds, the nearly forgotten eccentric composer of "British Light Music" and so much more. Let's hope a recording of his epic World Requiem is in the works, too...
The cult folk/rock guitar hero romps through a millennium of pop music, from English madrigals to Gilbert & Sullivan to coal miner songs to Britney Spears. What could have been a postmodern farce is instead a sincere tribute to great songwriting through the ages. The two CDs contain all the music, but the DVD is the best way to experience this live performance, including RT's informative and witty between-song banter... it's the next best thing to being there.
if (preg_match('/]+)?>/', '') { echo '' } else { echo 'Initially released in 2005, this CD+DVD on Douglas's new Greenleaf Music label was not widely distributed until this year... and so here it is. And kick ass it does. This is thick, hard, driving electric neo-fusion at its best, featuring stellar take-no-prisoners drumming by Gene Lake and even DJ Olive adding another layer of grunge. Hearing these new "soundtracks" paired with the almost 100 year old Fatty Arbuckle movies on the DVD is especially revelatory, a little eerie... and mostly just plain fun.
'; }
[11] Ingram Marshall: Savage Altars
A striking and, uh, savagely beautiful work for chorus, violin, viola, and electronics, Savage Altars is some kind of postmodern, post-minimal masterpiece. This CD also features interesting instrumental works for classical guitar with Ingram's trademark digital delays, and, thankfully, some good ol' acoustic solo piano. The astonishing Savage Altars, though, is the main reason to get it.
Over 20 years later, a minor "new music" classic gets reissued on CD at last. A breath of fresh air, full of bubbling rhythm, infectious hooks, straightforward beauty, and shameless optimism, On The Leopard Altar has a universal appeal that should have put Lenz in the same league as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and John Adams... I guess it's still not too late, right?
if (preg_match('/]+)?>/', '') { echo '' } else { echo 'I don't know what the deal is with the, er, interesting album cover photo, but Marc Mellits proves that minimalism isn't quite dead yet with his perky, spiky, and appealingly compact chamber music. It's even kinda groovy...
'; }
[14] Metropolis Shanghai: Showboat To China
' } else { echo 'Another fine entry in the illustrious Winter & Winter "AudioFilm" series, elegantly employing only music and ambient sounds to transport listeners to "the Paris of the East in the 1930s and 1940s." The perfect antidote to a visually overstimulated world...
'; }
[15] Kon & Amir / DJ Muro: The Kings Of Diggin'
' } else { echo 'While the Kon & Amir disc is an entirely serviceable collection of ultra-rare "crate diggin'" finds, DJ Muro unleashes a jaw-dropping, ass-shaking, brain-melting mix of obscure breaks on his CD that just... keep... coming... A turntable tour-de-force that might possibly restore your faith in the dubious mix CD format.
'; }
[16] John Adams: The Dharma At Big Sur / My Father Knew Charles Ives
' } else { echo '
My Father Knew... is little more than a skillful if somewhat bland symphonic Ives pastiche, but John Adams sort of gets his groove back in
The Dharma At Big Sur -- a rhapsodic, rambling, and rather trippy fantasia for electric violin and orchestra. It's not very polished and it's actually a little tacky... and that's exactly what's great about it (Hey, why on Earth did Nonesuch release less than an hour of music as a two CD set? tsk-tsk...).
'; }
[17] Patricia Barber: Mythologies
A jazz song cycle based on Ovid's Metamorphoses? Sounds like a recipe for a pretentious self-indulgent disaster, but somehow Ms. Barber pulls it off in a way that is not only literate but accessible and mostly (gasp) entertaining. She even gets away with an "Endangered Species rap" of sorts, and you gotta give her mad props for that... or something...
' } else { echo 'It's been a big year for posthumous Johnny Cash releases, including the warm campfire glow of the (not quite) final Rick Rubin-produced
American recordings and the tenth-or-so reissue of the now
really complete (honest!)
Live at San Quentin. The mother lode, though, is
Personal File, a two disc set of previously unissued 1970s solo acoustic private recordings by Cash, complete with spoken introductions. A rare and almost miraculous opportunity to hear a larger-than-life legend at his most intimate, reflective, and, well, personal. There's one CD of secular songs and another of sacred ones, depending upon your mood/religious preferences.
'; }
[19] Gabriela Montero: Bach & Beyond
' } else { echo 'I'm not sure what she's doing to that sofa, but what Gabriela Montero does to J.S. Bach is an appealing hybrid of conservatory training and improvisatory flights of fancy. This isn't on the level of
Uri Caine's Goldberg Variations or even
Loussier's
Play Bach, but it's something entirely different and rarely heard on record — a classical soloist humoring her jazz muse.
'; }
[20] Demenga / Larcher / Anzellotti: Chonguri
' } else { echo 'A tastefully arranged, thoughtfully sequenced, and mildly eclectic recital of chamber music bon-bons by everyone from Bach to Chopin to Faure to Milhaud to Webern.
Chonguri is not only merely delightful but also moderately hip thanks to the presence of accordion virtuoso
Teodoro Anzellotti.
'; }
[honorable mentions]
Aw Hell, why stop at just twenty? Here's a handful of also-rans too...
Philip Glass: The Voyage
Finally on CD almost 15 years after its Met Opera premiere, The Voyage contains plenty of overwrought operatic tedium, but also some choral passages of surprising power and beauty.
Johnny Cash: American V - A Hundred Highways
Rick Rubin's respectful and loving posthumous completion of The Man In Black's (not quite?) final album. Nobody else could have pulled it off with such understated style, class, and grace.
Four Tet: DJ-Kicks
Four Tet: Remixes
Kieran Hebden cranks out a wildly diverse yet coherent and enjoyable installment in the consistently interesting DJ-Kicks mix CD series, and compiles a two disc set of remixes by and of Four Tet that range from barely tolerable to completely stunning.
Joey Negro: The Trip
Air: LateNightTales
Two deliberately eclectic and better-than-average CD "mix tapes"... short of making your own, they don't get much better than this.
Keith Jarrett: The Carnegie Hall Concert
Not the religious experience it's been hailed as by some, but still an impressive and engaging solo piano workout before a worshipful and almost rowdy New York audience.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
well dang, somebody else around here has heard of Rhys Chatham. it's about time.
Not the religious experience it's been hailed as by some....is so! nyah!! ;-)
2 - Pico
I was fortunate to procure Douglas' Keystone last year and I couldn't agree more. A rare fresh approach to electric jazz.
-P
3 - Willard Quine
Love that Douglas, too. And as someone who was lucky enough to be there at the Carnegie Hall Jarrett show, you are right on both counts. The crowd was worshipful and there WAS something in the air. I came out of that place in a perfect blissful trance of music.
And now I listen to that album and I wonder what happened? It's just not as engaging as I remembered; it's just another (great)Jarret solo excursion, not that different from Koln or the rest from years ago. Sure, it's great, but as a record, I like a bunch of the last few trio albums better. Whether a moron like me has even a word of advice for a genius like Keith Jarrett, of course, is doubtful.
Briefly, the Douglas is amazing, and I think it's time evreyone acknowledges his place in current jazz. The Barber thing was awful and pretentious to me, but I' a jerk. I love the Bonnie "Prince" Billy and those weird harmonies. I also loved the Thompson, but in truth I don't find it sincere at all. I just don't care that much about sincerity in music. Cool list!
4 - Dave
Nice collection of mini-reviews...
5 - Stephen V Funk
Try DustyGroove.com for the ROOF Music Moondog CDs.... I think they sell Rare Material for $19.99 [currently out of stock, though] and German Years for $21.99... much better deal than Amazon...! Definitely seek out the Prestige Moondog and More Moondog CDs also...
Yeah, that sounds about right on the Keith Jarrett applause timing. He's always been one to include ALL the clapping on his live recordings... annoying...!
6 - D'oh
I would add 10,000 Days by TooL.
For all the jazz sensibilities on this list, I present a bit more of a muscular treat,with intricacies of rhythm and off time signatures coupled with high quality musicianship and movements (tracks) forming into an operatic scope whole.
Plus, it just kicks ass.
7 - Michael J. West
Not my favorite Douglas, Keystone, but still a goddamn good one. Pretty groovin' list overall. :-)
8 - tink
"What It Is!" is definitely in my Top 10 list for the year. Great tunes and (if possible) even better packaging. Something for those new to the genre as well as for collectors.
Terrific choice!!