Jeremy for school

Made way back in 1969, Leo Kottke’s “6- and 12-String Guitar” (also known as the “Armadillo Album”) remains one of the finest examples of acoustic guitar virtuosity and originality ever committed to magnetic tape. That is not hyperbole.
One guy – one guitar – no dubs – NO SHIT… wow.

00:00 – The Driving of the Year Nail
01:59 – The Last of the Arkansas Greyhounds
05:15 – Ojo
07:31 – Crow River Waltz
10:53 – The Sailor’s Grave on the Prairie
13:26 – Vaseline Machine Gun
16:38 – Jack Fig
18:54 – Watermelon
22:04 – Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
24:29 – The Fisherman
27:02 – The Tennessee Toad
29:42 – Busted Bicycle
32:30 – The Brain of the Purple Mountain
34:45 – Coolidge Rising

Feeling my ‘impermanence’ this morning… While sampling some meditative music to help me keep my blood pressure down so I don’t quite literally blow my mind, I came across some clips from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, which I remember praising in some long lost post.

I remember watching this wonderfully done film for the first time with my late pal and partner in crime Steve Hackney [RIP old friend] and his wife Luanne while visiting them in Scottsdale a little over a decade back. As the movie came to its denouement in beautiful tragedy, I looked around to see that we were all quietly leaking salt-water… It’s a nice memory.

I took the last few moments of the film and superimposed the love theme “A Love Before Time” over it… hopefully in a timely and tasteful way. Man could Sluggo sing the SHIT out of this one! Namaste.

Television’s 1977 LP “Marquee Moon” is yet another look in my rear-view mirror, but one which has not cracked or faded over the intervening orbits at all IMHO. Rather, it has only become more burnished with a lovely patina which glows an odd but compelling shade of blue-green. Verdigris perhaps? Or even mold, you say? Not a bit of it. Two guitars, bass and drums. An old formula – here become alchemy. Simply put (and played!), a rock’n'roll revelation…

Tom Verlaine’s songs and his insistent but never over-baked guitar work continue to enthrall. And those lyrics. wow. Just wow. If anything, I’m more impressed now than I was when it was new. Real desert island material!

Do yourself a favour… Put on some hear-muffs and turn it UP!

Perhaps my fave Snakey LP (best cover art IMHO!) – right up there with ‘Greener Postures’… rough in spots but delightful! (Philip Lithman a.k.a. Snakefinger [1949-1987] RIP)

Time for the wearin’ o’ the green!
We’re ALL Irish today!

Another classic piece from Steve Reich – here presented with a retrospective of the paintings of Jackson Pollock. Scored for 2 pianos, 2 woodwinds (various) and string quartet. Form is always key in Reich’s work. Here’s the 5-part ‘master plan’ for ‘Octet’:

It’s a fairly hairy piece for just 8 players to pull off, so Reich later rescored it for additional players to reduce the ‘work load’ somewhat and to make it more accessible to non-virtuosi (ie: students). That version is identical to ‘Octet’ note-wise and is called ‘Eight Lines’.

For this Sunday morning’s ‘Jupiter Brain Brunch’, I humbly present Portland, Oregon’s brilliant young bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding and her remarkable band. To a first approximation, I’d call what she does Jazz, but she really transcends easy classification. I just know it sounds good and puts my head in good and interesting places!

So sip your coffee or (preferably) a mimosa, go on about your stuff and just let Esperanza and her cohorts sort of seep into your day. You’ll thank me!

Otherwise known as the ‘Lady in The Radiator’, I call Laurel Near from “Eraserhead” (1977) ‘Lamb Chop Girl’ for her interesting facial hair…

This holiday weekend, Hulu is making their Criterion Collection of (mostly) classic films available for free viewing. David Lynch’s debut feature film is currently on offer here: “Eraserhead”. One of the strangest and most original crazy-ass visions ever committed to celluloid. Weird as HELL, and recommended!