Have you seen Roxy The Movie, Mark? Amazing footage from one of the great Zappa bands.
I also strongly recommend this CD, taped the following year at a concert in Helsinki. The same lineup as the the Roxy shows minus trombonist Bruce Fowler and drummer Ralph Humphries. An amazing recording and the undoubted highlight of the entire You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore series.
Gryphon Diablo 300, dCS Rossini (with matching clock), Kharma Exquisite Mini, Ansuz C2, Finite Elemente Master Reference.
I've been listening over the past few nights to Aldous Harding's album, Party, and I find myself entranced, beguiled and enchanted by the experience. This is disarmingly intimate and intensely beautiful music. This is private, interior music that is fragile and tender, delicately nuanced in its craft yet utterly lacking any kind of artifice. This impression is magnified when you see Harding in live performance where the singularity of her chameleonic stage presence is presented more fully. There is something foreign, profoundly unknowable about the reality that she presents onstage, a presence suffused in primitivism, casting glances at her audience drained of any kind of empathetic response. One writer has compared these glances to a basilisk's stares, glacially cold and unknowable and bereft of an inner human response. Is it an act, a means of holding her audience at arms' length? Perhaps, but there is an undeniable art of genuine substance behind this artifice. What we have here is a technically immaculate voice that connects directly with your heart with an almost overwhelming force allied with songs that are concise in form, lyrically and imagistically ambiguous yet deeply and unsettlingly suggestive and which grow outward with cumulative force in the listener's mind with every passing listen, enrapturing your heart and possessing your soul. An extraordinary and very exciting talent.
Gryphon Diablo 300, dCS Rossini (with matching clock), Kharma Exquisite Mini, Ansuz C2, Finite Elemente Master Reference.
mcq wrote: ↑Wed Aug 16, 2017 10:54 pm
Have you seen Roxy The Movie, Mark? Amazing footage from one of the great Zappa bands.
I also strongly recommend this CD, taped the following year at a concert in Helsinki. The same lineup as the the Roxy shows minus trombonist Bruce Fowler and drummer Ralph Humphries. An amazing recording and the undoubted highlight of the entire You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore series.
Thanks for the movie tip, didn’t know about it.
I have the album but haven’t listened to it in a while. I’ll put it on this weekends playlist.
Mark
This triple vinyl set arrived earlier this morning. I ordered it after I heard some tantalising clips on YouTube. Actually I first found out about it last week on my visit to Tower Dawson St. while searching for the Cornell set. Sadly the Cornell set was gone but when I came across this one I was intrigued simply because it came from very early in their career plus I had some stuff from the same place but a year later (Two From the Vault) which is a particular favourite of mine. Unfortunately the price they were charging for the triple set was a bit on the steep side (€89.99) so I very reluctantly passed on. So anyway here it is and it's only just amazing! This is the real Haight Ashbury sound in all its psychedelic haze. Garcia is on fire with a very fuzzed up jazzy guitar sound. Completely different to his usual clean tone. If I was to choose between the Cornell set or any other lauded Dead set this would win me over every single time. Stunning!
How did you find the mix on the remixed version of the Isle of Wight gig? I was disappointed with the 1991 CD reissue, which lacked the almost ghostly atmosphere of the original 1971 album.
How did you find the mix on the remixed version of the Isle of Wight gig? I was disappointed with the 1991 CD reissue, which lacked the almost ghostly atmosphere of the original 1971 album.
Hi Rob,
Ghostly atmosphere, that's a nice description. The version I have is the triple Lp set and I think it's fine; much more ballsy than the original single disc version. I genuinely think Eddie Kramer did a more than worthwhile job. I do have another one that came after the original which tried to cram an hour of music onto a single Lp. I only ever listen to the triple set so I honestly cannot remember what the other two sound like or even your own remastered cd version....I'll say one thing about the triple set though Machine Gun only sounds unbelievable :)
cybot wrote: ↑Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:45 pm
The version I have is the triple Lp set and I think it's fine; much more ballsy than the original single disc version. I genuinely think Eddie Kramer did a more than worthwhile job. I do have another one that came after the original which tried to cram an hour of music onto a single Lp. I only ever listen to the triple set so I honestly cannot remember what the other two sound like or even your own remastered cd version....I'll say one thing about the triple set though Machine Gun only sounds unbelievable :)
Thanks, I think the one you mention that tried to cram an hour of music onto it is the 1991 version, which only featured two tracks from the original 1971 release. It has a rather unduly dry sound ON CD and a few of the tracks are not what one would call the highlights of the gig. The 1971 original has a strong sense of atmosphere, especially on Midnight Lightening and All Along the Watchtower, but is rather short unfortunately, and lacks a few of the great tracks from that gig such as Red House. Your triple LP must be the complete concert, which would be interesting to check out.
cybot wrote: ↑Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:45 pm
The version I have is the triple Lp set and I think it's fine; much more ballsy than the original single disc version. I genuinely think Eddie Kramer did a more than worthwhile job. I do have another one that came after the original which tried to cram an hour of music onto a single Lp. I only ever listen to the triple set so I honestly cannot remember what the other two sound like or even your own remastered cd version....I'll say one thing about the triple set though Machine Gun only sounds unbelievable :)
Thanks, I think the one you mention that tried to cram an hour of music onto it is the 1991 version, which only featured two tracks from the original 1971 release. It has a rather unduly dry sound ON CD and a few of the tracks are not what one would call the highlights of the gig. The 1971 original has a strong sense of atmosphere, especially on Midnight Lightening and All Along the Watchtower, but is rather short unfortunately, and lacks a few of the great tracks from that gig such as Red House. Your triple LP must be the complete concert, which would be interesting to check out.
Played the 1971 original and I was really surprised how well it sounded. But, then again, it is one of his best live recordings despite not being his best performance - so say the naysayers. I've always loved it despite its so called flaws etc etc. But you'd want to hear his performance the very next day somewhere in Sweden. A complete and utter mess. Very sad to hear too but as an important document of an exhausted artist killed by the music industry it's vital. His guitar literally howls for mercy.
Anyway I understand what you mean by the ghostly atmosphere. As you said it's clearly evident on Midnight Lightening. Listening to either the original or the three Lp set last night I was also struck by how amazingly live the album sounds. A really 'hot' recording. After Foxey Lady finished I was both exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. Wow! Definitely the best rendition of that song I've ever heard him do. I must read the notes as I thought I heard a malfunction with his guitar plus the security people breaking through the ether.
This 4 Lp set arrived this morning from Amazon. It's actually a replacement copy as the other one was so badly warped as to render it unplayable. Turnaround was actually only five days plus a postage refund. I'm a happy camper :)
The sq on Dark Star is astonishing. Looking forward to catching up with the rest over the weekend. At least I'll be able to hear it over the kango hammering on the street! Yep the Virgin boys are ripping up Dundalk :(
Oh and thanks to Paul for the recommendation.......
