Tír Na HiFi

Four nights. This is one of them. Material from these nights surfaced on Live Dead. Death Don't Have No Mercy has never sounded as majestic as it does here.







https://youtu.be/E_xAxKM-0Xc

Fran wrote: ↑Tue Jul 07, 2020 5:52 pm

Fran, that's not the Music Matters pressing by any chance? Saw there was a copy for sale from the UK recently

Kristo Rodzevski is a new name for me and is a very interesting songwriter and guitarist (originally from Macedonia but now resident in New York) whose day job appears to be a certified psychiatrist but he likes to find time for his musical projects. There is quite a line-up of talent on his new album, Hubris. Mary Halvorson on guitar (with her Thumbscrew band mate, Tomas Fujiwara on drums), Bill Laswell on bass and regular Zorn collaborator Ikue Mori on electronics.

There is something of Robert Wyatt’s surrealist wordplay in these songs with touches of Slapp Happy and perhaps some 1970s Canterbury whimsy thrown in as well. I do hear echoes of Pavement embedded in these songs as well. I am stretching for points of reference here but it is all very engaging and very gently undercut by the very tastefully inventive instrumental accompaniments. Mary is on very fine form, never dominating the sonic picture but always hovering in the fringes making subtle contributions that add immeasurably to the songs. Perhaps the highlight is Bailey’s Bicycle with starts off with a very Derek Bailey-like accompaniment from Mary and drummer Fujiwara before taking a side trip into what sounds like a Macedonian folk song before returning to more Bailey-inspired frippery to end the song.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fonWj_qYfDA

Listening to this album reminds me of what Mary mentioned once in an interview (with The Wire, I believe) - that she would love to work with Fiona Apple one day, which would make a very interesting album.

I normally try to keep track of recordings which Mary Halvorson has contributed to but, rather like John Zorn’s mammoth discography, it can be overwhelming at times. Sometimes the recordings are on tiny labels with no European distribution or sometimes they are simply digital-only releases. This album passed me by completely. It is not listed on Mary Halvorson’s website nor does it seem to be included on the gigantic online sessionography ( http://www.bb10k.com/MH.disc.html) which lists all her sessions since 2000.

Lovely album and check out the guitar - the SynthAxe I presume.
Mark

Anniversary edition on two slabs of white vinyl.





https://youtu.be/70eiEpOBEX8

Not one of his best but Jennie and Al Bowley rank among his the very pinnacle of his many wonderful compositions.

.sjb

Well Richard led to Danny.



Can't say this is doing much for me but one of the best, well top 10 gigs, I've been at was Richard, Danny and Christine Collister - which is probably why I stumped out for this all those years ago.

I really do have a lot of albums that I bought and never listened to, this is one of those.

.sjb

TrickyDicky wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 4:46 pm

Fran wrote: ↑Tue Jul 07, 2020 5:52 pm

Fran, that's not the Music Matters pressing by any chance? Saw there was a copy for sale from the UK recently

No [hangs head in shame] its a digital version [/hangs head in shame]

and sure Danny led me to The Pentangle, which believe it or not I’d never before listened to.



.sjb