What are you listening to right now?

[Niclo Iste]

Ever since my girlfriend and I heard their song in the new Sherlock Holmes movie we've been hooked on them. The Dubliners have a very nice feel to their Irish Folk Songs.

[houseisland]

I've never really understood why Zappa hit the Remix Road in 84. My best guess is that Zappa decided he wanted to remake the early Mothers of Invention work in his image only. Too bad. Half the attraction of albums like We're Only In It For The Money were the rough edges; definitely in keeping with their spirit of anarchy.

Even worse, Zappa's widow seems determined to control his music to the point that only those musicians she sees as willing and able to play Zappa according to her vision of how Frank wanted it are permitted. Everyone else is sued.

Anyway, I've been listening to lots of R. Thompson the last few days, and thought I'd share a couple of cuts. I Feel So Good is Thompson at his antisocial best, and I include Mingus Eyes just 'cause it's good. Well, because it's Austin City Limits too. Hey! What's the point of waxing nostalgic if you do an incomplete job of waxing?

I don't get it either. The early Mother's were quite accomplished musicians - you would have to be to read Zappa's charts. Listen to highly disturbing placement of the kick drum in Cheap Thrills and tell me that the drummer isn't brilliant. The cheese was intentional. There is some speculation that Zappa may have been engaging in some creative historical revisionism, much like the Chinese who air brush people in and out of historical pictures as political needs dictate. Roy Estrada and Art Tripp may have pissed Mr. Z off somehow.

By the way, my son went to see the Grand Mothers and the Vancouver Folk Festival a couple of years ago. They were apparently quite pleased that somebody under 50 approached them to chat and ask for autographs, especially as he knew who all them were and could discuss their work quite knowledgeably.

____________________________________________



It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

[houseisland]

my girlfriend

What? You have a soft and cuddly side?

The crusty, curmudgeonly, cantankerous persona we have all come to know and love is just a sham?

Say it ain't so, dude. Like I'm shattered.



____________________________________________



It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

[Niclo Iste]

Perhaps she loves me because I have a crusty, curmudgeonly, cantankerous persona.

[slgrieb]

Perhaps she loves me because I have a crusty, curmudgeonly, cantankerous persona.

Don't make me call out the attorneys! CCT and I hold the relevant crusty, curmudgeonly, and cantankerous copyrights. We also hold copyrights to the term psykotic. Just a little too slow registering "psychotic". Tim Dorsey beat us to the punch.

Still, what makes traditional Celtic music really interesting are those tempos like 12/8, 6/8, and 9/8 combined with the distinctive instrumentation and the most beautiful language in the world.

[houseisland]

Don't make me call out the attorneys! CCT and I hold the relevant crusty, curmudgeonly, and cantankerous copyrights. We also hold copyrights to the term psykotic.

Hmmmmm.........



____________________________________________



It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

[houseisland]

Hmmmmm.........



____________________________________________



It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

Or ... wait... maybe that was just obnoxious and not crusty, curmudgeonly and cantankerous...

Been so long, it's all kind of vague now.

___________________________________________



It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

[houseisland]

The original 68 mix. Not the 84 remix which is a travesty of sorts.


Cruising with Ruben and the Jets

Absolutely brilliant!



____________________________________________



It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

Not from Cruising with Ruben and the Jets, but of the same time period and same genre:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swgWNM_4eNk

____________________________________________



It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

[slgrieb]

I don't get it either. The early Mother's were quite accomplished musicians - you would have to be to read Zappa's charts. Listen to highly disturbing placement of the kick drum in Cheap Thrills and tell me that the drummer isn't brilliant. The cheese was intentional. There is some speculation that Zappa may have been engaging in some creative historical revisionism, much like the Chinese who air brush people in and out of historical pictures as political needs dictate. Roy Estrada and Art Tripp may have pissed Mr. Z off somehow.

Agreed that Zappa never had a bad musician in The Mothers, but I sorta think that in later years he fell into the same trap as some other artists, and wanted to "improve" his earlier work. You know that whole Blade Runner: The Absolute Last Final Director's Cut, For Real This Time thing.

[houseisland]

A diamond, one that you are familiar with, is handed to a different gem cutter, and suddenly there are facets of brilliance that you had been blissfully unaware of and now find yourself haunted by....

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSHf8...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDneEDBZnw

____________________________________________



It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

[slgrieb]

Surprised you didn't link to Gabriel's Boy in The Bubble. I absolutely agree that Gabriel has perfectly understood Simon's meaning for the original cut. Truly beautiful.

Of course, I'm a sucker for Loreena McKennitt's version of Greensleeves. On the album liner note (some of you may remember these) she says this cut started out as a speculation on how Tom Waits would sing Greensleeves. I think she went well past that to create a version that is uniquely raw and passionate; not the mincing pseudo-Elizabethan version most are accustomed to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW98E...eature=related

[slgrieb]

You know, it occurs to me that if I'm going to rant against prissy, mincing pseudo-Elizabethan renditions of Greensleeves, I should present an example. It typifies everything I hate about the conventional arrangements, but at least it has a hot babe. So sue me if I'm shallow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmh9__mI51g

[houseisland]

Surprised you didn't link to Gabriel's Boy in The Bubble.

Clipboard error. I didn't check the link after posting.

____________________________________________



It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

[slgrieb]

Clipboard error. I didn't check the link after posting.

Yes, they say that as you get older your... what's the word now? Your something or other starts failing. Starts with an "m", Well, I just can't seem to remember.

Anywho, for those poor benighted individuals who might not have understood the earlier reference to Tom Waits, I offer The Piano Has Been Drinking.

[slgrieb]

As a final antidote to prissy "folk music", I think its worth a listen to two of the finest grisly, gruesome murder ballads ever written: The Famous Flower of Servingmen from Martin Carthy, and Fairport Convention's Matty Groves.