I have been looking forward to the new Kacey Musgraves album since the lead single “Deeper Well” was released in early February – it signaled Kacey was back. 2021’s star-crossed never resonated with me, and I was hungry for a return to Golden Hour (2018) form. The One Lo ve movie-inspired Bob Marley cover “Three Little Birds,” released in January, caught my attention too. Unfortunately, Kacey and her team wasted money on a teaser commercial at the Grammys. It got totally lost when Taylor Swift mic dropped that her new album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, is coming on April 19. But now that it is here, I happily declare that Deeper Well is an excellent album.
Like Golden Hour, Deeper Well has a luscious production. However, this is not Golden Hour Vol. 2, as Deeper Well has its own aesthetics. Kacey sings slightly differently: more pop but still with a singer-songwriter vibe (and, when appropriate, a little twang). The lyrics are direct and have a world-weary, smart-ass attitude, but somehow optimistic.
…lyrics are direct with a world-weary smart-ass attitude
“Cardinal” opens the album with a baroque folk-rock intro—like a Byrds’ song. The music has a sad and wistful sound. Lyrically, Musgraves explores the old trope that a cardinal (bird) is a messenger from someone who has died. The narrator tries to decipher the message from the bird. No conclusions are made, just guesses. It is a beautiful start to the album.
“Deeper Well” is a gorgeous single, and if this was the only bright star on this album, this album cycle would be a success. Fortunately, this is just one of several great songs on the album. Again, Kacey is exploring a Bryds-like sound. Lyrically, the narrator is doing some weighty introspection: failed relationships, drugs have become too important, sycophants, etc. All these things need to be left behind and instead focus on a “deeper well.” In an interview, Kacey explains the deeper well metaphor:
“”Deeper Well’ cuts to the core of the human experience for those that are wanting to experience a deep relationship with themselves and also other humans that are existing. The older I get, the more I realize that if you don’t know yourself and you don’t have a deep relationship with yourself, you’re not going to have that with anybody else.”
“Too Good to Be True” – I love good songwriting that puts a twist on a cliche. Kacey delivers a brilliant twist on the “too good to be true” cliche:
“Be good to me and I’ll be good to you
But please don’t be too good to be true”
“Moving Out” is a song that remembers a house that two ex-lovers shared.
“Giver / Taker” is the most conventionally country song on the album, yet it reminds me of a combination of Dylan and Beck.
“Sway” has a country vibe with a Bon Iver(ish) ending. It has a simple message: don’t get uptight, and learn to go with the flow:
“I’ll sway (Yeah, oh yeah)
Like a palm tree in the wind”
“Dinner With Friends” is a ditty that examines romance.
“Heart of the Woods” has an indie rock/Americana feel to the music. Lyrically, this song is more opaque than the rest of the album.
“Jade Green” has Nick Drake vibes, but it also, musically, evokes Chris Isaak’s 1989 hit “Wicked Game.”
“The Architect” is a clever musing on the existence of god via a gorgeous jangling folk arrangement.
“Lonely Millionaire” is a pretty pop ballad with Kacey’s take on “money can’t buy you love.”
“Heaven Is” has a Celtic folk song feel. Lyrically, it points out the simple things that make it great.
“Anime Eyes” is the album’s most elaborate and experimental arrangement. It has a superb crescendo.
“Nothing to Be Scared Of” is a plea to a lover to open their heart and lose their life’s baggage:
“Come to me, and drop your bags
And I’ll help you unpack them
You’re the only one I want to give my love
There’s nothing to be scared of”
This album will burnish Kacey’s reputation as a singer-songwriter and recording artist. The songwriting is simple and direct, and the music/arrangements perfectly augment the lyrics. One odd feature is that many of the songs just end. Kacey could have done a better job sticking the landing on some of these songs. Golden Hour was a huge step forward, moving Kacey from an up-and-coming country star to a brilliant pop singer-songwriter. Deeper Well is evidence that Golden Hour was not a fluke and Kacey is for real.
My introduction to the album was the 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC stream on Tidal, and the sonics are like butter.
The vinyl version has an excellent master and pressing, and the packaging is well done. I chose the indie record store version and pressed it on “spilled milk” vinyl. The leaves are scented with “KM + Boy Smells” – a nice gimmick.
Dume is yet another “lost” Neil Young album. In the mid-’70s, Neil Young, Crazy Horse, and producer David Briggs lived in the Point Dume area of Malibu. Zuma, named after the beach they lived near, was recorded during that period. When Young was assembling his 2020 Archives Vol II box set he created Dume to combine songs from Zuma with unreleased tracks and mixes from that same period. Of the 16 tracks on Dume, half were not on Zuma. Most of the non-Zuma songs eventually found their way onto other releases (in different arrangements) including three on Rust Never Sleeps. All the Zuma tracks are represented except the CSNY song “Through My Sails.”
Zuma is one of my favorite Neil Young albums so it is a delight to have this new compilation from the Neil Young Archives series. “Cortez The Killer” is my favorite cut on the original Zuma and one of my favorite Neil Young songs. Its groove and the slow grinding lugubrious jam are the sounds that hooked me on Neil Young and Crazy Horse in the first place: heavy metal on Red Wine and Quaaludes. I absolutely love when Neil does this kind of shit. Well, Dume has plenty more. I am going to focus this review on the Dume songs that were not on Zuma. The songs marked with a # were unreleased versions of songs that appeared in other places in the Neil catalog until the Archives Vol II CD/digital box and are new to vinyl. The songs marked * were unreleased songs until the Archives Vol II box and are also new to vinyl. Here is the annotated track list focused on the non-Zuma songs:
“Ride My Llama” # is a Rust Never Sleeps track. The Dume version is full-on Crazy Horse electric grunge compared to the acoustic version on Rust. Both are great and each deserves a place in the catalog.
“Born To Run” * This is not the Bruce song. This is a song I had not heard before. It is a typical vibe of Neil and The Horse.
“Kansas” * Is another song that I have never heard before, but it fits like a glove on this album. It is classic wonderful sloppy proto-grunge from The Horse.
“Powderfinger” # is a highlight of 1979’s Rust Never Sleeps. This version is stunning: it is a pure country rock (or as we call it today Americana) song. I think I prefer it to the Rust Never Sleeps version. Rust and Live Rust were pivotal in my becoming a Neil Young fan and so this is a new essential track for me.
“Hawaii” # is another song that is new to me and represents a unique guitar sound for Neil and The Horse. It foreshadows the New Wave – by five-plus years. It has a really cool groove and sticks the landing with a great ending.
“Too Far Gone” # This song eventually appeared on Freedom (1989). The Dume version is acoustic and is begging for Mick Jagger to cover it in his ironic country voice. The Freedom version is similar, but not identical to the version on Freedom. I prefer the Dume version.
“Pocahontas” # is a folk electric version that is different enough from the Rust Never Sleeps version to be a delightful addition to the catalog.
“No One Seems To Know” # finally made its appearance on the 2018 live album Songs For Judy (as an acoustic piano version). The version on Dume is a similar acoustic piano version.
The vinyl is well mastered and pressed and this album is analog heaven. The wax sounds great on my system – it is tube extasy on the guitar solos. The packaging is nicely done – an enhanced version of the original Zuma LP. The album can be streamed on all services, including Spotify. I use Tidal and Dume is buried in the Archives Vol II compilation (tracks 99-114) in. 24 bit/192 kHz FLAC.
I get overwhelmed by the volume of the Neil Young archival releases, but Dume has muscled its way through the mess and will be a great pre-game to the Neil Young & Crazy Horse show (and new album Fu##In’ Up – which is a redo of 1990’s Ragged Glory when Neil was in his godfather of grunge era) that I will be seeing in Phoenix this spring. I am amazed at how coherent this album is and further amazed that Young was able to use these songs on other albums – especially Rust – they seemed like they belonged on Rust, but Rust and Zume are very much companions and this is even more evident after listening to Dume.
I am unsure when the notion of a tube (or valve as they call it across the pond) amp entered my audiophile lust zone. I had an old Ampeg guitar amp that was tube-based, so I was well aware of the warmth of that sound vs. solid state. In early 2011, I started researching tube amp options as a few years earlier I fell back in love with my vinyl record collection after flirting with MP3.
Here is some of the back story on my transition back to vinyl after a long affair with digital. I got my first CD player around 1985 and was absolutely blown away. What appealed to me about CDs is that they were quiet – no surface noise. For many years I felt that CDs sonically sounded better than vinyl records. Another huge benefit was that 70 minutes of music fit onto a CD – no getting up to flip a record. Many double LPs could fit on a single CD. I liked CDs so much that I began buying CDs of vinyl LPs I already owned. For the next 25 years, I bought and played CDs. But as time went on I began to be fatigued by the harshness of the CD format. I could listen to vinyl LPs for hours on end, but my CD limit was about 90 minutes and then my head began to hurt.
When MP3 came into my awareness in the early 00s I was initially smitten – the music was free, files were small enough to fit on a portable player (e.g., an iPod), files could be downloaded in a reasonable time, and not overwhelm your computer’s hard drive. I had a twinge of guilt that I was stealing the music, but that was not a new thing as I had been borrowing LPs from friends for years and copying them to cassette tape and more recently borrowing CDs to rip and burn. The MP3 “market” was just a more convenient way to borrow music, albeit from strangers. It did have the risk of viruses and malware, but I was fearless and fortunately never got burned. But it did not take long for me to realize that MP3s did not sound as good as CDs so I used MP3s to sample an album and if I liked it I bought the CD.
Around 2005, the combination of the terrible sound of MP3s and my ear fatigue from CDs got me playing my vinyl records again. Despite the surface noise, the extra effort to listen, and the lack of portability, I fell in love with vinyl LPs all over again. Fortunately, I had never considered liquidating my vinyl LPs (I probably had 1000 vinyl LPs at that point). As I was rediscovering vinyl there was a glut of used vinyl. Most people had liquidated their vinyl when they transitioned to CDs and now were even liquidating their CDs in favor of digital files on their computers. I began to acquire cheap used vinyl records and over the next few years – I doubled my vinyl collection. Simultaneously and coincidental with my personal vinyl revival, a small vinyl revival was appearing in the recording industry. By 2010 the revival was gaining full traction and artists were starting to release new music on vinyl. For the first time in my life I was organically part of a musical trend (I am a notorious late-to-the-party guy when it comes to musical trends).
I was in an analog state of mind. I wanted to try out tube audio as everything I heard about tubes was that they had a warmer sound – similar to what I was experiencing with my transition from digital (CDs and MP3s) to analog (vinyl).
Given that I am a budget audio, I aimed to find a quality tube amplifier at a reasonable price. In researching I determined that the best solution for me was a JoLida Glass FX 10 integrated amplifier. The amp was new to the market and it checked a lot of boxes for me:
- It was affordable – $450
- It looked adorable (I realize that is not a legitimate audiophile reason, but hey I am shallow)
- It was getting great reviews
Although it was low-powered at 10 watts, I had learned early in my audiophile journey that power was overrated. Quality power was more important than the amount of power, I had efficient speakers, and I rarely listened to music loud.
In early 2011, I ordered the FX10 from The Needle Doctor (an amazing, but now defunct, store that will get its own blog post in the music memoir series). When the amp arrived at the store I drove over to Dinkytown (Minneapolis) to pick it up. My first reaction was how small the box was. I also ordered an inexpensive phone preamp as I knew the FX10 did not have a built-in phono preamp. In 2011 (and over the preceding couple of decades) it had become rare that a new amp had a phono input given the general music economy was digital.
I unboxed the amp, set it up, placed Joni Mitchell’s For the Roses on the turntable, dropped the needle, and experienced rapture. Even my wife, who supports my music and audio passion despite little interest herself, was struck by the beauty of the sound coming out of the amp.
What did I hear? I will use the tube cliche: warmth. I had a decent solid-state amp (NAD 7240PE) that did a great job, but the FX10 was a different beast. It sounded like a warm blanket felt on a cold night. Going back to the NAD, it now sounded frigid vs. warm, jagged vs. smooth, and hard vs. soft. The FX10 paired with a vinyl record was magical.
The timing of the arrival of the FX10 in 2011 could not have been more perfect: The kids were off to college so I had more time on my hands. In the fall of 2011, I had major surgery and a 6-week recovery that even gave me more time to focus on listening to new music. I had a little extra money so I did a bunch of upgrades: a new turntable, a tube-based phono preamp, and new speakers. I was in audio heaven.
Since then I have done more upgrades and when it comes to amplification I have stayed in the tube lane. I don’t have a technical understanding of tubes vs. solid state, I just know that tubes are my preference. I realize that tubes are not for everyone, but if you are into great sound I recommend you dip your toe into the tube world. The least expensive way I know is via a Schitt Vali headphone amp ($150).
I am a longtime fan of Cat Power (AKA Charlyn Marie “Chan” Marshall) and her mellow purr since her 2006 album The Greatest. Cat Power, although an excellent singer-songwriter, has a history of doing great covers including three albums of cover songs. The concept here is to cover Bob Dylan’s legendary 1966 British concert where he challenged his fans by going electric as documented by the 1998 album: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert.
The original Dylan show was actually recorded at the Manchester Free Trade Hall during Dylan’s 1966 world tour, but early bootlegs attributed the recording to the Royal Albert Hall so it became known as the Royal Albert Hall Concert. The original setlist consisted of two parts, with the first half of the concert being Dylan alone on stage performing an acoustic set of songs, while the second half of the concert is Dylan playing an “electric” set of songs with his band The Hawks (later renamed The Band). The first half of the concert (acoustic) was greeted warmly by the audience, while the second half (electric) was filled with heckling due to some of the audience’s dissatisfaction with Dylan going electric. The show included Dylan’s legendary confrontation with a heckler who yelled “Judas” which can be heard on the recording. After “Judas!” there is clapping, followed by more heckles. Dylan then says “I don’t believe you”, then after a pause, “You’re a liar.” Bob Dylan then said to his band, “Play it fuckin’ loud” as they began “Like a Rolling Stone.” At the end, the audience erupts into applause and Dylan says, “Thank you.”
A pretty amazing concert for Cat Power to cover. She takes the same approach as Dylan: the first half acoustic and the second half electric with her band. She has the same set list (songs and order) as the famous recording. The performance is a live show at Royal Albert Hall recorded on November 5, 2022.
The arrangements are faithful to the Dylan originals, yet Cat Power’s unique vocals make the material her own. Hearing her interpret these songs opens up new meanings and nuances.
LP One: Acoustic Set
These covers are faithful to the original album: voice, guitar, and harmonica. Cat Power’s performance is like a sweet caress – she is clearly in love with the material – it is devotional. Cat Power has a similar but unique phrasing to Dylan. The recording quality is pristine.
LP Two: Electric Set
This is by far my favorite set. It is wonderfully feisty. The arrangements are faithful, but not beholden to the original. It is like the band took the original and readjusted it for Chan’s phrasing and Chan’s phrasing is wonderful – Dylanesque, but still plenty of Cat Power. It is an inspired interpretation. It includes an audience member shouting “Judas!” at Cat Power in the same manner as the original Dylan show.
This is a brilliant concept for an album and Cat Power nails it. She is taking this show on the road too (unfortunately not to a city near me).
As a kid, I became fascinated with the piccolo and wanted to play it. My parents indulged my interest and found a piccolo teacher who told them that if I wanted to play the piccolo, I would first need to learn to play the flute. That sounded fine to me. I started to learn the flute when I was in third grade. I took lessons at the MacPhail Center For Music in downtown Minneapolis. My instructor was Dennis Schulte, AKA Mr. Schulte.
My grade school did not have a band so learning the flute was a solitary effort. My first flute was a “rent to buy” and was a Gemeinhardt student model. The first thing that Mr. Schulte did was teach me to make a sound on the flute head joint. This is not as easy as it sounds: you blow over the embouchure hole and you have to create an embouchure which is the use of the lips, teeth, tongue, and facial muscles to play a wind instrument like the flute. I bet this took a week to figure out. When I returned for my second lesson, I could make an appropriate sound. Also, part of that first lesson was learning the basics of reading music: learning the notes on a staff by the mnemonic device: Every Good Boy Does Fine and FACE.
I took to the flute like a duck to water and after a few months, my folks realized that I was not going to quit it so they actually purchased a flute for me. Mr Schulte insisted that I get an open-hole flute with a silver head joint as that would be a quality flute that would see me through the next several years. An open-hole flute has holes in the keys which are covered by the player’s fingers. The upside is that it allows for a greater range of fingerings, playing techniques, and improved tone. The downside is that it requires greater dexterity to play – AKA, it is harder to play. Mr. Schulte’s theory was to start a player young on an open hole so that you develop dexterity early in your flute playing career. I don’t remember how much the flute cost, but it must have been a lot for my parents – the equivalent of over $1000 today. I remember that McPhail sold ticket books to pay the instructor. I think it was $5 a lesson – which is roughly equivalent to $35 in today’s dollars – so a lot.
Mr Schulte was impressed with my ear: he used to have me turn my back on him and he would audition (A/B style) state-of-the-art flutes and ask me to judge which sounded better. I consistently picked the most expensive model, e.g. a wood open hole with a silver head joint. The downside of my good ear was that I could cheat and play music by ear at the expense of mastering sight reading. Mr. Schulte would give me an assignment each week from the A.C. Petersen method book by playing it for me. I relied more on remembering that demo than on reading the music. For fun, I had a music book of pop hits of the day that I ended up playing mostly by ear vs. reading the music.
I would even write my own tunes on the flute. The only one I remember was an upbeat instrumental I titled “The Dancing Tabby” – I was cat-obsessed as a kid.
The flute is a relatively easy instrument to play once you figure out how to make a noise blowing across the embouchure hole. After that, it is memorizing fingering (see fingering chart below) and adjusting your embouchure and blow to change octaves and create effects like staccato. Below is a flute-fingering chart:
I continued to improve at the flute for the next few years. When I started junior high I joined the band. I was shocked to learn that the flute was a “girl instrument.” As a seventh-grade male, I didn’t have a lot of gender confidence so I felt uncomfortable in the flute section. However, this is where I first discovered boobs – a couple of junior high girls in the flute section were beginning to blossom and I was stirred by the slightest glimpse of their cleavage.
A few months into my band career I accidentally left my flute on top of my locker at school and once I realized it and returned to my locker it was gone. My dad was furious at my carelessness, but he was also furious at the band instructor as he assumed that he had stolen the flute – a bizarre accusation – but I was fine with his misplaced blame as it took some of the heat off me for my screw-up.
I continued to play the flute in the band with a borrowed flute for a few more months, but I had lost my passion for the instrument: I wasn’t secure enough in my sexuality to play a “girl instrument,” my weak sight-reading was now a liability and the borrowed flute was a piece of crap. I ended up quitting playing the flute before the end of seventh grade.
Many years later I got together with a bunch of guys and we started a band: Whale (that is a topic that will get its own post). I was learning the guitar and it was my primary instrument in Whale. My wife had her old flute from when she was a kid and so I started to mess with it. My embouchure was still functional and my ability to play came back like riding a bike. I brought it to Whale band practice and duct taped a small microphone to the flute’s head joint and I was now Whale’s Ian Anderson.
Since Whale broke up 30 years ago I haven’t touched the flute, but now that I am retired I think about taking it up again as I have great memories of playing the flute.
Here is another special request from one of my daughter’s friends to review something, this time it is Rick Rubin’s book on creativity.
I am a fan of Rick Rubin, first as a record producer and second as a podcaster. His career as a record producer is unusual in that he has produced all kinds of genres (hip hop, rock, country, etc.) and artists (new, established, and legacy). He has some curveballs too – he was the unlikely guy to resurrect the career of Johnny Cash. From everything I have read about him and listening to him on his podcasts, his skill as a record producer is not technical (he is not a musician or engineer), but rather by being the king of the vibe: he helps creative people be the best version of themselves. On his podcast, Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin, he has long conversations with creative people. You get a sense of how he coaches creatives by witnessing the conversations.
In his book, you learn that he is a student of the creative process. He has developed an understanding of how creativity works and has documented his understanding. The book is meant to show that there are techniques to be creative and it is not magic. At the beginning of the book, Rubin says:
Nothing in this book is known to be true.
It’s a reflection on what I’ve noticed
Not facts so much as thoughts.
I believe that some people are more gifted than others, whether it is intellect, sports, visual arts, music, or whatever. However, I also believe that most gifted people squander their gift and less gifted people could do more if they put their mind to it and had good guidance/coaching. This is why a book like Rubin’s is so important: it is aimed at artistically gifted people to maximize their gifts and at less artistically gifted people to reach their potential. I don’t see myself as an artist, but I do see myself as creative. I found the book useful to me in enhancing my creativity. As an appreciator of artists, it helped me understand them more.
The book is arranged in short chapters and is easy to read and understand. The book can be read from beginning to end, but it also can be read randomly, that is, read a chapter that catches your fancy or meets an immediate need. It is a hipster version of Chicken Soup for the Soul. When Rubin explains things, it sounds obvious. His understanding of creativity is achievable by anyone who puts their mind to it and follows Rubin’s tips.
Here are some example quotes from the book to give you a feel for Rubin’s approach:
How differentiates craft and art: “If you know what you want to do and you do it, that’s the work of a craftsman. If you begin with a question and use it to guide an adventure of discovery, that’s the work of the artist.”
Another quote: “Creativity is something you are, not only something you do. It’s a way of moving through the world, every minute, every day.”
There is one key concept that Rubin talks about that I could not grasp. He calls it The Source. There is a quote early in the book where he says:
We begin with everything: everything seen, everything done, everything thought, everything felt, everything imagined, everything forgotten,
and everything that rests unspoken and unthought within us.This content does not come from inside us. The Source is out there. A wisdom surrounding us, an inexhaustible offering that is always available.
I never got The Source. The important point, one that I struggle with (the same way I struggle with spirituality/faith), is that The Source is not from inside us but from outside us. Rubin is saying that the source of creativity is not internal but external. My gut is it is both inside and outside. Maybe The Source will make sense to true creatives. But other than that, most of Rubin’s words make a lot of sense to me.
If you are artistic, creative, or interested in artists and creatives you will find Rick Rubin’s book worth your time.
Per the distillery’s website: “The true, bold spirit of Wild Turkey has been captured in this authentic barrel proof whiskey, creating one of the finest bourbons in the world. Uncut with water, Rare Breed is an uncompromised Kentucky bourbon with tones of sweet tobacco and hints of orange and mint, making it a remarkably smooth whiskey legend.”
I am a Bourbon fan and there is not really a Bourbon I don’t like – but I certainly like some more than others. I like the various Buffalo Trace brands, the various forms of Maker’s Mark, Four Roses, and Jefferson’s. Despite it being a classic brand, I have never had Wild Turkey. I don’t like spending big bucks. I like to keep it in the $40 range (and I am more than happy to spend less – especially for a cocktail spirit) but I will spend $75 for something special (that is about my upper limit). I mostly drink whiskey straight, but I do like an Old Fashioned. I bought this at Costco for around $40.
My first taste was neat and it was too hot – it is 116.8 proof (58.4% ABV) after all. But served over ice: perfection. I typically don’t like straight whiskey on ice as the flavor gets diluted. However, with high-ABV whiskies, the dilution is a good thing. So on a hot summer night, it is a delight to sip on a cold whiskey and appreciate the dilution.
Once your palate adjusts from a cold one, a neat pour tastes amazing.
As for the taste:
- Heat – the first thing that hits you as I said before is the heat
- A hint of licorice
- Some orange
- Unquestionably Bourbon – you won’t confuse as any other kind of whiskey
- Despite the heat, it is clean – not a lot of aftertaste
- Sweet, but not too sweet
Now that I have gotten used to it, I don’t feel the need to have it over ice. But ice is a nice option when the time is right.
My biggest endorsement of a spirit is would I buy it again? Absolutely! The next question is, does it need to be in regular rotation in our bar? Not necessarily, this is a special spirit that I will buy on sale (or at Costco). This is a high-quality spirit at a reasonable price ($40-$45).
When I was a kid (born in 1959) my parents had a two-cabinet Magnavox stereo console. I was able to find a picture of the model on eBay. In one cabinet was a record player/changer and an AM/FM radio. In the other cabinet was record storage. You would turn it on and then have to wait a bit for the tubes to warm up. I recall it sounded good – it was both a nice stereo and a nice piece of furniture. It was in perfect shape except for a small cigarette burn on the top of one of the cabinets. This kind of electronics/furniture was all the rage in the 60s – the console was the typical configuration for stereos and TVs. I wish I still had this console.
My parent’s record collection was: Irish folk music (they were from Ireland and the Clancy Brothers were actually a big deal in the early ’60s), elevator music (Mantovani, 101 Strings, Percy Faith, etc,) some kids’ music (e.g. Disney greatest hits), big band music, etc. My favorite of the bunch was Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. I didn’t use the Magnavox much as I didn’t have any of my own records (beyond those few kids’ records) and my parents’ collection was of no interest to me.
As mentioned in another blog post, my primary tool for listening to music when I was a kid was a portable cassette player and a 9-volt transistor radio. I was able to upgrade those options to a more “hi-fi solution” by taking some hearing protection ear muffs (my dad gave me an old pair from work) and installing speakers recovered from 9-volt transistor radios and the cord from an earphone. I was pretty pleased with myself.
My first real stereo was a Soundesign integrated unit (AM/FM radio, turntable/changer, and speakers) that I purchased from LaBelle’s (a catalog showroom store in downtown Minneapolis in the 70s and 80s) and paid for from paper route money. That stereo got me started on the audiophile and music bug. In hindsight, it wasn’t much better than a current-day Crosley suitcase record player, but I didn’t know any better. Having my own stereo in my bedroom was a game changer. I could now listen to whatever I wanted. I remember my parents being out of town and bravely smoking some weed in my bedroom and listening to a borrowed copy of Pink Floyd’s Darkside of the Moon in high school – that was an out-of-character risk for me at the time.
I brought the Soundesign unit to college in the fall of 1977 and quickly learned it was not a real stereo and I needed to pick up my audiophile game (don’t recall audiophile as even being a term back then) and get a real stereo – AKA separate components (receiver, turntable, and speakers). After hearing the component systems of my new college buddies, I quickly realized the Soundesign was crap. The music of the day (what has become labeled “classic rock”) demanded to be heard on a proper stereo.
A few months into my college career I bought a used receiver and turntable (components) from a college buddy (Uncle Paul) when he upgraded. I bought some huge no-brand speakers from one of the local audio stores. That new system was a major upgrade to the Soundesign – now I was a true fledgling audiophile. I played my stereo frequently and loudly given the dorm situation. I remember seeing those speakers literally jump off the shelves of my college dorm room as a result of cranking the system. The speakers survived for a couple more decades – they were bruised, but not ruined.
Soon I was on the upgrade path myself. On a trip to Chicago in the fall of 1978 (sophomore) with a college classmate, I bought a nice solid-state amp from Scott.
The trip to Chicago was a wonderful adventure – my first unsupervised road trip. We did the Chicago tourist stuff, but the highlight (besides acquiring the receiver) was a night at the Jazz Showcase where we saw jazz vibes legend Milt Jackson of the Modern Jazz Quartet.
I obtained true audiophile status when I purchased a very nice Sony turntable from the Sony Sound Center in downtown Minneapolis:
I upgraded the cartridge on the turntable to what was state of the art at the time: a Shure V15. Between the turntable and the cartridge, I spent $600, which was a small fortune in 1978 on my meager student budget (the equivalent of $2800 today).
The combination of the Scott receiver, the Sony turntable, and the giant no-name speakers served me well for many years. Every few years I would upgrade some part of the rig. This is how the obsession with audiophile sound began and that continues through to today.
When the first The Smile album, A Light For Attracting Attention, came out in 2022 I missed it. Later that year a live set came out and that did catch my ears. I am a Radiohead fan and of the band members’ side projects. The Smile is one of those side projects and includes Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood with the drummer Tom Skinner (member of the jazz band Sons of Kemet). Yorke provided vocals, and he and Greenwood played guitar, bass, and keyboards. The debut album was produced by Radiohead’s longtime producer Nigel Godrich. The new album, Wall Of Eyes, is produced and mixed by Sam Petts-Davies. It features string arrangements by the London Contemporary Orchestra.
The Smile sounds like Radiohead and most importantly there are plenty of guitars and live drums (I am not as big a fan of Radiohead’s electronic sound vs. guitar-based rock sound). The Smile is more mature than vintage Radiohead, which at 65 years old, I dig – not so much Radiohead teenage angst (the guys are now in the 50s), but plenty of classic Radiohead alienation. The strings are a wonderful addition – a nice touch – that is understated: the strings rock! I like the ambitions of the arrangements.
The new album is similar to the debut, although a touch mellow (which I am cool with). Tom Skinner’s drums are still a significant part of the soundscape, just subtler than the debut.
Here are some track-by-track observations:
“Wall Of Eyes” has a Brazilian (samba/bossa nova) vibe, but is distinctively Radioheadish too. It introduces to the listener that this album is going to be rhythmic, yet melodic. We hear the strings that will be a dominant color on the album. There is some cool guitar work too. The vocals are typical of Thom Yorke.
“Teleharmonic” is an atmospheric piece and Yorke’s vocals are more experimental: breathy, soulful, and at times falsetto. There is some tasteful flute too.
“Read The Room” is the most Beatlesque thing Thom and Jonny have ever done. It is on the noise-rock and psychedelic side of The Beatles’ catalog. This is my favorite track on the album. Jonny’s guitar dominants and Thom’s vocals have never sounded prettier.
“Under Our Pillows” is the most Radioheadish track on the album. It could easily be on OK Computer. Jonny’s intricate guitar melodies are the primary sonic palate until the last third of the song which is atmospheric.
“Friend Of A Friend” opens with a classic Thom falsetto. A piano segues into strings to create a Radiohead vibe – there is a psychedelic Beatles feel too.
“I Quit” has an amazing guitar intro followed by spooky vocals from Thom. The production is brilliant. This will be a great headphone reference recording.
“Bending Hectic” is a gorgeous Jonny guitar exhibit and Thom has innovative vocals – it is a texture I have not heard from him before – a singer-songwriter vibe. After a mellow first half the album ends with a fantastic crash landing. This song is challenging “Read The Room” for my favorite track on the album.
“You Know Me!” – George Harrison could have written this. This would be a cool song a cappella, yet the arrangement totally elevates the song. The Smile sticks the landing with this final track.
Overall the album has a more mature feel than a Radiohead album. Typically pop acts ruin their songs with strings, but The Smile genuinely improves the arrangements with the strings. My assumption is that Radiohead is on indefinite hiatus and so The Smile is likely the closest we will get to fresh Radiohead. The Smile is a satisfying substitute. As for the lyrical content, I have rarely paid attention to Radiohead lyrical content and I am not about to start now with The Smile – enjoying the soundscape roll over me is all I need.
Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind (2022)
This is yet another special request review. My son-in-law got wind I was taking requests and requested that I review Coheed and Cambria’s latest: Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind (2022). I know he is a big fan of the band so this was a good chance to check it out. I am aware of Coheed and Cambria and assumed they were a metal band as I know that is the kind of thing my son-in-law would like. I gave the album an initial listen and I was surprised to learn that they are pop-prog – the best comparison I can think of is the poppier side of Rush, e.g. Moving Pictures. Like Rush, they are expert musicians – the musicianship comes across in complex arrangements and great instrument play and vocals. They are melodic AF.
This is their tenth studio album and is a concept album that continues the Amory Wars storyline. Per Wikipedia:
“The Amory Wars is an ongoing series of science fiction comic books and novels created by Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert, published by Evil Ink Comics. The name also refers to the fictional conflict at the center of the story, which is told across the published works and is also the primary focus of most of the band’s music.“
I am not typically into the “concept”’ of concept albums – I am just here for the music. There are a lot of concept albums I like, but I couldn’t tell you the storyline if my life depended on it. So I have no interest in the libretto of this album. That being said, I do like the album. The catchy melodies, the dramatic dynamics, the elaborate arrangements, and the solid rock vocals are both original and familiar.
If I had to describe the band quickly it would be a pop-punk-prog (with a dash of Queen and Journey). At times it gets really poppy, for example, the song “A Disappearing Act” could be ABBA. Coheed and Cambria is not music I would typically listen to and I am not going to listen past this assignment. That being said, I fully appreciate what is going on here. It is well-executed, sonically excellent, artsy, catchy, etc. A rock band needs a great lead vocalist with a unique sound and this band has that guy in Claudio Sanchez. The guy has amazing pipes. Overall, I get the quality of the music it is just not my thing, but I am glad to have given it a serious listen.
Axl's Catch Groove 