2015.05.28 Rolling Stone Age

most embarrassing name in boardgaming



5 Players: G, W,  M, Si, J

Game: Stone Age + Style is the Goal Expansion
Location: G
Choice: M


 

Game One:

Si(117pts), G(114pts), J(86pts), W(70pts) & M(64pts)

 

Final Tally:

Si was declared victor for this week.

 

Notes:




• Game was called early due to time
• Non-canon game this Saturday at Si's 

 

 

 Music Features (with notes from AllMusic.Com unless noted)

Stanton Moore: III (2006)



Maple Plank is the seventh song on the album

...These are future funk grooves made by basic instrumentation from the past. Moore's always been about shakin' it down, but in the past his sense of syncopation and adventurous instrumental dictates won out over solid, in-the-pocket funkifying. That's not to say that All Kooked Out! and its predecessor, Flyin' the Koop, weren't good records...hell, they were great. But they were complex jazz and soul studies, whereas III is nothing but greasy...

...As a bandleader, Moore's got it all: he has the right players for whatever he might attempt, and this is the finest example of that yet. It's from the heart, and it's got all the sass, spit, vinegar, and laughter that the great soul-jazz records of old had, and proves that the format isn't done by a long shot.

Highlight for G: Instrumental cover of When the Levee Breaks (Led Zeppelin).
 



The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed (1969)

Mostly recorded without Brian Jones -- who died several months before its release (although he does play on two tracks) and was replaced by Mick Taylor (who also plays on just two songs) -- this extends the rock and blues feel of Beggars Banquet into slightly harder-rocking, more demonically sexual territory...

...some of the songs are among their very best, especially "Gimme Shelter," with its shimmering guitar lines and apocalyptic lyrics; the harmonica-driven "Midnight Rambler"; the druggy party ambience of the title track; and the stunning "You Can't Always Get What You Want," which was The Stones' "Hey Jude" of sorts, with its epic structure, horns, philosophical lyrics, and swelling choral vocals. "You Got the Silver" (Keith Richards' first lead vocal) and Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain," by contrast, were as close to the roots of acoustic down-home blues as The Stones ever got.



 

CSNY: 4-Way Street (1971)

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had come out of Woodstock as the hottest new music act on the planet, and followed it up with Deja Vu, recorded across the second half of 1969 and released in March of 1970, supported by a tour in the summer of that year. As it happened, despite some phenomenal music-making, the tour was fraught with personal conflicts, and the quartet split up upon its completion. And 4 Way Street followed, released in April of 1971: a live double-LP set, chock-full of superb music distilled down from a bunch of nights on that tour that more than fulfilled the promise of the group. Indeed, contained on those original four LP sides was the embodiment of everything great that the unique ethos behind this group -- which was not a "group" but four individuals working together -- might have yielded. Each of the participants got to show off a significant chunk of his best work, whether presented alone or in tandem with the others, and the shared repertory -- "Long Time Gone," "Ohio" etc. -- binding it all together as more than a documentary of some joint appearances. Conceptually it was all as diffuse as the concept behind the group, but musically, 4 Way Street was one of the great live rock documents of its time, a status it retains along with such touchstones as the Allman Brothers' At Fillmore East, the live half of the Cream's Wheels of Fire, and the Grateful Dead's Live/Dead; some of the extended guitar jams between Stills and Young ("Southern Man") go on longer than strict musical sense would dictate, but it seemed right at the time, and they capture a form that was far more abused in other hands after this group broke up. Although Neil Young and Stephen Stills had the advantage of the highest wattage on their songs and their jams together, David Crosby and Graham Nash more than manage to hold their own, not only with some strong and distinctive songs, but also a strong case that less could be more; they reached the more introspective members of their audience, mostly individually, while Stills and Young wowed the crowds collectively. The double-CD version adds more acoustic material by each of the participants, which gives a fuller picture of what they were all about musically -- Nash's acoustic rendition of "King Midas in Reverse" doesn't slot in too easily next to the earthier Crosby, Stills & Young originals, but it also adds a welcome British psychedelic pop interlude to the proceedings. The essentials of the original album are all intact, and all in better sound.

 



Neil Young: Live at the Fillmore East (recorded 1970, released 2006)

so when is Miles Davis playing?

[From PopMatters.com] There is considerable controversy surrounding this anxiously awaited release. For Neil Young fans, this is an unexpected gift—a live show of the first, short-lived incarnation of Crazy Horse in all their ragged glory. For Neil Young freaks, this is an overdue, unconscionably abbreviated version of a two-night stand at the Fillmore East that has long been legend. The verdict? For anyone who enjoys good music, this is a no brainer that comes heartily recommended, period.

 

 

 

 

2015.05.20 Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda



Apparently the pools in Granada are unfiltered...

5 Players: G, W,  K, Si, J
Game: Alhambra
Location: W
Choice: J


 

Alhambra's upside down scorecards are confusing

Game One:

G(100pts), W(87pts), K(81pts), J(72pts) & Si(56pts)

 

Game Two:

Si(97pts), J(83pts), G(79pts), K(76pts) & W(64pts)

 

Final Tally:

G (179pts)

K (157pts)

J (155pts)

Si (153pts)

W (151pts)

 

G was declared victor for this week.

 

Notes:




• so tired...
• W expressed disappointment when Galactic's great album was replaced.
• G strategically (duh!) overspent to acquire the "top" three colours.
• Great fiddle tunes from CCD and all W could hear was Looney Tunes. All Si could hear was Beverley Hillbillies. So Sad.
• Funny comments about feeling like being on hold with CRA when Taxman started playing. We wished muzak was this good.
• Possibly first time Sticky Fingers was listened to, in its entirety, by some participants.
• next week Si would like to hear Lee Scratch Perry and the Upsetter's Super Ape (1976)

 

Music Features (with notes from AllMusic.Com)

cool, steady and easy

Galactic: Coolin' Off (1996)

After listening to Galactic's 1996 debut release, Coolin' Off, it's hard to believe that the band isn't comprised of seasoned funk veterans. Instead of showing off their instrumental chops at every given opportunity, the members of Galactic play as an ensemble, who know when to step back and let their soulful music groove and breath on its own. Vocalist Theryl de Clouet is only featured on a few of the album's tracks ("Something's Wrong With This Picture," "Everybody Wants Some -- Part 3," etc.), but his voice often steals the show when it's featured. The majority of Coolin' Off consists of funky instrumentals with a sound straight out of the '70s, but the band knows how to mix it up and avoid monotony. The opening "Go Go" is a good example of Galactic's sound: a prominent bassline is merged with horns and wah-wah guitar, while an organ creates a memorable melody. Other groove-oriented tracks include "Funky Bird," "Stax Jam," "Doo Rag," and "Church." Coolin' Off is an excellent debut from a band that is destined for great things.
 

 



 

folk festival champions

Carolina Chocolate Drops: Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind (2006)

The 14 uncredited (read: traditional) songs on the record touch on ancient blues and country, but to align what the CCD do with either of those branches would be an error. Songs like "Ol' Corn Likker" and "Black-Eyed Daisy" evoke a time and place far removed not only from the present but from contemporary notions of what those genres signify. When the trio plays "Dixie," you're listening not to a patriotic rebel anthem but a yearning, mournful moan. And the purity of Giddens' solo a cappella vocal on "Little Margaret" (note from G: traditional also known as Maddy Groves) belongs to an era when music was not something to be sold but something from the soul. The Carolina Chocolate Drops have stated that they are on a mission to keep this tradition alive, and that they do. But they do so not from the staid position of lecturers on ethnomusicology or as strident sociopolitical posturers but as musicians truly in love with this disappearing slice of Americana, more specifically a little known slice of black Americana. That they do it with zeal as well as respect, and that they have the talent to back up their knowledge, is why it works on its own merits, not merely as a historical study.






Dr John, aka "The Night Tripper"
kinda looks like Sir Paul in this photo



Dr. John: Dr. John's Gumbo (1972)

Dr. John's Gumbo bridged the gap between post-hippie rock and early rock & roll, blues, and R&B, offering a selection of classic New Orleans R&B, including "Tipitina" and "Junko Partner," updated with a gritty, funky beat. There aren't as many psychedelic flourishes as there were on his first two albums, but the ones that are present enhance his sweeping vision of American roots music. And that sly fusion of styles makes Dr. John's Gumbo one of Dr. John's finest albums.

 

 

I would ride this elevator day and night

Soulive: Rubber Soulive (2010)

Recording predominantly instrumental soul-jazz Beatles' covers isn't a unique concept; both George Benson and Booker T. & the MG's attempted a similar concept to varying degrees of success in the early '70s. But Soulive strips the sound down to a three-piece organ combo and swings its way through 11 Beatles tunes, including rockers such as "Help" and "Day Tripper," jazzing them up without losing the hummable melodies that makes this timeless music still resonate...

 

The solos are generally kept short, sharp, and tight, unlike other jazz covers that use a song's melody as a jumping-off place for lengthy improvisation that often strays too far from the tunefulness of the source material. Rather, the trio keeps the Beatles' songwriting abilities foremost in the presentation, although when they do wander off the page on short jams -- as in "Taxman" -- but it's never for long. Like the Liverpool lads who intuitively meshed together, Soulive's members interlock to yield results greater than the sum of its parts on this successful tribute that combines the Beatles sense of excitement, imagination. and musical exploration with a funky, down-home R&B/jazz groove.

 

 

 

 

I love it when the singing stops and the jazz begins

The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers (1971)

 

Pieced together from outtakes and much-labored-over songs, Sticky Fingers manages to have a loose, ramshackle ambience that belies both its origins and the dark undercurrents of the songs. It's a weary, drug-laden album -- well over half the songs explicitly mention drug use, while the others merely allude to it -- that never fades away, but it barely keeps afloat. Apart from the classic opener, "Brown Sugar" (a gleeful tune about slavery, interracial sex, and lost virginity, not necessarily in that order), the long workout "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and the mean-spirited "Bitch," Sticky Fingers is a slow, bluesy affair, with a few country touches thrown in for good measure. The laid-back tone of the album gives ample room for new lead guitarist Mick Taylor to stretch out, particularly on the extended coda of "Can't You Hear Me Knocking." But the key to the album isn't the instrumental interplay -- although that is terrific -- it's the utter weariness of the songs. "Wild Horses" is their first non-ironic stab at a country song, and it is a beautiful, heart-tugging masterpiece. Similarly, "I Got the Blues" is a ravished, late-night classic that ranks among their very best blues. "Sister Morphine" is a horrifying overdose tale, and "Moonlight Mile," with Paul Buckmaster's grandiose strings, is a perfect closure: sad, yearning, drug-addled, and beautiful. With its offhand mixture of decadence, roots music, and outright malevolence, Sticky Fingers set the tone for the rest of the decade for the Stones.

 

2015.05.13 “Only he who has no use for the empire is fit to be entrusted with it.” - Zhuangzi, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu

Everything that has transpired has done so, according to my design.

5 Players: G, W,  K, Sc, M
Game: Imperial
Location: K
Choice: group


 

Game One:

G(100pts), M(97pts), Sc(95pts), W(89pts) & K(85pts)

 

Final Tally:

G was declared victor for this week.

 

Notes:




• France was the first country to reach 25 points
• Italy was the worst run country

 

Music Features

Phish 2012-09-01 Commerce City, CO (Dick's Sporting Goods Park)

A fantastic example of Phish 3.0. This was the second night of a three-night run at Dick's. These three shows would end the 2012 Summer Tour. A three-night run at Dick's to end the Summer Tour has become a new tradition for the band and this was a night to remember. Just check out the killer setlist:

 

Set 1:

Run Like an Antelope

Backwards Down the Number Line >

Tweezer >

Fluffhead >

Roses Are Free (Ween cover) >

Funky Bitch >

The Moma Dance >

When the Circus Comes to Town (Los Lobos cover)

Theme From the Bottom >

Golgi Apparatus

Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan

 

Set 2:

Golden Age (TV on the Radio cover) >

Prince Caspian >

Light

Boogie On Reggae Woman (Stevie Wonder cover) >

The Wedge

The Horse >

Silent in the Morning >

Mike's Song >

No Quarter (Led Zeppelin cover) >

Weekapaug Groove

 

Encore:

Sleeping Monkey >

Tweezer Reprise

 

 

 

2015.05.07 Putting the "Imp" in Imperial

Except for Germany, that is.



W had the same faraway look
as we tallied the victory points

5 Players: G, W,  K, J, S
Game: Imperial
Location: K
Choice: G


 

Game One:

G(113pts), J(87pts), K(82pts), S(77pts) & W(75pts)

 

Final Tally:

G was declared victor for this week.

 

Notes:




• Italy was the first country to reach 25 points
• England was the worst run country
• Before the game began, W was asked if he would like to swap starting flags from Germany to England. His reply: "What does it matter? I'm still going to lose this fucking game?"
• To the shock of all participants, one of us revealed that he cries every time he watches Disney's Frozen. He also wept at Disney on ice. He's a crier.
• Possible non-canon game this coming Saturday

 

Music Features

Frank Zappa: Over-Nite Sensation (1973)

Love it or hate it, Over-Nite Sensation was a watershed album for Frank Zappa, the point where his post-'60s aesthetic was truly established; it became his second gold album, and most of these songs became staples of his live shows for years to come.

 

Whereas the Flo and Eddie years were dominated by rambling, off-color comedy routines, Over-Nite Sensation tightened up the song structures and tucked sexual and social humor into melodic, technically accomplished heavy guitar rock with jazzy chord changes and funky rhythms; meanwhile, Zappa's growling new post-accident voice takes over the storytelling.

Frank always dressed up
for games of Imperial

 

While the music is some of Zappa's most accessible, the apparent callousness and/or stunning sexual explicitness of "Camarillo Brillo," "Dirty Love," and especially "Dinah-Moe Humm" leave him on shaky aesthetic ground. Zappa often protested that the charges of misogyny leveled at such material missed out on the implicit satire of male stupidity, and also confirmed intellectuals' self-conscious reticence about indulging in dumb fun; however, the glee in his voice as he spins his adolescent fantasies can undermine his point. Indeed, that enjoyment, also evident in the silly wordplay, suggests that Zappa is throwing his juvenile crassness in the face of critical expectation, asserting his right to follow his muse even if it leads him into blatant stupidity (ironic or otherwise).

 

One can read this motif into the absurd shaggy-dog story of a dental floss rancher in "Montana," the album's indisputable highlight, which features amazing, uncredited vocal backing from Tina Turner and the Ikettes. As with much of Zappa's best '70s and '80s material, Over-Nite Sensation could be perceived as ideologically problematic (if you haven't got the constitution for FZ's humor), but musically, it's terrific.

 (from AllMusic.com May 2015)

 

Fred Eaglesmith wouldn't make W cry

G's Folk Mix: Fall '06 Vol. 1

Included tunes from several artists that have played Blue Skies Music Festival. Some highlights:

 

Ian Tamblyn's Vancouver Island Song, Fred Eaglesmith's Cumberland County, Ani Difranco, Roy Harper, Greg Brown, Chuck Brodsky & Bruce Cockburn covering Mississippi John Hurt

 

The Grateful Dead: Two from the Vault (Recorded August 1968)

 

( Notes from Stereophile.com )

What I've always liked about the Dead is their willingness to take chances, to screw up in public and on record. To paraphrase Miles Davis, if you're not making mistakes, you're not making music.

 

Seriously, why isn't this a rule?

Live Dead, the classic 1960s Grateful Dead concert album, was so good it became a bit of a problem for the band. In an interview years later, lead guitarist Jerry Garcia griped good-naturedly about how the version of "Dark Star" on that album became, for a while, the version for record-oriented Deadheads nonplussed by the Dead's wildly varying performances of the tune. That concert was one moment in time, Garcia said (and I paraphrase), never to be repeated. After all, if the Dead are about anything, they're about improvisation.

 

Well, yes and no. Two from the Vault, recorded on two August nights in 1968, roughly the same era as Live Dead and the same songlist (with additions from Anthem of the Sun), proves at once how much mileage the Dead could get out of the same handful of tunes, and just how much variety they could come up with without changing the arrangements a bit.

 

Same thing happened to me once.
well, more than once actually...

Reading between the lines of producer Dan Healy's lengthy technical notes, I get the strong hunch that a number of Vault 2's versions of the '68 set list—particularly of "The Eleven," "Death Don't Have No Mercy," and "Turn On Your Lovelight"—would have made it on to Live Dead had the technology then been available to salvage tapes which have only recently been rendered usable.

 

Healy tells a fascinating story of conservative engineers from Warner Bros. (the Dead's label at the time) not trusting Healy, et al, with Warner's fancy new 8-track recording equipment. "The engineers they sent to us were accustomed to recording Big Band style and were not familiar with Rock & Roll close microphone techniques." Warners used a small number of mikes placed at considerable distances: vocal and audience mikes combined, each drumkit premixed to a single track, etc. Healy's challenges were those of "severe phase cancellation and time smear that reduced the time image to nothing." Using a B&K 2032 FFT analyzer and TC1280 delay units, Healy and Don Pearson were able to individually delay each of the tracks to compensate for their different mike distances, the result being a convincing semblance of "a nearly perfect stereo image." Think of that: the term "stereo image" discussed by a rock engineer. Amazing.

After all that, Two from the Vault sounds a lot like Live Dead, but with a less digitally friendly high end. Besides, two of the things I always enjoyed about early Dead albums were the natural dynamics and that distant drum miking; the drums sounded like real, homemade, wooden instruments, even if kickdrum went missing.

 

( Notes from Stereophile.com )