2015-11-05 Remember, remember

6 Players: Si, J, W, G, M & DT
Game: 7 Wonders
Location: Si
Choice: M

Game One:

 

Player	Points
W	62
G	56
Si	55
J	55
M	46
DT	40

Game Two:

Player	Points
G	55
M	52
J	51
W	43
Si	39
DT	38

Final Tally:

Player	Points
G	111
J	106
W	105
M	98
Si	93
DT	78

Game Notes:

• Welcome our ex-patriot DT back to the table for a special night. Hopefully, he'll be back in town again for xmas gaming.
• There was much derision directed at Maceo Parker until the second side tracks started up and players started to change their initial impression and began to enjoy the not-at-all-Kenny-G-like sounds coming from Si's space age stereo.
• Once again, M overcame unyielding temptation and avoided eating even a single tasty, tasty potato chip.

Music Notes:

The Kinks - Kink Size (1965)
The Kinks - Kinkdom (1965)

[Notes from Rising Storm] “Kinks-Size” and “Kinkdom” were not official album releases, but like the Great Lost Album they were American label releases containing excellent material and superior track line-ups.

Kinks-Size was released in March of 1965 by Reprise in order to capitalize on the big albumless hits, Tired of Waiting For You and All Day And All Of The Night. Louie Louie, I Gotta Go Now, Things Are Getting Better, and I’ve Got That Feeling came from the British EP “Kinksize Session” (clearly an inspiration for this album’s title), while I’m A Lover Not A Fighter and I Gotta Move were originally on the All Day EP. I’m A Lover and Revenge were shelved cuts from the “Kinks” debut. Come On Now was a track from their upcoming 2nd official album “Kinda Kinks.”



Kinkdom was released in November of 1965, three months after Kinda Kinks. This release comprised tracks from the British EP “Kwyet Kinks” (A Well Respected Man, Such A Shame, Wait Till The Summer Comes Along, Don’t You Fret) as well as some of the best unreleased (in the US) British singles (Never Met A Girl Like You Before, See My Friends, Who’ll Be The Next In Line, It’s Alright). Naggin’ Woman was an unreleased cut from the UK edition of “Kinda Kinks,” and Louie Louie is repeated from “Kinks-Size,” an inexplicable move by Reprise.

These albums best represent the scorching sound of the early Kinks, appropriately ravaged by Shel Talmy’s untrained production style with songwriting strong enough to bolster the genius of Ray Davies. Don’t waste your money on incomplete box sets. Nothing the Kinks recorded should be considered extraneous.

Maceo Parker - Roots Revisited (1990)

[Notes from SputnikMusic] Maceo Parker is a funk monster. He started his career playing saxophone for James Brown. He left the Godfather of Soul to join none other than George Clinton and the legendary Parliament, before going back with James Brown and later on Bootsy Collin’s own band...

His energy is very noticeable on the faster paced funk songs, as he tears through a cover of Ray Charles’ “Them That Got” with a smile on his face. But I particularly appreciate his touch on the ballad, “Children’s World,” which is much more of a departure from Parker’s normal style...

Bootsy Collins helps his old band mate on bass for the CD, and he too holds back his funk to hold down the rhythm section with classic walking bass lines. The organ, Don Pullen, sets a very moody scene in my favorite song “Children’s World” with two simple, melancholy chords, along with two guitar chords from Rodney Jones. From there Maceo catapults and puts out an amazing bluesy ballad. Parker doesn’t overplay at all during the song, feeling out his supporting band. He shuts up at just the right moments before awing the audience again with his playing. 
The National - High Violet (2010)

[Notes from AllMusic] The National have worn a lot of hats since their 2001 debut, but they’ve never been able to shake the rural, book-smart, quiet malevolence of the Midwest. The Brooklyn-groomed, Ohio-bred indie rock quintet’s fifth full-length album navigates that lonely dirt road where swagger meets desperation like a seasoned tour guide, and while it may take a few songs to get going, there are treasures to be found for patient passengers. The National's profile rose considerably after 2007’s critically acclaimed The Boxer, and they have used that capital to craft a flawed gem of a record that highlights their strengths and weaknesses with copious amounts of red ink. High Violet oozes atmosphere, but moves at a snail’s pace. The Cousteau-esque “Terrible Love” hardly bursts out of the gate, and the subsequent “Sorrow” and “Anyone’s Ghost” (despite Bryan Devendorf’s locomotive drumming) lack the hooks to reel anybody in on first listen. The album begins to take shape on “Afraid of Everyone,” a slow-build midtempo rocker that expertly utilizes the Clogs’ (guitarist Bryce Dessner's other chamber pop band) prickly orchestrations, but it’s the punishing “Bloodbuzz Ohio” that serves as High Violet's centerpiece. Built on a foundation that fuses together TV on the Radio's “Halfway Home” and Arcade Fire's “No Cars Go,” its refrain of “I still owe money to the money, to the money I owe” seems both relevant and nostalgic, resulting in a highway anthem that feels like the anti-“Born to Run.” Other standout cuts like “Conversation 16,” “England," and the darkly funny/oddly beautiful closer, “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks,” trumpet Violet’s second-half supremacy, but even they tremble beneath the "Bloodbuzz" intoxication. Muscular, miserable, mighty, and meandering, High Violet aims for the seats, but only hits about half of them.