2018.03.01: Pa-Dee-O-Lanterns

6-Players: M, J, K, W, G & Z
Location: Z
Choice: M
Game: Citadels

Game 1:

Player	Points
M	33
J	32
K	28
W	24
G	20
Z	11

Game 2:

Game = 7 Wonders

Player	Points
M	62
K	56
G	52
J	48
Z	48
W	46

Final Tally:

• M was declared this week's winner!

Game Notes:

• J wins tiebreaker in game 2 (coins)
• Merits of soul funk pop jazz were debated
• Z complained about getting boned too often
• G complained about getting boned nearly as often
• K complained about J not following his advice
• J complained about how hard it was to remember to use his card each round
• W complained at the mere mention of reggae
• M complained about actually having to listen to rikki dont lose that number

Music:

Steely Dan: The Royal Scam plus RDLTN from Pretzel Logic (1976 and 1974)
Various Artists: Look Into the Flower Trip On Psychedelic Grooves With Blue Note (2002)
Various Artists: The Best Funky Jazz of the 70s (2014)

2017.11.09: Wine, Whine and Win

6-Players: G, K, W, M, Z & J
Location: W
Choice: J
Game: 7 Wonders

Game 1:

Player	Points
G	63
K	54
W	54
M	50
Z	49
J	44

Game 2:

Player	Points
M	63
K	56
Z	53
J	52
W	50
G	37

Game 3:

Player	Points
K	55
W	53
Z	47
G	43
M	42
J	38

Final Tally:

Player	Points
K	165
W	157
M	155
Z	149
G	143
J	134

• K was declared this week's winner!

Game Notes:

• Back in the basement aain!
• 73 Colarine Avenue
• M loves drum solos
• The kind of music that you can sing over

Music:

Chinese Man: Racing with the Sun (2011)
Genesis: Nursery Cryme (1971)
Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks Vol 4 Dark Star Other One Lovelight (Recorded Feb 1970)

2017.07.06 African Visitor

7-Players: J, K, Si, W, M, Z & G
Location: K
Choice: Consensus
Game: 7 Wonders

Game 1:

Game 1

Player	Points
J	63
K	63
Si	60
W	60
M	54
Z	51
G	49

Game 2:

Player	Points
Z	72
W	66
Si	62
K	54
J	51
G	50
M	48

Final Tally:

Player	Points
W	126
Z	123
Si	122
K	117
J	114
M	102
G	99

                                    

• W was declared this week's winner!

My usual walk home after gamenight

Game Notes:

• Good to see Si again after so long away
• Report back from L that the LCBO gift card was much appreciated

Music:

G's Mixtape: TripHop1 (Various)
CBC Radio Two: Tonic (Various)

2017.03.02: Burning 4 U

7-Players: J, W, G, M, Z, F & K
Location: K
Choice: M
Game: 7 Wonders + Cities Expansion

Game 1:

Player	Points
J	69
W	56
G	55
M	52
Z	49
F	45
K	44

Game 2:

Player	Points
K	71
Z	69
G	67
F	56
W	55
J	48
M	35

Final Tally:

Player	Points
G	122
Z	118
J	117
K	115
W	112
F	101
M	87

• G was declared this week's winner!



Game Notes:

• Some errors during the first game left some players wanting a restart
• Memorable quotes:
• M: This whole game is stupid
• Chez 106 all night
• G: A song will play and when it does u will all know the name of the band.
• Game takes as long as it takes

Music:

Jim Bryson: Somewhere we will find our place (2016)
Robert Randolph: Crush (2015)
Blue Oyster Cult: Essential Greatest Hits (2003)

2016.04.28 Six Minutes West

7-Players: K, Si, M, J, Z, W & G
Game: 7 Wonders
Location: Z
Choice: Consensus


Game One:


Player	Points
K	59
W	53
J	48
Si	43
Z	42
M	36

Game Two:


Player	Points
M	54
Si	52
Z	49
J	44
W	43
G	42
K	34

Game Three:


Player	Points
Si	58
Z	52
K	51
W	47
G	43

Final Tally:

Player	Points All Games	Avg Points Per Game Played
Si	147	49
K	144	48
W	143	47.6
Z	143	47.6
J	92	46
M	90	45
G	85	42.5

• Si was declared this week's winner!
  

Music Notes: 

Chris Robinson Brotherhood: Betty's Blends Vol 2
Dry the River: Alarms in the Heart
Arcade Fire: Reflektor

2016.02.11 Hot tunas on a cold night

5-Players: W, Si, J, Z & G
Game: 7 Wonders + Cities


Location: Si
Choice: J


Game One:

Player	Points
Si	60
W	57
G	53
J	42
Z	40

Game Two:

Player	Points
Z	72
J	55
W	53
Si	53
G	48

Final Tally:

Si was declared this week's winner - by a single point!

Player	Points
Si	113
Z	112
W	110
G	101
J	98

Game Notes:

• Game 2 tie for third place broken by W having more $ at game end.

Music Notes:

Hot Tuna: Hot Tuna (1970; Recorded in September, 1969)

Debut album featuring some nice acoustic-blues. Side project of Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady. Would sometimes open for the Airplane. A lot of nice covers including Death Don't Have No Mercy and I Know You Rider.


Grateful Dead: The Music Never Stopped (1986; Recorded in September, 1977)

A fan club album, aka bootleg, given out in Sweden to members of the united fan club. From the dead's best year, 1977. Not from the well-regarded month of May, this one's from the labour day weekend in September. Four songs. Two on each side of vinyl. For me, some definitive dead: the secret stash, the holiest of holies. Starts with Jerry singing one of his great songs about gambling: Loser. His guitar just rings like a bell, crystal clear in the mix and there's plenty of bottom bouncing around thanks to Phil. There's a simply amazing Estimated->Eyes, especially the Eyes, followed by a smokin' He's Gone. A jewel in my collection.


Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974)

One of the few listenable Genesis albums. The last one with Peter Gabriel.

2015-12-27 Merry Gameday

close approximation of the event

8-Players: K, W, G, Si, Sc, J, D, DT
Game(s): 7 Wonders + Cities & Stone Age
Choice: Consensus
Location: K

Game One: 7 Wonders + Cities

yay cities!

Player	Points
Si	58
J	56
Sc	49
DT	49
G	47
D	44
K	42
W	27

Game Two: 7 Wonders + Cities

yay cities

Player	Points
Sc	58
G	56
Si	55
D	43
W	42
J	38
DT	35
K	30

babel on the other hand, not so much yay

Game Three: 7 Wonders + Cities + Babel

Player	Points
Si	48
K	47
J	44
W	42
G	38
Sc	33
D	32
DT	32

Game Four: Stone Age (two side by side 4-Player games)



stone age yay!

Player	Points
K	168
G	149
Sc	149
Si	133
J	132
DT	124
D	120
W	97

Final Tally

Point totals from all games were added together to get the final tally for each player

Player	Points
Si	294
G	290
Sc	289
K	287
J	270
DT	240
D	239
W	208

2015-11-19 Cities of Wonder

6 Players: G, J, K, M, Si, W
Game: 7 Wonders: Cities expansion
Location: Si
Choice: Si

Game One:

Player	Points
J	59
W	58
G	58
Si	56
K	50
M	48

Game Two:

Player	Points
K	73
Si	59
M	57
G	55
J	54
W	46

Final Tally:

Player	Points
K	123
Si	115
J	113
G	113
M	105
W	104

Game Notes:

• W & Si were red-shirted ensigns tweedledee and tweedledum
• Much discussion of Malawi (where is it, exactly? for example)
• Every player had their own tiny bag of chips.
• Music programmed by Si and was all vinyl.
• Si offered a prize to the first person to identify the band playing on tonight's first LP.
• G immediately and correctly named Tangerine Dream.
• There was no prize given.

Music Notes:

Tangerine Dream: Ricochet (1975)

First live album by the seminal electro-ambient band, recorded during a 1975 European tour if you can believe that.

Yes: Tormato (1978)

[relayer.com] The album is named after Yes Tor (tor meaning mountain) in Devon, UK The story goes that the band, when first presented with the proposed album cover, didn't like it and someone through a tomato at the artwork. The result went down well and was used, with the album name changing too.

[ultimateclassicrock]Quarrels between Yes members were nothing new, and members came and went on a regular basis, but things seemed particularly stormy during this period. Singer Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman both exited in the following months. Wakeman’s displeasure became particularly evident during an infamous incident when he hurled a tomato at the artwork for the record, which was then titled Yes Tor, after a geological formation in southern England.
“We had paid a fortune for the artwork – which, when we were shown it, we all agreed we had been ripped off,” he later recalled. “It was a pile of brown smelly stuff. I picked up a tomato and threw it at it. … [The title] was hastily changed to Tormato.”

David Bowie: Lodger (1979)

This was terrible.

[AllMusic] On the surface, Lodger is the most accessible of the three Berlin-era records David Bowie made with Brian Eno, simply because there are no instrumentals and there are a handful of concise pop songs. Nevertheless, Lodger is still gnarled and twisted avant pop; what makes it different is how it incorporates such experimental tendencies into genuine songs, something that Low and Heroes purposely avoided. "D.J.," "Look Back in Anger," and "Boys Keep Swinging" have strong melodic hooks that are subverted and strengthened by the layered, dissonant productions, while the remainder of the record is divided between similarly effective avant pop and ambient instrumentals. Lodger has an edgier, more minimalistic bent than its two predecessors, which makes it more accessible for rock fans, as well as giving it a more immediate, emotional impact. It might not stretch the boundaries of rock like Low and Heroes, but it arguably utilizes those ideas in a more effective fashion.

Fleetwood Mac: Greatest Hits (1971)

First compilation released by this band. Later re-released as The Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Before their rise to fame in the cocaine-fueled 1970's, FMac was a dynamite blues band in the electrified Chicago style so popular in the late 1960's.

G correctly identified Elmore James as the originator of Shake Your Moneymaker which is covered very nicely on this album. On the other hand, G was unaware that Black Magic Woman was Peter Green's song and is featured nicely on this album.

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.

2015-09-17 Righteous Babel

Future State depiction of K's backyard

6 Players: W, J, M, S, G, K
Game: 7 Wonders: Babel + Great Works
Choice: J
Location: W

Game One (7 Wonders + Babel):
 M (67 pts), K (63 pts), W (55 pts), G (53 pts), S (52 pts) & J (46 pts)

Game Two (7 Wonders + Great Works):
 K (57 pts), S (55 pts), G (51 pts), W (47 pts), M (43 pts) & J (30 pts)

Final Tally:
K120, M110, S107, G104, W102, J76
K was declared this week's victor

this Babel shit be serious!

Game Notes:

• Suggested renaming as follows: Angry, Chatty, County, Country, Thinky and Waffley
• No I didn't mean "now" now
• We were instructed to Hide Your Sack

Music Notes:

 

First, a couple well received bands from Blue Skies 2015

 

The Bombadils: Grassy Roads, Wandering Feet (stream for free here)

 

more than just nice to look at

[Notes from UKFolkRadio] Not to be confused with Bombadil, the psychedelic pop American trio, this lot are a Canadian quartet who line up as Sarah Frank (fiddle, banjo), Luke Fraser (guitar, mandolin), Anh Fung (flute) and Alan Mackie and Evan Stewart who both handle upright bass, and whose influences embrace Celtic folk music and bluegrass...

Organic in feel, it’s an unassuming album that never makes a big fuss about the members’ skills, simply allows them to do what they do with consummate and fluid grace and ease, and, as such, offers a very enjoyable travelling companion.

 

 

Jaffa Road (Stream for free here)

 

“Jaffa Road blends Jewish, jazz, Indian and Arabic music with electronica and dub. The result is fantastic.”  -CBC Radio One

 

Marshall Tucker Band: The Marshall Tucker Band (1973)

 

little known fact: the Marshall Tucker Band
were the "boys in the bright white sports car"
referred to as such in the classic Trooper hit

[Notes from AllMusic] Taking a page from their Capricorn Records labelmates and Southern rock contemporaries the Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band issued a self-titled debut blending the long and winding psychedelic and jam band scene with an equally languid and otherwise laid-back country-rock flavor. Into the mix they also added a comparatively sophisticated jazz element -- which is particularly prominent throughout their earliest efforts. The incipient septet featured the respective talents of Doug Gray (vocals), Toy Caldwell (guitar/vocals), his brother Tommy Caldwell (bass/vocals), George McCorkle (guitar), Paul Riddle (drums), and Jerry Eubanks (flute/sax/vocals). Their free-spirited brand of Southern rock was a direct contrast to the badass rebel image projected by the Outlaws or Lynyrd Skynyrd. This difference is reflected throughout the 1973 long-player The Marshall Tucker Band. The disc commences with one of the MTB's most revered works, the loose and limber traveling proto-jam "Take the Highway." The improvised instrumental section features some inspired interaction between Toy Caldwell and Eubanks. This also creates a unique synergy of musical styles that is most profoundly exhibited on the subsequent cut, "Can't You See." Caldwell's easygoing acoustic fretwork babbles like a brook against Eubanks lonesome airy flute lines. The remainder of the disc expounds on those themes, including the uptempo freewheelin' "Hillbilly Band." Unlike what the title suggests, the track is actually more akin to the Grateful Dead's "Eyes of the World" than anything from the traditional country or bluegrass genres. "Ramblin'" is an R&B rave-up that leans toward a Memphis style with some classy brass augmentations. The effort concludes on the opposite side of the spectrum with the tranquil gospel rocker "My Jesus Told Me So," offering up Caldwell's fluid guitar work with a sound comparable to that of Dickey Betts. "AB's Song" is an acoustic folk number that would not sound out of place being delivered by John Prine or Steve Goodman. This eponymous effort established the MTB's sound and initiated a five-year (1973-1978) and seven-title run with the definitive Southern rock label, Capricorn Records.

 

trippy

Pink Floyd: Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)

 

[Notes from AllMusic] The title of Pink Floyd's debut album is taken from a chapter in Syd Barrett's favorite children's book, The Wind in the Willows, and the lyrical imagery of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is indeed full of colorful, childlike, distinctly British whimsy, albeit filtered through the perceptive lens of LSD. Barrett's catchy, melodic acid pop songs are balanced with longer, more experimental pieces showcasing the group's instrumental freak-outs, often using themes of space travel as metaphors for hallucinogenic experiences -- "Astronomy Domine" is a poppier number in this vein, but tracks like "Interstellar Overdrive" are some of the earliest forays into what has been tagged space rock. But even though Barrett's lyrics and melodies are mostly playful and humorous, the band's music doesn't always bear out those sentiments -- in addition to Rick Wright's eerie organ work, dissonance, chromaticism, weird noises, and vocal sound effects are all employed at various instances, giving the impression of chaos and confusion lurking beneath the bright surface. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn successfully captures both sides of psychedelic experimentation -- the pleasures of expanding one's mind and perception, and an underlying threat of mental disorder and even lunacy; this duality makes Piper all the more compelling in light of Barrett's subsequent breakdown, and ranks it as one of the best psychedelic albums of all time.