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4 Players: W, K, G, S
Game: 7 Wonders
Location: K
Choice: Consensus
Game One:
K(59pts), S(46pts), W(42pts)
Game Two:
K(55pts), W(44pts), S(41pts), G(35pts)
Game Three:
K(66pts), G(59pts), S(50pts), W(37pts)
Final Tally:
K was declared this week's victor.
Notes:
- G arrived late and was able to join in for the second game
- Blue Skies tent arrangements were discussed
- G "remembered" tonight was the last night before going away
- K had a perfect 18 pts from military in game 3
Music Features:
Neil Young: Greatest Hits (2004)
Very much enjoyed by the audience as a showcase of Neil's best / most popular songs. It was either this album or a custom mix by K. Perhaps K will illuminate us in the comments as to whether or not it was this particular album we listened to. Personally, I cant remember.
Beck: Guero (2005)
[Notes from AllMusic.com] In many ways,
Guero is deliberately designed as a classicist
Beck album, a return to the sound and aesthetic of his 1996 masterwork,
Odelay. After all, he's reteamed with the producing team of
the Dust Brothers, who are widely credited for the dense, sample-collage sound of
Odelay, and the light, bright
Guero stands in stark contrast to the lush melancholy of 2002's
Sea Change while simultaneously bearing a knowing kinship to the sound that brought him his greatest critical and commercial success in the mid-'90s. This has all the trappings of being a cold, calculating maneuver, but the album never plays as crass. Instead, it sounds as if
Beck, now a husband and father in his mid-thirties, is revisiting his older aesthetic and sensibility from a new perspective. The sound has remained essentially the same -- it's still a kaleidoscopic jumble of pop, hip-hop, and indie rock, with some Brazilian and electro touches thrown in -- but
Beck is a hell of a lot calmer, never indulging in the lyrical or musical flights of fancy or the absurdism that made
Mellow Gold and
Odelay such giddy listens. He now operates with the skill and precision of a craftsman, never dumping too many ideas into one song, paring his words down to their essentials, mixing the record for a wider audience than just his friends. Consequently,
Guero never is as surprising or enthralling as
Odelay, but
Beck is also not trying to be as wild and funny as he was a decade ago. He's shifted away from exaggerated wackiness -- which is good, since it wouldn't wear as well on a 34 year old as it would on a man a decade younger -- and concentrated on the record-making, winding up with a thoroughly enjoyable LP that sounds warm and familiar upon the first play and gets stronger with each spin. No, it's not a knockout, the way his first few records were, but it's a successful mature variation on
Odelay, one that proves that
Beck's sensibility will continue to reap rewards for him as he enters his second decade of recording.
[Notes from G] Beck sucks. Stupid scientologist. Cant get past it.
Game 1:
Location: W
3-Players: Z, G & W
6-Players: W, Si, K, Z, J & G 
[Notes from AllMusic commenter MarkYorkel] Jethro Tull's second album saw Martin Barre on guitar replace Mick Abrahams who went off to form Blodwyn Pig. Barre would form a long partnership with Ian Anderson and Stand Up is one of their best albums. Glenn Cornick's bass playing is also outstanding. While Tull has had many fine bass players, Glenn Cornick is by far the best and his sound is unique and critical to the Tull vibe. Stand out cuts include "Back To The Family", "We Used To Know", "Nothing Is Easy" and "Look Into The Sun". Other notables included "Bouree" and "Fat Man". The signature Jethro Tull sound consisting of outstanding acoustic cuts and top shelf hard rock tunes make Stand Up an absolutely essential purchase. Original vinyl copies had the pop out Tull puppets, which are a must have for the serious collector.
[Notes from AllMusic] Jethro Tull was very much a blues band on their debut album, vaguely reminiscent of the Graham Bond Organization only more cohesive, and with greater commercial sense. The revelations about the group's roots on This Was -- which was recorded during the summer of 1968 -- can be astonishing, even 30 years after the fact. Original lead guitarist Mick Abrahams contributed to the songwriting and the singing, and his presence as a serious bluesman is felt throughout, often for the better: "Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You," an Ian Anderson original that could just as easily be credited to Big Bill Broonzy or Robert Johnson; "Cat's Squirrel," Abrahams' big showcase, where he ventures into Eric Clapton territory; and "It's Breaking Me Up," which also features some pretty hot guitar from Abrahams. Roland Kirk's "Serenade to a Cuckoo" (the first song Anderson learned to play on flute), their jazziest track ever, is one of the best parts of the album. The drum solo on "Dharma for One" now seems like a mistake, but is understandable in the context of the time in which it was done. The one number here that everybody knows, "A Song for Jeffrey," almost pales amid these surroundings, but at the time it was a superb example of commercial psychedelic blues. This would be the last album of its kind by the group, as Abrahams' departure and the lure of more fertile inspiration tugged them toward English folk music. 
[Notes from G] Fantastic entry in the Dick's series, this time featuring a show recorded on home turf Winterland Arena (San Francisco) on December 29, 1977. Overall a great year for dead shows and this release is no exception. We listened to the last disc which included the encore from Dec 29th and a selection of tunes (killer filler) from the following night's show. Check out the track list to see why I chose that particular disc:
3 Players: W, K, S
