Phil's Phriday Picks

Phil's Phriday Picks Phil recommends an album to listen to. https://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/philsphridaypicks/ 2026-07-10T09:00:00.000Z Secret Chiefs 3 - Book of Horizonshttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/book-of-horizons/2026-07-10T09:00:00.000Z2026-07-10T09:00:00.000Z

Perhaps the best record by Trey Spruance's experimental rock supergroup.

Perhaps the best record by Trey Spruance's experimental rock supergroup. The Secret Chiefs 3 are the brainchild of guitarist / composer Trey Spruance. It is a very experimental group that crosses many genres: Encompassing things like surf rock, Morricone inspired film music, Indian music, Persian music, and even death metal. Even though it sounds like it would be tough sledding for the average listener, the music mostly stays very melodic and even catchy. Trey Spruance first came to prominence as one of the founding members of Mr. Bungle (with Faith No More singer Mike Patton). By the time Mr. Bungle released their 2nd album, Disco Volante , in 1995 you can already hear the embryos of what Trey Spruance would take to further heights with Secret Chiefs 3 (which he formed in 1996). Two songs on Disco Volante have Spruance with the sole writing credit: "Desert Search For Techno Allah" and "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz". "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz" is one of my favorites on Disco Volante and I think really showcases where Secret Chiefs 3 would go. This live version from Mr. Bungle's tour supporting California is especially great...you can really see Trey Spruance putting his all into the performance! The first few Secret Chiefs 3 albums ( First Grand Constitution and Bylaws , Hurqalya (Second Grand Constitution and Bylaws) and Book M )were billed as the work of a single band. However, by 2004 and release of Book of Horizons Trey Spruance came up with the concept of "Satellite Bands" that fell under the Secret Chiefs 3 umbrella. Each song on Book of Horizons is attributed to one of those six satellite bands. Book of Horizons is today's pick! The satellite bands on Book of Horizons share a lot of the same members, but each one does distinctly sound different. Key musicians on the record include Tim Smolens (bass), Jason Schimmel (guitar) and Timb Harris (violin) (who were all also members of Estradasphere at the time). Ches Smith (drums), Mr. Bungle member William Winant (percussion)…Phil PlencnerBill Frisell - This Landhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/this-land/2026-07-03T09:00:00.000Z2026-07-03T09:00:00.000Z

Bill Frisell pays tribute to the best of Americana on this all-time classic record.

Bill Frisell pays tribute to the best of Americana on this all time classic record. On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the United States, I've been reflecting on what some of the most patriotic music recorded is. I land on Ray Charles' A Message from the People as the top choice. However, I've previously chosen that as a PPP back in 2024. So this year, I'm picking a record by one of the most quintessentially American guitarists ever: Bill Frisell! In 1994 he released one of my favorites in his length discography, This Land , and that is today's pick! In the early 90s Bill Frisell had a working trio of Kermit Driscoll on bass and Joey Baron on drums. When they played, its like their three brains melded into one super brain. They were always completely locked in. This Land features that trio but is expanded by a horn section including Billy Drewes (saxophone), Curtis Fowlkes (trombone) and Don Byron (clarinet). One of the album's many highlights is "Strange Meeting" a composition originally released by a different Frisell trio Power Tools. I can't decide which one is better, but the version on This Land is hauntingly beautiful. "Strange Meeting" is such a shape shifting song that works in almost any context. Here's Bill Frisell performing it solo segueing into "Over The Rainbow" for good measure: The title track is awesome too. Despite the name, it is not the Woody Guthrie song but an original Frisell composition. It is a more modern take on Americana music that is beyond beautiful: The album also features a two part tribute to Jimmy Carter. It really does personify the man musically. An amazing piece of music that transcends all politics: Speaking of tributes, This Land also includes this great composition called Julius Hemphill (named after the saxophone player who actually appeared on a slightly earlier Frisell album called Before We Were Born in 1989 that is also worth seeking out): "Cartoon" is also a fun tune. As the title implies it serves as a soundtrack…Phil PlencnerMassacre - Killing Timehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/killing-time/2026-06-28T09:00:00.000Z2026-06-28T09:00:00.000Z

This cult classic by the avant-rock power trio Massacre needs a modern reexamination.

This cult classic by the avant rock power trio Massacre needs a modern reexamination. In the past year, the Canadian rock group Angine de Poitrine has been taking the internet by storm. They play a cool type of stripped down math / progressive rock with quirky melodies and tricky time signatures that have elements of funk rock. While I like the group a lot, there are plenty of people that like to claim that they have a wholly original sound. But to my ears, they have a huge debt to bands that were part of the experimental rock scene in New York City in the early 1980s: Robert Fripp's League of Gentlemen and another group called Massacre. My typical inclination would be to focus on League of Gentlemen (due to my affinity for Fripp and King Crimson), but I'm going to throw a curve ball and instead focus on Massacre. Massacre was a band formed by bassist Bill Laswell, drummer Fred Maher and guitarist Fred Frith in 1980, Laswell and Maher were already playing together in Material at that point and Frith joined after his previous band, Henry Cow, broke up and he moved to NYC from England. Massacre was early in Laswell's and Maher's careers. This was before Laswell collaborated with Herbie Hancock on "Rockit" and before Maher played with Lou Reed and Matthew Sweet. They were all young and hungry. The original lineup of Massacre was short lived. They basically broke up by mid 1981 after only playing a handful of shows and releasing one record, Killing Time , which is today's pick! Killing Time is actually a mixture of studio and live recordings recorded on two separate occasions. The live songs were from concerts they performed in Paris in April 1981 and the studio material was sessions in Brooklyn in June 1981. The album starts off with "Legs" setting the tone and modus operandi. Frith's chiming guitars and Laswell's slippery bass propel things forward while Maher plays with the concept of time with his funky beats. "Aging with Dignity" follows with a more pounding and s…Phil PlencnerGrant Calvin Weston - Dance Romancehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/dance-romance/2026-06-19T09:00:00.000Z2026-06-19T09:00:00.000Z

The first solo album by Grant Calvin Westin is a Prime Time inspired free funk classic.

The first solo album by Grant Calvin Westin is a Prime Time inspired free funk classic. James Blood Ulmer passed away last week at the age of 86. He was an early collaborator in Ornette Coleman's free funk / harmolodics group Prime Time. He eventually put out a string of absolutely classic solo records in the early 1980s such as Are You Glad to Be in America? , Freelancing and Black Rock . He was a formidable live act too. Check out his performance in Montreux from 1981 including Amin Ali on bass and Grant Calvin Weston on drums: Those particular James Blood Ulmer solo records typically also included bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma. Here's some footage I absolutely love of Jamaaladeen on VH1, of all channels, in 1988: Also in 1988 Grant Calvin Weston put out a solo record with a trio including Tacuma and Ulmer. That record is called Dance Romance and is today's pick! The vinyl record of Dance Romance named the two sides the "Easy Side" and the "Serious Side". They are pretty aptly named. The "Easy Side" consists of more straightahead funk songs (with vocals by Weston along with Fostina Dixon and James Blood Ulmer). Even though they might be described as "Easy" compared to the second side of the record, they still contain elements of harlmodic style and the free form nature inspired by Ornette Coleman. The drums are also heavy as hell and recorded high up in the mix for a totally in your face sound. "Chocolate Rock" is the album opener and it is a total banger. Fostina Dixon's saxophone really drives the song along with the drums. James Blood Ulmer rips it up on the guitar solo too. Plus, I love the way the chorus goes into a double time groove: My favorite song on the "Easy Side" is "Planetary Citizen". With a heavy James Brown influenced sound and a positive lyrical message (and another insane guitar solo by Ulmer) makes this one a undiscovered masterpiece to many: The "Hard Side" opens up with the 11+ minute epic "Preview". It starts with an incredible drumo solo and…Phil PlencnerNeil Young and Pearl Jam - Mirror Ballhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/mirror-ball/2026-06-05T09:00:00.000Z2026-06-05T09:00:00.000Z

The mid-90s collaboration between Neil Young and Pearl Jam is one of the best albums by either artist.

The mid 90s collaboration between Neil Young and Pearl Jam is one of the best albums by either artist. After the self imposed career suicide that Neil Young partaked in during most of the 1980s (putting out albums focused on everything from rockabilly covers to electronic dance rock with vocoder vocals to jump blues) he finally came to his senses and started sounding like his classic material with 1989's Freedom . This is especially because of "Rockin' in the Free World". Here is Neil and his band Crazy Horse playing it on Saturday Night Live : Pearl Jam started playing "Rockin' in the Free World" on their tour for Vs. . This eventually culminated with them performing it with Neil Young at the MTV Video Music Awards: A long time series of collaborations was born! In 1995, Neil Young was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Eddie Vedder joined him for his performance at that ceremony: It was around this time they decided they needed to record an album together. This album became Mirror Ball which is today's pick! Mirror Ball became a commercial and critical success. A lot of this was the momentum built off of the killer single "Downtown", a heavy stomper of a rock tune that just bulldozes everything in its path: The longer, jammier "Peace and Love" was also released as a single. I think it's a better tune than "Downtown". It's got it all: crazed Neil Young guitar solo, pump organ, Eddie Veddar's background vocals and an absolutely locked in Jack Irons pummeling the drums. Euphoric stuff! The album starts out with something fresh too that pulls in a listener. "Song X" sounds like a heavy sea shanty, shuffling along with reckless abandon: "I'm the Ocean" is another highlight. Along the seven minutes the song keeps barreling downhill seemingly getting faster and more intense as it goes along. The tension reaches a fever pitch by the end. I also love "Throw Your Hatred Down" which might contain one of my all time favorite Neil Young solos. He's absolutely ripp…Phil PlencnerSonny Rollins - The Way I Feelhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/the-way-i-feel/2026-05-29T09:00:00.000Z2026-05-29T09:00:00.000Z

Sonny Rollins jazz funk obscurity hits the spot

Sonny Rollins jazz funk obscurity hits the spot One of the all time greatest saxophone players, Sonny Rollins, passed away earlier this week at the age of 95. To say this is a huge loss to the jazz world would be an understatement. He was the last surviving person who was photographed by Art Kane in the famous []"A Great Day in Harlem"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A Great Day in Harlem) portrait. Truly the end of an era. With a lengthy career that started in the 50s with Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie all the way through to his retirement in 2012 he made dozens of classic albums. People, of course, flock to the all timers like Saxophone Colossus , Way Out West , A Night at the Village Vangard and Freedom Suite and that is a justified response. All of these records are exceptional and essential listening. Even though I love all the aforementioned records, I tend to play his records from the mid 1970s most often. From 1969 1971 Sonny Rollins went on a sabbatical where he didn't play. He traveled to Jamaica and India. He focused on yoga and meditation and returned to music completely transformed. Starting with Next Album in 1972 he started featuring more hard funk and jazz fusion in his records. Horn Culture and Nucleus continued this trajectory which culminated in 1976 with The Way I Feel , which is today's pick! The Way I Feel has an all star cast, but not in the same way as other Sonny Rollins albums even from the same era. This includes some of my favorite instrumentalists like Patrice Rushen on keyboards and Billy Cobham on drums. Guitarist Lee Ritenour, percussionist Bill Summers and bassists Charlies Meeks and Alex Blake round out the bill. There's even an extended horn section on a bunch of the songs. I don't believe this core lineup appeared on any other Sonny Rollins albums or performed live together. If I'm mistaken, I'd love to be corrected because this group was red hot! One of my favorite songs on the record is "Asfrantation Woogie" which sounds like…Phil PlencnerToadies - Hell Below / Stars Abovehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/hell-below-stars-above/2026-05-22T09:00:00.000Z2026-05-22T09:00:00.000Z

Toadies are not the one-hit wonder you think they are

Toadies are not the one hit wonder you think they are Most of you probably know about Texas band Toadies from their giant hit "Possum Kingdom" from their 1994 major label debut record Rubberneck Great tune, but they were so much more. They put out other singles from Rubberneck but none had the success of "Possum Kingdom". I particularly liked "Away": Their success at the time was well documented. Much later guitarist Clark Vogeler put out this mini movie about the making of Rubberneck that is essential viewing: What happened after Rubberneck was a tragic tale of record company malpractice. The band was part of a thriving scene with other Texas based bands in the alterative rock universe like Reverend Horton Heat and Butthole Surfers. Gibby Haynes from Butthole Surfers befriended them and Toadies began working on the next record with him producing. As you could imagine, Interscope Records was not exactly jazzed about this collaboration. They wanted more hits, and the stuff they were working on was very uncommercial. They made a ton of demos that were never released. Years went by with very little record label support. The tours and shows got smaller. Four years later the band turned in the record (called Feeler ) and Interscope refused to release it. They instead sent Toadies back to the studio with producer Tom Rothrock. Some of the Feeler songs were revamped and re recorded but many of the songs in these sessions were brand new. This record became Hell Below / Stars Above , which is today's pick! This album definitely came out very below the radar. It didn't help that it finally came out in 2001: a full 7 years after Rubberneck!! That's several lifetimes in the world of alternative rock. That's a shame because Hell Below / Stars Above found the band somehow getting more streamlined (with a huge debt to 1970s hard rock) yet still retaining some of the weirdness that Gibby Haynes rubbed off on them. The album opens with "Plane Crash" a full throttle rocker! That son…Phil PlencnerDave Matthews Band - Crashhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/crash/2026-04-24T21:00:00.000Z2026-04-24T21:00:00.000Z

The biggest band of the 90s could not be prompted by A.I.

The biggest band of the 90s could not be prompted by A.I. With all the hype and proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (including in its use by musicians and "content creators" who use Suno), I'd like you to imagine a hypothetical scenario: Imagine we are able to take the technology powering Suno and throw it in a time machine back to 1991. The dataset in the LLMs can only use existing information prior to 1991. If you prompted Suno to "create the biggest alternative rock band of the entire 1990s, who would be both a huge tour draw and sell tens of millions of records" it would never create a song or band that sounded like Dave Matthews Band. Taking a prompt like that in 1991 and Suno would never create something like this: Start with a drummer who plays like he is in an early 1970s jazz fusion band, playing fluidly in tricky odd time signatures, highly synopated drum fills and blazing fast double bass. Add a bass player who completely locks in with that drummer, but never plays identical figures with him. Playing off of the drummer, but exactly not with the drummer. Make sure he has chops like Stanley Clarke too. Sprinkle in a tenor saxophone player who is equally indebted to James Brown style R&B, P Funk grooves and honking free jazz. Add a violin player who mixes bluegrass style picking with jazz rock fusion influences from Jean Luc Ponty to the band Kansas. Top it all off with a completely nerdy front man who plays acoustic guitar and yelps and yodels as music as he melodically sings. Have everyone play super catchy songs that also allow the entire band to stretch out into lengthy instrumental sections with ease. This is how unlikely the massive success of Dave Matthews Band was. It also illustrates how a data set, no matter how comprehensive, cannot replicate the ingenuity and imagination of humans. It also cannot simulate organic connections and happy accidents that come from musicians from a local music scene coming together and trying everything to see wh…Phil PlencnerRecord Store Day 2026https://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/record-store-day-2026/2026-04-17T09:00:00.000Z2026-04-17T09:00:00.000Z

It is that time of year again.

It is that time of year again. Tomorrow is the 2026 edition of Record Store Day. The event gets seemingly more and more chaotic every year. Every year, I think I'm going to skip it and disavow it. Then every year, I see things on the list that I need to have so I make my way to the store again. Rinse and repeat. This year is, of course, no exception. The store I'm going to is going to have live bands performing throughout the day and hopefully I'll be reconnecting with old friends as well. So it should be a good day, especially if I can grip some of the records I have on my shopping list. Below is that short list. There are plenty of other items on this list that would be great to have, but the budget only stretches so far. So these are the top tier / must haves that I'll be looking out for tomorrow. I suspect your list will be different, which is part of the fun of the experience. Everyone's tastes are unique! Nevertheless, maybe some of the items I'm hyping will end up on your list as well. Happy Hunting! See you on the other side. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band Lick My Decals Off, Baby (Deluxe Edition) Obviously, this is the one I want the most! Lick My Decals Off, Baby is quite possibly my favorite Captain Beefheart record (narrowly edging out Doc at the Radar Station and Trout Mask Replica ). This record features the drum / percussion duo of John French (Drumbo) and Art Tripp (Ed Marimba) along with Bill Harkeroad (Zoot Horn Rollo) and Mark Boston (Rockette Morton). Probably the best / most technical lineup Don Van Vliet ever assembled. It includes some of the band's most unhinged songs (and that's really saying something!) like the title track, "Dr. Dark", and "Flash Gordon's Ape". It also includes stuff that is downright poppy, but with complex arrangements (not simplistic like the material Beefheart would wade into a few years later) such as "Woe Is Uh Me Bop", "I Love You, You Big Dummy", "The Buggy Boogie Woogie" and my favorite "I Wanna Find a Woman…Phil PlencnerHawkwind - Space Ritualhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/space-ritual/2026-04-10T23:00:00.000Z2026-04-10T23:00:00.000Z

The definitive live space rock album by the definitive space rock band.

The definitive live space rock album by the definitive space rock band. I've been glued to the coverage of the Artemis II splashdown tonight. Incredible stuff. I was so relieved to see the mission end successfully. Of course, while I was watching Artemis II I was playing some records in the background as kind of a pseudo soundtrack to the event. It mainly focused on Hawkwind. Hawkwind was one of the premier bands that pioneered the space rock sound in the early 1970s. Their first couple records are good, though kind of embryonic. 1971's In Search of Space has a lot of trippy jams on it, but it lacked a bit of the power that Hawkwind later became famous for in their epic audio journeys. By 1972, the "classic" lineup had formed with the addition of bassist Lemmy Kilmester (Yes, the Lemmy who went on to front Motorhead!) and drummer Simon King. This heavy duty rhythm section perfectly suited Dave Brock, Nik Turner Dik Mik, and Del Dettmar. The studio album this group created was Doremi Fasol Latido which has some of their all time classics on it like "Brainstorm" and "Space is. Deep" but in my opinion it tends to run out of gas by the end of the 2nd side. Hawkwind reached greater heights as a live band, and fortunately they recorded a lot of their shows. They released a live single called "Silver Machine" that showcased their prowess in concert. This video, which has some rare live video of the band during the era is pretty incredible. If I had a time machine, I'd definitely be setting the dials for a show similar to this one to go to: This band played hundreds of shows by the end of 1972 and were playing like a well oiled (yet drugged out) machine. Luckily, they had a foresight to record a couple of the shows that eventually became the live album Space Ritual , which is today's pick! Space Ritual was recorded December 22, 1972 at Liverpool Stadium and December 30 1972 at Brixton Sundown in London. The entire album plays like one long composition with all the tracks s…Phil PlencnerArtemis - Arboresquehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/arboresque/2026-04-03T22:30:00.000Z2026-04-03T22:30:00.000Z

The name Artemis has been in the news this week, but not because of anything musical. NASA's moon exploration program is called Artemis. The latest mission of the program, Artemis II, just launched yesterday. For the next week a diverse crew of astronauts will be traveling to the moon, circling around it and returning back to earth. This is incredible! I have excitedly been following news and footage of of this historic flight. Of course, this also reminded me of one of my favorite new jazz groups that is also called Artemis. Artemis was formed around 2019 by pianist Renee Rosnes and consists of an all star group of musicians: Ingrid Jensen (trumpet), Nicole Glover (saxophone), Noriko Ueda (bass), and Allison Miller (drums). In the early 1990s, there was an excellent show on the tv channel BET that I used to tune into regularly called Jazz Central . This was probably the first time I saw Renee Rosnes perform and it made a lasting impression. Here is a clip from that show where she performs the Thelonious Monk tune "Four In One" with Michael Bowie on bass and Billy Drummond (her husband at the time) on drums: Allison Miller has been a long time collaborator with Ani DiFranco. Here they are performing together in 2012: Around that same time Ingrid Jensen was playing with one of my favorite modern jazz drummers Terri Lyne Carrington: Noriko Ueda is a member of the long running big band DIVA Jazz Orchestra. Here is performance of that large ensemble with Ueda predominantly featured: In 2019 these master musicians formed like Voltron into Atremis and they have been consistently performing and releasing records in the years since. The first time I heard them was this killer performance of Monk's "Brilliant Corners" at the New York City Winter Jazzfest in 2020: They are positively burning here! This footage highlights what makes them such a great group: tight interplay on a tricky tune with brilliant solos throughout. They have put out three records since the group's form…

Earlier this week, I watched the new documentary on Netflix about the early days of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's called The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers Our Brother, Hillel and I highly recommend it (even if they decided to use A.I. at some points to take some creepy quotes from Hillel Slovak to life): As you might infer from the title, the major focus of the movie is the band's original guitarist Hillel Slovak. Along with Flea he was a major driving force in the early days of the Chili Peppers. Unfortunately he died from a heroin overdose in 1988 just before they really blew up with Mother's Milk . That doesn't mean the early records with Hillel are inferior to the later blockbusters. Far from it! I really like both Freaky Styley (the first RHCP record I ever heard) and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan . They were playing a really raw and exiting hybrid of rock and funk that was unique in the mid 80s. Freaky Styley was produced by George Clinton, and he performed with the band on the record as well as in concert. Check out this cool footage of their cover Africa (renamed Hollywood ) that was originally by The Meters: Their biggest hit with Hillel was "Fight Like a Brave". It still rocks 4 decades later! All that being said, my favorite song by Red Hot Chili Peppers is, without a doubt, "Soul to Squeeze". This was released as part of the soundtrack to the movie Coneheads in 1993. By this point the Chili Peppers were huge. Blood Sugar Sex Magick had already made them oe of the biggest alternative rock bands on the planet. The focal point of this song is Flea's bass playing. His playing is constantly shifting, playing lines that are extremely melodic throughout. The bass is the lead instrument here, pushed way up in the mix. I can listen to this over and over. This song really showcases what is so great about Flea as a bass player as well as a composer. Flea didn't start as a rock loving bass player. Throughout the aformentioned Netflix documentary, it is mentioned…

Supergrass was a popular Britpop group in the 1990s. Although they never reached the successful heights of other bands from that scene like Oasis, Blur or Suede they still had a massive hit with "Alright" that was seemingly everywhere in 1995: They kept expanding their sound over the next decade. By the time they reached their final album before breaking up,2008's Diamond Hoo Ha , they had pretty much disappeared from the charts. Their last single was "Bad Blood" that is probably best remembered for its inclusion in the soundtrack of the video game Need for Speed: Undercover : After the breakup, two of the members of Supergrass (vocalist and guitarist Gaz Coombes and drummer Danny Goffey) formed a 2 piece cover band. They called themselves The Hot Rats (inspired by the Frank Zappa album of the same name). The Hot Rats didn't cover any Frank Zappa songs as far as I know, but they did primarily focus on songs from 1960s and 1970s classic rock (although there are a few notable exceptions to this rule). They released one studio album in 2010 called Turn Ons which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. If there's one word to describe Turn Ons it would be "fun"! They stick mainly to a garage rock style (not unlike the early works of The Black Keys). They do put their own spin on the material and they playing is very tight and professional, but the whole record has a goofy charm. You can tell both musicians are having a great time recording these songs. A great example of what their modus operandi was is their cover of "Drive My Car" by The Beatles. They even made a very comedic video for it: The album opens with "I Can't Stand It" (originally by The Velvet Underground). They made a music video for that song too: Another highlight on Turn Ons is their take on Gang of Four's "Damaged Goods": I mentioned earlier that…

Recently I watched the brand new Sun Ra documentary called Sun Ra: Do the Impossible , which is part of the PBS American Masters series. It is an excellent film, that covers the entirety of Sun Ra's life and career. It features incredible archival footage throughout and has great insights from both former members of the Arkestra as well as researchers and fans of Sun Ra. That being said, I wish it was a little longer. It's challenging to cover everything about Sun Ra into an hour and a half and it left me wishing it was a several hour film or perhaps even a series. The documentary does touch on Sun Ra's first trip to Egypt in 1971, which is one of my favorite eras of the Arkestra. At that point they were at the top of their game, the ensemble was large and they were playing much of the more famous Sun Ra compositions at that point. Maybe someday there will be a film focused solely on that trip, but perhaps there's just not a lot of video footage out there? One can only dream and speculate. There is this apparently undated interview with Sun Ra on Atlanta radio station WREK 91.1 where he talks about the trip to Egypt: There is also this tantalizing footage of Sun Ra and other members of his band at the Gaza Pyramids which is totally wild!! I would love to see more of this! At any rate, Sun Ra's Saturn Record label did release several albums of recordings from the concerts performed on that fateful trip: Dark Myth Equation Visitation , Nidhamu and Horizon . As with all of Saturn Record's albums at the time, they were limited run and hand made so copies are scarce. Luckily, Strut Records put out a box set of all of those recordings several years ago and also released them individually. I have a copy of the box set and it is uniformly excellent. I have a fairly sizable Sun Ra vinyl collection, including the Egypt 1971 box (I've acquired some more albums since the video I linked here but this is a pretty healthy cross section of my Sun Ra records). A box set, of course,…

There are plenty of bands you could say "doesn't sound like anybody else" but nobody really comes close to claiming that definition quite like Confessor. Confessor truly are in a class and genre by themselves. At a foundational level, they are a doom metal band. One of the early influences they cite is the band Trouble. In fact, they released an EP in 1992 with two Trouble covers on it (including "The Last Judgement"): But I am getting ahead of myself. No other doom metal group (even the ones that consider themselves "progressive" doom like Pallbearer) went the direction Confessor did. They play a very unique blend of technical metal, math rock and doom metal. They might be the only band you could label as "technical doom". They basically took the heavy, sludgy riffs of doom metal, then threw them into a blender with lots of tricky time changes, start/stop rhythms and jarring transitions. I'd claim they invented the djent style of music that bands like Meshuggah and Animals as Leaders made popular in the late 90s and early 2000s...but they were way ahead of the game because they started crafting this sound in 1988! On top of all that complex music the singer, Scott Jeffreys, sings in a high pitched wail! The complete opposite of the the typical low pitched growling that is associated with most doom metal. They had the embyros of this sound from the very beginning. You can see them performing "Uncontrolled" at some sort of park in Houston in 1988: "Uncontrolled" was eventually recorded in the studio for Confessor's debut album Condemned , released by Earache Records in 1991, which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. One of the things I absolutely love about Condemned is the production. The very dry and clean sound with great separation means you can hear every instrument. The bass and drums in particular so…

Louis Bellson is without question one of the best drummers of all time. He became famous for driving many of the most famous big bands in the 1950s and 1960s. These included bands fronted by Bennie Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie and, of course, Duke Ellington. Not only did he play drums for Ellington, he also wrote and arranged some of the music too. "The Hawk Talks" is perhaps the most famous example: You might have noticed that Louis Bellson was playing a drum set with double bass drums in 1955! This is because he invented the idea and was the first drummer to play and record with two bass drums. Check out this cool solo including some bonkers double bass techniques (especially in 1957!) from another one of his compositions "Skin Deep": By the 1970s Louis Bellson had formed his own big band and continued to be extremely popular. Here his is band circa 1980 playing "Explosion" and "Intimacy of the Blues". The band and Bellson are both totally on fire here: Concurrently in the 1970s drummer Billy Cobham was fronting his own jazz fusion bands. Even though the songs featured rock instrumentation, they also frequently included horn sections like The Brecker Brothers. Here they are playing "The Pleasant Pheasant" in 1974: Somewhere along the way Cobham was recording an instructional drum video in the same studio were Bellson was also recording and they befriended each other. They had a mutual admiration for each other and their large drum setups and complex techniques. This eventually lead to them performing together. In 1979 Louis Bellson wrote "The Matterhorn Suite for Drums in Four Movements" specifically with Cobham in mind. They recorded this incredible 30+ minute composition on the album Matterhorn which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The collaboration on this album is not well known because, du…

Dayna Stephens is a tremendous saxophone player who usually stays in the traditional jazz lane. Well versed in the styles of swing and bebop his playing is powerful, yet swinging and melodic. I originally heard his playing through his association with guitarist Julian Lang. Together, they took the seemingly traditional jazz in strange and unique directions. For example, here is Dayna with Julian in a quartet playing the third movement ("On The Trail") of Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite : Danya Stephen's most recent album is a tribute to Thelonious Monk, aptly tited Monk'd . It is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. As a huge fan of Thelonious Monk my interest was piqued immediately. What makes it even more interesting is Danya doesn't play saxophone on the record! He decided he wanted to understand Monk's music from the rhythm section perspective, so he performs on upright bass instead. Unbelievably, he makes it sound like it is his main instrument. Joining him on Monk'd is Stephen Riley (who has played with Wynton Marsalis, Nora Jones and Harry Connick, Jr.) on tenor saxophone, Eric McPhearson (known for his work with Jackie McLean) on drums and Ethan Iverson (an original member of the group The Bad Plus) on piano....and not just any piano but a piano previously played by Thelonious Monk himself! The album focuses on lesser known (but still awesome) tunes in the vast Monk catalog. Perhaps the most famous of the songs included is the first one, "Break's Sake" which was originally on It's Monk's Time : It's followed by the earliest of all Monk compositions "Humph". I always liked the tempo shifts in this tune which gives it a unique, halting kind of rhythm that keeps the listener off balance. Riley plays a great solo here, Iverson is wailing on piano throughout and McPhearson gets a nice little feature too tr…

Patrick O'Hearn is an excellent composer known for his synthesizer work and bass playing. In more recent years, he's more renown for his mellow new age music. For example, some of his music was used for the forecasts on The Weather Channel in the late 80s. Here is old Weather Channel footage featuring Patrick O'Hearn's "Homeward Bound": He's still at it, with a more modern sound but still firmly in the confines of new age music. Here he is performing "The Approaching Ice" off of his 2007 album Glaciation : Despite this, his back story is more interesting than it appears. He first rose to promenance as a member of Frank Zappa's band! He played bass with Zappa from 1976 1979. He appeared in the infamous movie Baby Snakes (which is a must see for even casual Zappa fans). Here he is playing "Black Napkins" (along with drummer Terry Bozzio and guitarist Adrian Belew) from that movie which blows away the original studio recording: Eventually he was replaced in the band by Arthur Barrow. However for a little while there was a transistion period where they both simultaneously played bass with Zappa. Pretty cool, despite the low quality of the video! In 1980 Patrick O'Hearn continued playing with Terry Bozzio in the very popular new wave band Missing Persons. He still occasionally played bass in that group, but predominately played synthesizer. They even performed at Steve Wozniak's massive US Festival in 1983: For a very short time between playing with Frank Zappa and joining Missing Persons Patrick O'Hearn was in a very obscure group called Group 87. Other members of Group 87 included trumpet player Mark Isham (who previously played with Boz Skaggs and Van Morrison among others) and guitarist Peter Maunu (fresh from Jean Luc Pony's jazz fusion group). Terry Bozzio also played with Group 87 but never officially as a member...they considered him a "consultant", whatever that means. They put out one self titled record in 1980 which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | :…

I have fond memories of visiting the Earnest Tubb Record Shop in Nashville. For those unfamiliar, the Earnest Tubb Record Shop is a long running music store in the Lower Broadway District in Nashville. It first opened in 1947 and ran continuously until 2022. Along with the store itself, there was also a stage in the back that held the Midnite Jamboree , which was a concert that aired on WSM after the Grand Ole Opry . The show regularly featured the same musicians who performed at the Opry earlier in the evening, with them merely walking across the street from the Ryman Auditorium. Here is an awesome TV commercial for the Earnest Tubb Record Shop featuring the man himself: The first time I visited the shop I was probably 13 or 14 years old. My family took a summer vacation to Nashville and that was one of the stops. Conway Twitty was doing a record signing that day in the store, and we stood in a long line to get an autographed copy of Still In Your Dreams , which was his new record at the time. We also went to Twitty City on that trip. Good memories. The second time I went was part of a road trip I took through Nashville in 1999. I remember buying some Dwight Yoakam and Willie Nelson CDs and went to the Midnite Jamboree . I believe Hayseed Dixie was the featured performer that night! This cool video shows the shop how I remember it from that visit: The store closed in 2022. This is what it looked like shortly before it closed: For a few years it was supposedly being revamped as a multi level bar that included a record shop. It finally did reopen in November 2025 and it shot back up on my list of places I needed to visit again. Unfortunately, the reopening was short lived! It closed again in the last week: barely surviving two months! What is that about? It seems kind of fishy. After reading about the recent closing of the shop, I went searching through YouTube for old videos of Midnite Jamboree performances. There are surprisingly very few. What did end up in many…

Bela Fleck is an American treasure. Over the course of a career spanning 40 years (winning 17 Grammy Awards along the way) he has touched on many styles but predominately focuses on bluegrass and jazz...two forms of music that are distinctly American. If I had to come up with musicians who personify culture in the United States, Bela Fleck would definitely make that short list. He's played with a wide variety of musicians and groups over the years (including performing duets with Chick Corea on one of his last recordings) but he is best known for his work with his group called The Flecktones. The Flecktones first crossed my radar back in 1993. I bought an issue of Modern Drummer magazine that had Neil Peart on the cover (for obvious reasons) that also included an interview with Roy "Futureman" Wooten. Futureman played a custom built contraption called the Drumitar instead of a traditional drum set (the interview and the wild photos of the Drumitar) made me extremely intrigued. Here is video interview with Futureman talking about the Drumitar from 2012: Soon afterwards I bought the album Ufo Tofu which completely opened up my mind to new possibilities of what jazz fusion and bluegrass music could be. At the time The Flecktones comprised of Bela Fleck, Roy Wooten, Roy's brother Victor Wooten on bass and harmonica player Howard Levy. Here they are performing "The Yee Haw Factor" from Ufo Tofo : Ufo Tofu turned out to be the last album that Howard Levy appeared on with the Flecktones. He left soon afterwards and the band continued as a trio with 1994's Three Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest . Here they are performing as a trio on The Conan O'Brien Show : Eventually saxophone player Jeff Coffin joined the group becoming a longtime member until the group eventually disbanded in 2012. During that time, The Flecktones made somewhat regular appearances on TV with Conan O'Brien. Here is that quartet performing in 1994 on the show in 1996: In 2003 Bela Fleck and the Flecktones ful…

The past year has definitely been an interesting one, and this includes the flood of new music that was a part of it. As I have done in the past, I have collected my favorite albums I heard this year into a retrospective playlist! This year it is 100 songs, spanning 7.5 hours. I must say it is all killer, no filler. 100% bangers. You would expect nothing less from PPP! I have listed all 100 albums I chose below, with links to the full albums on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and Tidal Music. It is not ordered with what I considered "the best" at the top. They are ordered with listenability of the playlist in mind. As an additional experiment, I decided to ask ChatGPT to list the genres next to each album and write a short blurb about each record. The experiment, at best, yielded mixed results. Dozens of the albums were completely mischaracterized! The genres were incorrect and the descriptions were complete hallucinations. I ended up having discussions with the chat bot to clean them up and make them more accurate. The final results are listed below. It is debatable if it actually saved me any time or increased the quality of the writing. I guess I am still an AI skeptic. Rest assured that the normal picks in 2026 will continue to be 100% written by me! Phil's Phriday Picks will be going on holiday break for the rest of the year. I'll return in January 2026 with our regularly scheduled weekly selections. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 1. Suede Antidepressants (BMG) [Britpop / Alternative Rock] A dark, gothic‑tinged reinvention of Suede’s classic art‑rock sound, Antidepressants marries anthemic post‑punk energy with introspective lyrics about mortality and modern disconnection. The band expands on its signature dramatic flair with richer textures and emotionally charged songwriting. Spotify Amazon Music Apple Music Tidal 2. Bob Mould Here We Go Crazy (Granary Music) [Alternative Rock / Power Pop] Bob Mould’s fifteenth solo record is a tightly wound b…

Christmas is here again! It is hard to believe that 2025 has flown by and it is time for festive holiday cheer already. Of course, part of that festive holiday cheer is my annual Christmas playlist...now in it's 17th year! You know the drill... Every year there is a huge pile of new Christmas records that come out. I listen to a bunch of them (so you don't have to) and select some gems from the overall batch of coal to include in the playlist. I also pepper it with classics from Christmases past...some well known and some more obscure. This year's playlist collects 31 songs and will entertain listeners for a bit over an hour and a half. I hope it brings some cheer and optimism to you over the holiday season. One thing is for sure: Every year for the past 17 years of playlists there have been no repeats ! The exact same performance of the same song by the same artist has never reappeared on one of my playlists. However, every song is collected in a giant "Megamix" that has now swelled to an overwhelming 398 songs filling over 22 hours. That's a lot of Christmas cheer!! Put that monstrosity on shuffle and you'll feel like you're living in the North Pole! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 22 HOUR MEGA MIX! Christmas 2024 Christmas 2023 Christmas 2022 Christmas 2021 COVID Christmas 2020 Modern Christmas 2019 It's Christmas Again? 2018 New Christmas Classics 2017 Merry Christmas 2016 Festive 2015 80s Christmas 2014 Jazzy Christmas 2013 Sounds of Christmas 2012 cRaZy ChRiStMaS 2011 Wacky Christmas 2010 Ultimate Christmas 2008

A week from today is Black Friday in the United States. The Friday after Thanksgiving has traditionally been a day for big sales at stores to kick of the Christmas shopping season. The folks at Record Store Day celebrate by having their own Black Friday themed event. Much like the regular Record Store Day, they put out exclusive vinyl releases that are sold exclusively at independent record stores. The event tends to not be as large as the regular Record Store Day in April but I can still find gems when digging through the list to add to my wish list. This year's Record Store Day Black Friday list isn't the most exciting set of music I've seen, but there are still items to look forward to. This week's pick will be highlighting the records I'll be looking for on Black Friday. This is also a good time to note that there will not be an additional PPP next week because of the Thanksgiving holiday. It's also the time of year where my picks slow down as the holidays ramp up. You can expect at least two more picks in the month of December: my annual holiday themed playlist as well as my favorite records of 2025. Beyond that, missives will be irregular. Expect things to scale back up to the usual pace in January 2026. Happy Thanksgiving! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Record Store Day Black Friday Releases Here are the top five records I'm hoping to scoop up next week. Slo Burn Amusing the Amazing Slo Burn was a short lived band fronted by former Kyuss singer John Garcia. He formed the group soon after Kyuss split up and it definitely has a similar vibe and style to the former group. Amusing the Amazing was their only release, a short four song EP that was never released on vinyl until now. Every song on it is killer though. I especially like "Pilot The Dune" and "July" which have trademark Kyuss style riffing with interestin…

Last week a co worker shared this amazing video of Buddy Rich in his prime. Playing his famous medley of songs from West Side Story , complete with an unreal drum solo: This got me thinking about the one time my parents took me to see Buddy Rich perform at a street festival in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn in 1986. It was a pivotal moment in my life. Unfortunately, a year later, Buddy Rich passed away. While I couldn't find any video footage of that exact show, I found this video from the same tour and you can see that Buddy was still playing out of his mind...he had not lost his fastball, that's for sure: After Buddy Rich's death, his legacy lived on. The Buddy Rich Big Band carried on without him, performing shows in his honor. This got me thinking about Rush drummer Neil Peart and his association with the Buddy Rich Big Band over the years. In 1991 there was a Buddy Rich tribute show in New York City where many famous drummers were asked to sit in with the Buddy Rich Big Band. Neil Peart was one of the people invited to perform. Here he is playing "Cotton Tail" at that concert: Afterwards, Neil Peart was reportedly not satisfied with his performance. He decided to focus on playing in this style and improving his drumming overall. Journey drummer Steve Smith recommended he study with Freddie Gruber. This changed Neil's overall approach to music and inspired him to create his own tribute to Buddy Rich. This became the Burning For Buddy project. It was eventually released as two CDs (Volume 1 in 1996 and Volume 2 and 1997) along with a video. Burning For Buddy is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. I remember when Burning for Buddy Volume 1 came out. I had to special order it at the small record store in the college town I was living in (Macomb, IL). After it came in and I bought the CD, the owner of the store…

Jack DeJohnette, an absolute legend behind the drum set, passed away at the age of 83 this week. To say he was an inspiration for my playing is a massive understatement. I first heard his playing (like probably many others) on Miles Davis' Bitches Brew . I was hooked right away on his unique playing. Here he is playing with Miles in 1969 (with an incredible set of musicians: Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette). Its hard to describe what DeJohnette does. He plays around with the beat, but keeps perfect time. He's not playing free, because he's locked in with the other players in whatever ensemble he is playing in. It always sounds like he is pushing the other musicians forward. His sound described in one word: momentum! It is impossible to replicate. He truly was one of a kind. Before he was in Miles Davis' group he was playing with Charles Lloyd (notably on the live record Forest Flower ). Here is incredible footage of that ensemble from 1966. The black & white footage adds to the allure of this video: Jack DeJohnette's playing has been well documented. He's appeared on dozens of recordings both as a leader and as a sideman. A healthy cross section of this playing was on the ECM record label. For a while he was basically the house drummer for the label (along with Jon Christensen). If you bought a record released by ECM in the 1970s, chances are one of those two drummers were on the label. The odd thing about those 70s / 80s ECM records is that they commonly would end up in bargain bins. I'm not sure why because the albums are uniformly excellent but for whatever reason they didn't get the love of record collectors. Which I definitely took advantage of over the years. Here is a video showing most of the records in my collection that features Jack DeJohnette. I'd bet most of the albums in that video that were released on ECM I bought for $5 or less each. Crazy! Most Jack DeJohnette aficionados have their unique list of favorite recordings. The…

In the early 1990s, Guns N' Roses was one of the biggest bands in the world. It's hard to believe that a scrappy band that was equally influenced by heavy metal as they were The Rolling Stones (during the Appetite for Destruction era) would eventually morph into this wild amalgam of hard rock and progressive rock with obvious nods to Queen and Elton John by putting out two bloated albums: Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II . Even more amazing is that those weird overblown records would actually make them more popular than ever. The albums sold over 7 million copies each! Part of the change in sound was attributed to Axl Rose's iron grip on their overall sound and aesthetic. But it was also because of new band membership. Original drummer Steven Adler was fired because he couldn't record the song "Civil War" with any kind of precision. He was replaced by Matt Sorum. Additionally, Dizzy Reed joined as a full time keyboard player, expanding their sound. Guitarist Izzy Stradlin wanted to keep things more traditional and basic and as their sound got more flamboyant he eventually quit (butting heads with Axl didn't help). He was replaced by Gilby Clarke. Through it all, Guns N' Roses put out three music videos that told a continuing story: "Don't Cry", "November Rain" and "Estranged". Individually each video was some of the most expensive music videos ever made. Combined they certainly were the most money spent on music videos for a single album by a single record label. "Don't Cry": $ 1 million. "November Rain": $ 1.5 million. "Estranged": A staggering $5 million dollars. I guess it all still pays off today because "November Rain" was the first video on YouTube to reach 1 billion views. Here are the videos in all their glory: What did Guns N' Roses do to follow this up? Naturally, they decided to release a covers album of obscure punk rock covers! That album is "The Spaghetti Incident?" which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get…

Its been a tragic week for classic rock n' roll enthusiasts because original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley ("The Spaceman") passed away this week. He was only 74 years old. As a child of the 70s, Kiss was obviously big for me growing up on hard rock. I loved their comic book personas, wild live pyrotechnics and dangerous sounding music. Their run of records from 1974 1979 is pretty much unparalleled. They started out as a hungry band with a ferocious live show and soon became one of the biggest bands in the United States. No small feat. The love watching old Kiss live videos (The first Kissology DVD set is essential viewing). This footage of them playing "Firehouse" in 1974 on The Mike Douglas Show absolutely rips! The first song Ace Frehley wrote for kiss was "Cold Gin". It was a live staple for the band throughout the '70s. The version of the song on Alive is perhaps the definitive version (even if it might not actually be "live" as the record claims). Here is a real deal live version of "Cold Gin" from 1974 that smokes the competition. The fact that this video is in black & white makes it even more glorious: Of course, we cannot talk about Ace Frehley without mentioning his wild guitar solos, complete with the smoke / fire special effects. At the height of Kiss mania, his solos were off the chain. Here's a great example from Tokyo in 1977: Even as far into the Kiss saga as 1979's Dynasty , Ace Frehley was writing a lot of the more deep tracks on the albums that the true fans knew were gold. "Hard Times" is a fine example: But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's back up a little bit. With the trifecta success of Destroyer ("Detroit Rock City", "God of Thunder" and "Beth"), Rock and Roll Over ("Calling Dr. Love", "Hard Luck Woman") and Love Gun ("Christine Sixteen" and the title track) there was pretty much no band bigger than Kiss in 1977. This is a band of four people with huge personalities and egos...so naturally their next move was to put out four separate s…

Trumpeter and composer Bill Dixon would be celebrating his 100th birthday this week, if he didn't pass away in his sleep back in 2010 at the age of 84. While he's not quite the household name of some of the other musicians from the early free jazz era (such as Cecil Taylor or Archie Shepp) his influence on jazz music is pretty large. He was an originator of the style and worked tirelessly to bring the music to the masses through things like his October Revolution in Jazz concert in 1964 and the formation of the Jazz Composers Guild. Phil Freeman’s Substack Burning Ambulance posted a great writeup on the live and career of Bill Dixon that is worth reading. Additionally, NYU Libraries just opened an exhibition on Bill Dixon's work called Working On & Out Things: Selections from the Bill Dixon Papers that runs through January 26, 2026 that I'd love to check out. I mentioned Archie Shepp and Cecil Taylor above because Bill Dixon played with both of them early in their careers. He performed on Taylor's Conquistador! and had top billing on Archie Shepp's first record in 1963. That record included an excellent cover of Ornette Coleman's "Peace": Bill Dixon was booked to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1966. He brought with him a big band including Ken McIntyre on alto saxophone and bass clarinet, Louis Brown on tenor saxophone, Bob Cunningham on bass, Tom Price on drums and dancer Judith Dunn. The set consisted of a ton of thorough composed, six movement piece of music called "Pomegranate" along with some free jazz inspired solos. It serves as a great precursor to his next studio record. I wish there was video footage of the music because I'd love to see the dancing, but this audio recording of the performance is still incredible. I'm extremely glad it exists. Thanks, internet! The next record was 1967's Intents and Purposes which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do y…

Last week I went to see the reformed Dazzling Killmen in concert. They played here in Baltimore as part of a short east coast tour. The band originally broke up in 1995, thirty years ago! In the underground math rock / prog punk scene this tour is a huge deal. Dazzling Killmen originally consisted of Nick Sakes on guitar / vocals (later of Sicbay, Colossamite, Upright Forms and others), Blake Fleming on drums (later of Mars Volta, Laddio Bolocko and tons more), Darin Gray on bass (later of Grand Ulena, On Fillmore etc) and Tim Garrigan on guitar (also in the band Skryptor). They had a short and powerful run in the late 80s and early 90s. While Darin Gray and Tim Garrigan did not participate in the tour, it was still awesome! Evan Jagels and Ben Greenberg filled their giant shoes admirably. I recently read that there is a group touring as Little River Band that has no original members, with most joining in the 2000s (well past their 1970s prime). To top it off none of the current members are even Australian! I also saw that a group called Kansas is touring with no original members either! The original drummer still records with Kansas but does not tour for health reasons. The rest of the members are all new, just like Little River Band. I think we can give Nick Sakes and Blake Fleming a pass here by calling themselves the Dazzling Killmen. To say they are an inspiration in my musical tastes and particularly my drumming is an understatement. In my mind they were one of the original brutal prog bands: seamlessly combining the rage and power of punk rock music with the complexity of the best classic progressive rock bands. Their 1995 full length record, Face of Collapse , (which they played in its entirely at the concert) has been in heavy rotation for me ever since I heard it 30 years ago. Face of Collapse is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow…

Die Spitz are one of the most exciting punk rock bands playing nowadays. They are an absolutely furious live act. Their records accurately reflect their punishing sound in the studio. They bring an thrilling (and much welcome) jolt to anyone who listens. Die Spitz first came on my radar in 2023 when they released an EP simply called Teeth . Already their sound was fully formed. An overpowering mixture of speed metal, punk rock and grunge. Here they are performing songs from Teeth for KUTX radio in Austin, Texas (where the band is originally from): Each of the four members of the group (Ava Schrobilgen, Chloe De St. Aubin, Ellie Livingston, and Kate Halter) all bring their A game to every performance and this is no exception. Here they are performing "Evangeline". Even though the bass player is playing on one foot (seemingly injured) they still blow the roof off the place: They released a single after Teeth called "I Hate When Girls Die" that was full on doom metal. Awesome stuff: The band recently signed to Jack White's Third Man Records, which is increasing their profile. They just released a new record last week called Something to Consume , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. On their new album they haven't lost any of their initial fun and fury. It opens with "Pop Punk Anthem (Sorry for the Delay)" and they band doesn't let up for the record’s entire 35 minute run time: The doom metal influence continues with "Throw Yourself to the Sword", which comes with an accompanying bad ass video: They also show their love for 90's grunge on "Punishers": The speedy punk sound (with shades of Motorhead) is still intact as well, as evidenced by "Riding with My Girls": The entirety of Something to Consume is powerful and bursting with high energy. It will be another candidate for one of my favorite albums of 2…

A new album by Kassa Overall is always a cause for celebration here at Phil's Phriday Picks. Two of his previous albums are previous picks: His record I Think I'm Good was a PPP way back in March of 2020 and more recently Animals was a PPP in April of 2023. He also recently performed with legendary saxophonist Gary Bartz at this summer's Chicago Jazz Festival. From this footage it appears to have been an excellent show: So let's break out the party hats, because today Kassa Overall released a new album! The album is called Cream and is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. This one has a little bit of an extra twist: seven out of the eight songs on the record are jazz interpretations of 1990's hip hop songs. The only exception is the album opener, "Freedom Jazz Dance", the Eddie Harris composition that was famously recorded by Miles Davis on his 1967 classic Miles Smiles . For context, here is Eddie Harris performing "Freedom Jazz Dance" at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1969: Here is the Miles Smiles version of the song: Finally, here is Kassa Overall's interpretation: I think listening to all these versions of "Freedom Jazz Dance" illustrates what makes Cream so interesting. Kassa and his group (consisting of Emilio Modeste on soprano sax, Matt Wong on keyboards, Bendji Allonce on percussion, and Jeremiah Kal’ab on bass) don't just play straight versions of all the songs here. They twist them inside out and stretch them in fascinating new directions. As part of the promotion of the record, Kassa Overall released live versions of some of the songs. I think watching and listening to the band performing the songs live really help listeners appreciate the studio versions more, so I will highlight a few of them alongside the original hip hop classics. The album is named after the Wu Tang Clan song C.R.E.A.M. and he…

There was a tragedy this week in the heavy metal world. Founding guitarist of the band Mastodon, Brent Hinds, was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was only 51 years old. Earlier this year he and the group mysteriously parted ways. This is unfortunate because whatever happened between him and the rest of the group can never be reconciled. A terrible shame. I have been a huge fan of Mastodon from the very beginning. This is because I was a big fan of the group Today Is The Day and Mastodon's other guitarist, Bill Kelliher, and drummer Brann Dailor were in that group for a short time. They appeared on one album with Today Is The Day: In The Eyes of God . They formed Mastodon soon afterwards. I saw Today Is The Day on that tour and the band was in excellent form. Here they are performing "Mayari" from that tour: The first time I saw Mastodon was at a now long gone club in Chicago called The Prodigal Son in 2001. I went because of the association with Today Is The Day and I was sold by their incredible performance. I bought the Slick Leg 7 inch record from the merch table that night (It included three songs: "Slick Leg", "Thank You For This" and "Deep Sea Creature"). If I'm not mistaken, Brent sold me the record. I've followed the band ever since. I've probably seen them 10 times in concert over the years. I celebrate their entire catalog. I don't think they ever put out a bad record in their 25 year existence. That being said, the early years are still my favorite. They were a ferocious band; the songs were heavy and proggy at the same time and sounded like nobody else. Plus, the band just had a hunger to succeed and mow down everything in their path. Before the Slick Leg record came to be, they recorded a 9 song demo with those songs and more. They had a different singer at the time: Eric Saner. After Eric left the group, they re recorded the vocals of all the songs: Brent Hinds and bassist Troy Sanders became dual singers of the group. The songs from the demo that…

Tackhead was an innovative industrial rock / funk group that helped originate a sound that was later popularized by labels like Wax Trax Records and bands like Nine Inch Nails. Tackhead easily predated the 90s industrial rock boom since they first formed in 1987. The members of Tackhead (drummer Keith Leblanc, bassist Doug Wimbish and guitarist / keyboardist Skip McDonald) didn't begin their career with the group. They were actually the house band for Sugar Hill Records. In fact, they performed on many of the labels early hits, such as the 1983 Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mell song "White Lines": Soon afterwards they hooked up with legendary producer Adrian Sherwood. They first collaborated on the Mark Stewart's (singer from The Pop Group) crazy album As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade in 1985. The record is a total feel bad experience with sends the listener into nightmarish funky soundscapes with tons of samples supplied by Sherwood. There really was nothing else like it at the time. They released "Hypnotized" as a single (and even made a music video for it) but for obvious reasons it didn't really run up the charts: This record did become the basis of the Tackhead sound. Super funky instrumentals with crazed guitar solos not unlike Eddie Hazel's work with Funkadelic) anchored by robotic drum beats (sounding like a drum machine at times but all played by Keith Leblanc) and all thrown into a blender of distortion, noises and samples. Vocalist Gary Clail joined the group for a short while, touring with them for about a year and appearing on their first record Tackhead Tape Time . "What's My Mission Now?" is an awesome example of what they sounded like: Gary Clail soon left the group and somehow Tackhead bounced back by getting Bernard Fowler to join the band. If that name sounds familiar, it's because afrer Tackhead he became a longtime backup singer for The Rolling Stones! He first appeared on their album Steel Wheels in 1989 and has been with them ever sin…

I've been a big fan of guitarist Ava Mendoza for a long time. She first came to my attention for her collaborations with Weasel Walter (of the Flying Luttenbachers and many other projects and ensembles). She appeared on the excellent free jazz record Jus in 2008 along with Weasel Walter, Jacob Lindsey and Damon Smith: She was also part of a short lived avant rock group with Weasel Walter and Devin Hoff called Quok. They unfortunately never released a studio album, but their live shows were pretty fierce: Soon after that she started a group called Unnatural Ways. At first it was a trio with a drummer and synthesizer player. However, once she moved from San Francisco to New York City she retooled the band as a more traditional guitar / bass / drums power trio format. That's not to say the music is "traditional", just the instrumentation! In both cases, they were pretty fierce avant rock. As a trio, they definitely harnessed a lot of power. Unnatural Ways put out a few excellent records (so far) but here they are both lineups in a live setting: She also joined drummer William Parker for a bit. She appeared on one of my favorite records of 2021, Myan Space Station which is an awesome slab of spiritual, space aged jazz fusion. Again, the trio also shined in concert: I always keep my eyes and ears peeled for new Ava Mendoza projects. So I was excited to find out she just released a new record with a new trio last month called Mama Killa , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Mama Killa was released on the consistently high quality Burning Ambulance label, run by Phil Freeman. Along with the record label, Burning Ambulance is also a Substack newsletter. I highly recommend subscribing. Ava Mendoza's new trio consists of violinist Gabby Fluke Mogul and drummer Carolina Perez. I am familiar with Carolina Perez'…

A band like Husker Du really needs no introduction. They are one of the best hardcore punk / alternative rock bands of all time. The first time I heard Land Speed Record , the seminal 1982 live album where they blaze through seventeen songs in less than a half hour, I could not believe my ears. It was a complete revealation to my ears. I still love to crank that record up even today. Over the course of their short career, they morphed from their hardcore punk roots into an untouchable alternative rock juggernaut. The four album run they put out between 1984 and 1986 ( Zen Arcade , New Day Rising , Flip Your Wig and Candy Apple Grey ) is beyond reproach. There is not a wasted note on any of those records. Which is why the recent news that came from archival record label The Numero Group is so incredible. They announced that they uncovered live recordings of Husker Du that were presumed destroyed in a house fire in 2001. The Numero Group have released two live EPs to streaming services with the intent to put together a massive box set of live recordings of the band from the era. As a proud owner of The Numero Group's previous Husker Du box set Savage Young Du , I can tell you they do not mess around when putting together Husker Du recordings! The two live EPs that were recently put out are today's picks! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The first EP that was released is a recording from January 30, 1985 at First Avenue in Minneapolis. There is an Instagram post that gives more details about the recordings. The band had just released New Day Rising two weeks earlier and their set includes fresh versions of "Terms of Psychic Warfare", "Powerline" and "Books About UFOs" from that album. They also play "Every Everything" and "Makes No Sense At All" from Flip Your Wig which wouldn't be released until that fall! It's likely the…

The big news that rocked the world of heavy metal this week was obviously the sudden death of Ozzy Osbourne. An easy pick for me this week would have been to choose one of the untouchable early Black Sabbath albums. They are all beyond reproach. For the record: My favorite would be either Master of Reality or Vol. 4 . One of Ozzy's solo records would also be a direction I could go. I celebrate his entire catalog but I do have particular affinity for No More Tears and Ozzmosis . Nevertheless, I tend to gravitate towards obscurities for my picks. One record I was considering was the first Tony Iommi solo record (simply titled Iommi ) which came out in 2000. It was a really interesting album. It included different singers on every song (Henry Rollins, Billy Corgan, Phil Anselmo etc). One of the songs on the album was "Who's Fooling Who" which had Ozzy on vocals and even had Bill Ward on drums! (I believe this was the last studio recording where Ozzy, Iommi and Ward all played on). Unfortunately, Iommi appears to be wildly out of print and is not on any of the major streaming platforms. So I decided to go way out in left field and select Vol. 2 by a group called Jazz Sabbath. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Who is Jazz Sabbath? Well, as the name implies, they are a jazz band that exclusively plays Black Sabbath covers. However, they're not just any jazz band. They were formed by keyboardist Adam Wakeman (son of Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman). Adam Wakeman has certainly followed in his father's footsteps. They have even played music together (many times billed as "Wakeman with Wakeman"). Here they are playing the Yes song "Wurm" in 2000: Adam Wakeman plays a pretty incredible keytar solo in that clip! Adam Wakeman also has legitimate Ozzy / Black Sabbath bonafides. He has toured with both Black Sabbath and part of Ozzy's sol…

An Albatross is one of the craziest progressive rock bands I've ever heard. Make no mistake, they are very much part of the punk rock / grindcore / screamo scene of the early 2000s...but they are so much more. An Albatross first come on my radar when they released We Are the Lazer Viking in 2003. They called it an "EP", but the definition is a stretch as the whole 11 song thing flies by in just 8 minutes! Here it is: Like I said the whole thing just zooms past you and is over before you know it. They pack a ton of riffs and ideas into those 8 minutes though. An Albatross toured very heavily behind the record. Not only in the United States but throughout Europe too. Over the course of many months they honed their craft, getting tighter, faster and more complex. The touring culminated with an appearance on John Peel's BBC Radio program. They played 5 songs, including two new ones ("Hairobics" and "The Ballad of the Electric Coyote"). It’s a great example of a touring band that is playing like a fine tuned machine: While We Are the Lazer Viking is mostly punk and math rock based you can hear more of the progressive rock influence on the new songs. These were included on their next album that went all in on the prog! Even down to the convoluted title: Blessphemy (Of the Peace Beast Feastgiver and the Bear Warp Kumite) This record from 2006 is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Blessphemy is epic in scope compared to We Are the Lazer Viking . They still blaze through the songs, but they are longer with more intricate parts that stick around a little longer. Even still, it's 18 songs zipping by in less than a half hour. The best way I can describe the record is basically this: What if you took the Yes album Relayer , threw it in a blender and played it at triple speed, while re recording Jon Anderson when he has a…

This week it was announced that the long time drummer of Pearl Jam, Matt Cameron was leaving the group. Matt Cameron first gained success as a member of Soundgarden. He joined the group in 1986 and appeared on all of their studio records. If you want to take a deep dive into Matt Cameron's time with Soundgarden this Drumeo video is excellent. Matt Cameron's drumming is powerful and fluid. Even though the music was very heavy, it often included odd time signatures. Matt played the odd times so smoothly that you might not even realize that the songs are not in 4/4. One of my favorite examples is "Outshined" off of 1991's Badmotorfinger . The slow heavy part at the end is in 19/4...but that didn't stop it from being a huge hit. I attribute that to Matt Cameron making it not sound jagged: Matt Cameron also wrote some of the songs Soundgarden recorded (though not any of their biggest hits). Perhaps my all time favorite Cameron penned Soundgarden song is "Mailman" from Superunknown . The heaviness is off the charts! Check out this peak performance on British television in 1996: Speaking of 1996, that was the year of Soundgarden's final tour before they broke up for the first time. Matt Cameron started his own band called Wellwater Conspiracy, that was influenced by 60s psych rock and also did some studio moonlighting (He played "For Martha" on Smashing Pumpkin's Adore and "Narayan" on Prodigy's Fat of the Land for example). But his next big move was joining Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam's drummer at the time, Jack Irons, hating touring and quit midway through their tour supporting Yield . So Matt Cameron joined them initially just as a touring member (you can hear him on the live record Live On Two Legs ). However it worked so well, that he ended up joining the band full time! He ended up playing with them for 27 years...way longer than his combined time with Soundgarden (between the breakups he spent 18 years overall with that group). His first record with Pearl Jam was Binaural…

One thing that surprises many people is my love for country music. This is especially so for country music released in the 80s and 90s. This is mainly because when I was growing up my parents constantly were playing country radio in the house. I soaked it all in, even while immersing myself in my more traditional favorites like heavy metal, jazz and progressive rock. It was basically country music fandom by osmosis. Because of this, I have an affinity for artists like Dwight Yoakam, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn and Joe Diffie. Joe Diffie is one of those 90s country artists that had phenomenal success at the height of his career: He had 30 Top 40 hits, with more than half of them reaching the Top 10. Two of his albums sold over a million copies each: Honky Tonk Attitude and Third Rock from the Sun . Nevertheless, he doesn't have the same level of modern day nostalgia as some of his peers. The hits were mostly great. "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (When I Die)" is one of them. I love the video which absolutely screams that it is from 1993: The clever "Pickup Man" was another one that still sounds great today: Of course, his biggest hit was "John Deere Green" which Diffie ended practically all of his concerts with. Here is a cool video of him talking about the song with CMT: Sadly, Joe Diffie passed away due to complications from COVID 19, early in the pandemic (March 29, 2020 at the age of 61). Lots of tributes have occurred since then, but none of them are as amazing as the recent album singer Hardy put out called Hixtape Vol. 3 Difftape which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Hardy is a pretty interesting singer. He somehow manages to straddle the line between country music (much of it on the traditional side) and nu metal. His music seems to be equally influenced by both. He also has writt…

There has been a lot of hype today because fifty years ago today (June 20, 1975) the movie Jaws was released. This is obviously a huge milestone because Jaws is an all time classic and deserves to be celebrated (along with the John Williams composed soundtrack)! However, I'd rather celebrate another movie that was also released on June 20th, but five years later: The Blues Brothers was released forty five years ago today! (June 20, 1980) The Blues Brothers is easily my favorite movie of all time. I've watched it countless times, have the soundtrack in vinyl, cassette and compact disc formats (which I've likely listened to hundreds of times). The Blues Brothers soundtrack is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The story is funny and interesting ("We're on a mission from God!"), the car chase scene, involving hunders of cars, was the most expensive filmed at the time (costing 3.5 million 1980 dollars). The movie had a huge list of big name guest stars. Of course, the music is top notch. Some of the best blues rock music ever recorded. The actual concept of The Blues Brothers was started by John Belushi and Dan Akroyd on Saturday Night Live . They started as skits, but eventually turned into a full fledged band. Here is an early performance of the full band, as a cold open for Saturday Night Live in November, 1978: This version of "Soul Man" is absolutely insane! The music is incredibly tight and high energy...and look at the dance moves!! You can tell everyone in the band is having a great time. Speaking of the band, the membership was full of A list players: Steve Cropper (guitar) and Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass) were part of the house band at Stax Records (playing on recordings with Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave and many many more), and also members of Booker T. and the M.G.s. Paul Shaffer (keyboards)…

Eugene McDaniels was a singer and songwriter that achieved great success in the late 60s and early 70s. Even if you've never heard his name before, you most likely know a bunch of mega hits that he wrote. The earliest of these is "Compared To What". A great protest song that covered topics ranging from the Vietnam War to abortion rights. It was first recorded by pianist Les McCann on Les McCann Plays the Hits in 1966. However, the most popular version by McCann was the one recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1969 and released on the album Swiss Movement . Incredibly there is video footage of the performance on the internet! The whole band (especially saxophonist Eddie Harris) really shine on this recording: Roberta Flack also recorded "Compared To What" on her debut album First Take , also from 1969. Here is some incredible live footage of Roberta Flack singing it in 1970: Here is Eugene McDaniels talking about "Compared to What" in 2010: Back to Roberta Flack...She had another huge hit written by Eugene McDaniels: "Feel Like Making Love": Here is Flack singing it in 1970 with Luther Vandross singing backup! Perhaps my favorite version of "Feel Like Making Love" is the one D'Angelo recorded on Voodoo in 2000: All these hits lead to Eugene McDaniels getting the opportunity to record a solo record for Atlantic Records. I'm sure the label expected more songs like those hits, but Eugene had other ideas. Instead, he recorded an extremely wild, heavy, psychedelic protest record called Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. With a title like Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse you know you're not getting run of the mill soul music. It's actually closer to jazz fusion in a lot of places. A lot of this is due to the rhythm section he hired for the album: bassist Miros…

Ed Palermo is a saxophone player who has been fronting his own big band since the late 70s. He put out a few records that went generally unnoticed and played shows in small clubs to sparse crowds...until the mid 90s when he decided to perform a tribute show to Frank Zappa. That show at The Bitter End in New York City was sold out and since then the Ed Palermo Big Band has been known for their arrangements of Zappa tunes. Between 1997 and 2009 they put out three albums that were exclusively Zappa songs ( Plays the Music of Frank Zappa , Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance and Eddy Loves Frank ). They were all uniformly excellent. The song selections were fantastic, and the performances were very accurate, yet fun. At the same time, they started a long residency at another NYC club called Iridium. Here is a great clip from 2011 of The Ed Palermo Big Band at Iridium: The band still regularly performs at Iridium today. Here are a couple more recent videos of the band performing Zappa songs there: Over time, they started performing other songs besides Zappa compositions. Anything from classic rock to alternative rock to jazz fusion to classical was fair game. Here is a medley of "America" / "American Idiot" / "Russian Dance" for example: Here is a pretty wild medley. The video title mentions "All Blues" (Miles Davis) and "Norwegian Wood" (Beatles) but also packed into this clip is "Chunga's Revenge" (Zappa), "Light My Fire" (The Doors), and "Come Together" (Beatles)! They also don't shy away from playing challenging progressive rock. Here is a medley of "King Kong" (Zappa) and "21st Century Schizoid Man" (King Crimson): The band has been steadily releasing albums over the years (including tributes to Todd Rundgren and Edgar Winter) but none of them have really caught my attention since the early Zappa focused records. That is, until now! Last month they released Prog Vs. Fusion: A War of the Ages , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to g…

Drummer Bill Bruford is one of my favorite drummers. Of course, he is primarily known for his work with progressive rock bands like Yes, King Crimson, U.K. and Genesis, but he is also an accomplished jazz musician. In the mid 80s he formed a jazz band called Earthworks. It was not a traditional jazz band in any sense. It wasn't even typical jazz rock or fusion. Bill and the band was going down a very unique path. The uniqueness starts with the instrumentation. The original lineup of Earthworks included Iain Ballamy on saxophones, Mick Hutton on acoustic stand up bass, and Djaongo Bates on trumpets and keyboards. Bill almost exclusively played electronic Simmons drums (although he mixed them with acoustic cymbals and other embellishments). Unlike most other jazz fusion at the time, the instrumentation was basically backwards: everything was acoustic EXCEPT for the drums! It was also a global band since the players were from London, New York and Los Angeles. Here is some cool footage of Bill Bruford and Earthworks that originally aired on VH1 (of all places!) for a show called New Visions back in 1987, soon after the release of their self titled first record. Of particular note is the songs "Up North" and "My Heart Declares a Holiday" near the end of the episode. Note the unique nature of Bruford's playing on the Simmons drums. He plays very melodic figures and not just straight beats: Guitarist David Torn also appears in the episode playing a pretty wild guitar solo layered with tons of effects. Very cool! To say that Bill Bruford was enamored with Simmons drums in the late 1980s and early 1990s is an understatement. He was definitely all in on the new technology. He was convinced they were superior to acoustic drums. For example, check out this wild drum solo he played during "Long Distance Runaround" with Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe in 1989: He even took the Simmons drums on the ill fated Union tour with Yes. Here is a drum duet with Alan White on that 199…

Organist Larry Young had a very short career, but he packed a lot into that tiny span of time. He only recorded between 1960 1977, because he sadly passed away suddenly in 1978 due to complications from pneumonia. He was only 37 years old. He famously recorded with Miles Davis in 1968 1969. His organ playing appeared on Bitches Brew and Big Fun . Fun fact: Some of the material that was eventually released on Big Fun miles released as a single! The nearly 30 minute long "Great Expectations" was released in a version that clocked in less than 3 minutes. The b side of this bizarre single was a two and a half minute version of "The Little Blue Frog". Larry Young's playing is very prominent on "The Little Blue Frog": Shortly after leaving Miles' group, he recorded with fellow Bitches Brew alumni John McLaughlin on his solo record Devotion . Here is a tantalizing clip of that band in action, with a montage of a couple songs from the record. I wish there was full performance footage of the group, but this is still pretty wild to see: Larry Young was also a member of Tony Williams Lifetime, appearing on Emergency! , Turn It Over and Ego . As I alluded to earlier, there is not a whole lot of video footage of Larry Young playing...however about a year ago some killer footage of Tony Williams Lifetime was surfaced and it is worth the wait! Here is another cool clip of Larry Young playing live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1971: Beyond these short clips, there's really not a lot more live footage out there of Larry Young. Nevertheless, Larry Young did record a handful of solo records in the 1970s and they're all bangers. My favorite is one of the last records he made, Lawrence of Newark , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Lawrence of Newark was recorded in 1973, soon after he left Tony Williams Lifetime, bu…

Ministry was one of the biggest bands of the 1990s industrial rock boom. The only band that was possibly bigger at the time was Nine Inch Nails. Both of the bands are unquestionably awesome. Ministry's music over time got heavier and heavier from their start in the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, but kept their rigid machine like sound throughout. The height of their popularity was with the 1992 release of Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs . Two of their biggest hits were on that record. The first was "Jesus Built My Hotrod" with guest vocals by Gibby Haynes of Butthole Surfers. A completely deranged song which illustrates the "anything goes" nature of alternative rock at the time: Another single from the record was the crushing heaviness of "Just One Fix": Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen was an unstoppable force at the time. He produced the Butthole Surfers record Independent Worm Saloon , which featured the song "Who Was In My Room Last Night": Al Jourgensen also teamed up with Reverend Horton Heat and produced perhaps their best album Liquor In The Front . "One Time For Me" was the single from that album: Outside of all the time spent in the studio, Ministry also did a ton of touring, including as part of Lollapalooza 1992. I caught them on that tour outside of Chicago at the infamous show where the crowd tore up the lawn and threw sod everywhere. I apologize in advance for the terrible quality of this video, but it is worth checking out this footage of them playing "N.W.O." to see just how bonkers their live shows were at the time: After all of this, the band was feeling exhausted and burnt out. Al Jourgensen wanted to change their sound and slow things down. The first signs of this was when Ministry played Neil Young's Bridge School benefit in 1994. They performed interesting covers like Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay", "Friend of the Devil" by Grateful Dead and the theme from Midnight Cowboy. Keeping with the theme of the Bridge School Benefit it…

Japanese pianist / composer Hiromi Uehara is a unstoppable force of nature. If you looked up the word "virtuoso" in the dictionary, it should include a picture of her. She studied at Berklee College of Music in the early 2000s and was able to jumpstart her career from there. Her style is a wild mixture of jazz, progressive rock, funk, classical and video game music. Most of the music she plays is very high energy, whiplashing, sonic overload. Even though the music is highly technical, it also contains extremely catchy melodies and are fun to listen to. This is a very hard trick to perform. But over a couple decades, Hiromi has consistently put out albums that up the ante of virtuosity and wackiness. The first Hiromi record that caught my attention was Spiral from 2006. It's essentially a jazz trio record (she is joined by Tony Grey on bass and Martin Valihora on drums). One of my favorite song on Spiral is "Return of the Kung Fu Champion". Here is a performance of it from 2011: Completely bonkers! Hiromi also has a long time association with bassist Stanley Clarke (of Return to Forever fame). Here she is playing the Joe Henderson tune "Black Narcissus" with the Stanley Clarke band in 2013. "Black Narcissus" was originally recorded in 1969 (on the album Power to the People with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette). The new version takes the already brilliant song and brings it to new modern heights: Hiromi doesn't just exist in the jazz underground. She is an extremely popular performer around the world, but especially in her home country of Japan. She was invited to perform in the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020: In 2023 Hiromi formed a new group called Sonicwonder. That band includes Adam O'Farrill on trumpet, Gene Coye on drums and Hadrien Feraud on bass. This band fully embraced her wild and outrageous brand of music, releasing an album called Sonicwonderland . A lot of what they perform doesn't even sound like it is humanly possible. T…

I don't make it a big secret that King Crimson is one of my all time favorite bands. I collect all their albums (including all the CDs released under the King Crimson Collectors Club as a member from the very beginning). I have seen them more than a handful of times in concert. I'm even a current member in good standing of their VIP "1000 Club" which, as the name implies, is limited to 1000 members worldwide. This (perhaps crazed) fandom started back in the early 1990s. I had read about them somewhere where they were described as a pioneering English progressive rock band. Members included Adrian Belew (who I knew from Frank Zappa's late 70s band) and Bill Bruford (who I knew from the group Yes). I bought a CD called The Compact King Crimson which I thought would serve as a "best of" but I was left very confused. The first half of the CD was selections from the 80s version of the band and the second half was songs exclusively from King Crimson's debut record, In The Court Of The Crimson King , from 1969. These two eras couldn't sound more different! The only consistent member between the two was guitarist Robert Fripp. The liner notes of the CD offered no insights besides the band members on each song. I had to dig further. Remember, this was before the World Wide Web existed, but there were USENET groups. I dug into alt.music.progressive for answers. There were plenty of nerdy discussions about the band that helped bring me up to speed. However, the bigger news I learned was that they had recently reformed and were about to release a new EP called Vrooom . The lineup was brand new, and enticing to me. It was referred to as a "Double Trio" consisting of two guitarists (Robert Fripp & Adrian Belew), two drummers (Bill Bruford & Pat Mastelotto) and two basses (Tony Levin & Trey Gunn who actually played an exotic instrument called a Chapman Stick). I was very much intrigued. I special ordered Vrooom from a local record store and awaited its arrival. When it finally ca…

Anyone who even knows me a little bit, knows that I am a huge fan of the band Rush. Being a drummer that is into progressive rock I, of course, count Neil Peart as one of by biggest inspirations. When he passed away back in 2020 (of a brain cancer called glioblastoma), it hit me pretty hard. Oddly and sadly, his brother Danny just passed away last week...also from glioblastoma! On a more positive note, also last week a new retrospective box set of Rush's entire career was released. It is called Rush 50 and is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. There have been plenty of re packaging of Rush's music over the decades. Some trying to cover all the bases at the time (such as the 2 CD set Chronicles from 1990) to focusing on a particular era (such as the Retrospective series that was released as three separate sets in 1997 and 2009). While all these sets are good, each have their flaws. Obviously, Chronicles is incomplete as Rush released 6 studio albums since then. The Retrospective series only focused on studio albums and didn't include any live material (where Rush really shined). Other compilations like Icon and Icon 2 were haphazard collections that weren't even in any kind of chronological order. What sets Rush 50 apart and makes it a truly definitive statement is because of these many factors: All the songs (both studio and live) appear in chronological order. This is especially interesting for the live material that sometimes was released far later than it was recorded (such as Grace Under Pressure Tour or the Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1978 concert that was included as part of the 40th anniversary A Farewell to Kings re release). On Rush 50 the live songs are peppered in with the studio songs completely chronologically so you can hear the evolution of the band throughout the entire set All nineteen of Rush…

Today previous Phil's Phriday Pick Silverada (formerly known as Mike and the Moonpies) quietly released an acoustic EP called Texas 42 . One of the songs on it is a cover of "New Madrid" originally by Uncle Tupelo. It sounds pretty good! Of course, it made me go back and listen to the original song from Uncle Tupelo's 1994 record Anodyne . It ended up being today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Anodyne was the last album Uncle Tupelo put out before they broke up. Two of the original members, Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar, basically hated each other at this point. But let's back up a little bit. Uncle Tupelo was originally a trio consisting of Tweedy and Farrar along with drummer Mike Heidorn. Early on they were playing a very high energy hybrid of country music and punk rock. A great early example is the song "Factory Belt" off of their first record No Depression . Here is awesome live footage of them playing "Factory Belt" in 1989: In 1992, Uncle Tupelo decided to flip the script and make an acoustic album. They recorded it in Athens, Georgia (with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck producing). It was aptly called March 16–20, 1992 , which was the dates it was recorded. Much of it was covers of traditional folk and country songs, but there were original tunes too. Here is one Farrar wrote called "Grindstone": The band then went on the road with Bob Mould's new group Sugar. During the tour drummer Mike Heidorn quit the band because he wanted to stay close to his family. He was replaced by Ken Coomer. At the same time, Uncle Tupelo recruited a couple more members into the fold. Bassist John Stirratt (which allowed Tweedy to play guitar almost exclusively) and multi instrumentalist Max Johnston. This is the band that ultimately recorded Anodyne . Tweedy's songs became more freewheeling and fun, which was definitely not what Jay Fa…

I can almost guarantee you, if you've never heard the band Farmers Market then you've never heard anything remotely like it. Farmers Market is from Norway, but their style and influences stretch far beyond their nation's borders. Mostly they are influenced by Bulgarian folk music. However, they take that already frantic style of music and smoosh it together with surf rock, heavy metal, progressive rock and even bluegrass. You could call their style fusion and it would be very accurate, because they fuse just about every genre imaginable into their music. They are a five piece band, but even their instrumentation is unique: Trifon Trifonov (sax and clarinet), Stian Carstensen (accordion, guitar, banjo), Nils Olav Johansen (guitar and vocals), Jarle Vespestad (drums) and Finn Guttormsen (bass). Farmers Market first came on my radar because of their association with the band Estradasphere. They appeared as a bonus on Estradasphere's DVD Passion for Life in 2002. They play this ultra high speed medley of gypsy music that sounds like a Balkan death metal band. Wild stuff! About five years later, they signed with Mike Patton's Ipecac label which made it easier to acquire their music here in the United States. (Their previous record from 1995, Speed / Balkan / Boogie , was only available as a pricey import on the Norwegian label Kirkelig Kulturverksted). The album they released on Ipecac in 2008 was called Surfin' USSR and is today's pick! Ipecac has a nice bio on their website with interesting details about all the members of the group. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. As the title implies, the record is loosely themed on Russian culture, from the artwork to the humorous song titles, but the songs are mostly instrumental. The title song kicks off the album, broken up into two parts. Both parts are like a mathy surf rock band.…

Doom metal is a pretty interesting microcosm of the overall metal genre. At a time when most bands were trying to play faster and more technical, there were a few people who decided to go the other direction. In fact, one of the early singers of grindcore band Napalm Death left the group in 1990 to form the band Cathedral. Cathedral took the heavy metal template that bands like Black Sabbath pioneered and slowed the tempo way down and brought the heavy tones way up. Since then there have been tons of bands taking that original concept and adding their own unique twists on them. Some of them actually became popular! Some examples you may have heard of include Melvins, Kyuss, Crowbar, Down, Sleep and Pentagram. Of course, there are also plenty of more underground bands that appeal to people like me that dig deep into the scenes and genres. One such band is Cobranoid from Denver, Colorado. Last year, they released their self titled debut album which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Cobranoid self describes their music as "Speed Doom" and that is pretty apt. They claim to be too slow to be a thrash band and too fast to be a doom band. By that rationale, "Speed Doom" accurately describes their overall aesthetic. The description is fun, which is also a trait of their music that is rare in doom metal circles. The band was formed by guitarist and singer Kyle Gaso. He started writing the songs while he was getting sober in a clinic in the middle of nowhere in 2021. The mixture of isolation, recovery and the state of the world inspired the heavy, progressive music that was eventually fleshed out with the trio of bassist Logan O'Connor and drummer Kevin Wylie. There is a great interview with the group from last summer that provides a lot of interesting details about how the band came to be. Worth checking out. The…

Drummer Chad Smith is most well known for his long time membership in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He was not the original drummer of the band (that would be Jack Irons) but joined the group at the beginning of their widespread popularity. His first recording with the Chili Peppers was on 1989's Mother's Milk . This was also the first album with on and off again guitarist John Frusciante. Unlike Frusciante, Chad Smith has appeared on every single Red Hot Chili Peppers record since that time. The first single off of Mother's Milk was their absolutely ripping cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". Talk about an amazing debut performance! I don't need to list the many highlights and accomplishments of Red Hot Chili Pepper's career. They are one of the most popular alternative rock bands of all time. Part of their lengthy success was due to the high level of musicianship from all the members, including Chad Smith. As an example, here is a cool drum solo from the Stadium Arcadium tour in 2007: Apparently, even that level of success was not enough for Chad Smith. In 2003 he played on the song "Get You Stoned" on bassist / singer Glen Hughes solo record Songs in the Key of Rock . Glen Hughes was once a member of Deep Purple (from 1974 1976 appearing on Burn , Stormbringer and Come Taste The Band ) so it seems like Chad Smith would be an odd pairing. But it actually works really well: This actually turned into an ongoing collaboration. Chad Smith appeared on four more Glen Hughes solo records since then. Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro also joined Chad in Glen Hughes' band occasionally. One example is "Soul Mover" which was the title track of Glen Hughes' 2005 album: While recording material with Glen Hughes in 2007, Chad Smith joined other members of the band at the time in lengthy jam sessions that were heavily influenced by jazz fusion. Guitarist Jeff Kollman and keyboardist Ed Roth was the initial trio. They loved performing together so much that they started…

There are many times that a Phil's Phriday Pick revolves around the tragic death of a musician. This week I'm flipping the script on that trend. Today, I'm going to celebrate the life of Marshall Allen, who turned 100 years old last year! Marshall Allen is best known as being a (very) longtime member of Sun Ra's Arkestra. Regular Phil's Phriday Pick readers have come to realize that I am a gigantic Sun Ra fanatic. This is illustrated by my large (yet very incomplete) collection of Sun Ra vinyl records. You could say, I dive pretty deep into the Sun Ra catalog. Marshall Allen first joined Sun Ra's band back in the late 1950s. Along with fellow saxophonist John Gilmore he was practically there from the beginning. One of his earliest recordings with Sun Ra was on Jazz In Silhouette , which came out in 1959. The record was more straighahead jazz than the wild avant garde excursions that lay ahead, but it still contained some pretty outsider music. A good example is "Ancient Aiethopia": It's easy to fall down a giant rabbit hole of classic Sun Ra live footage featuring Marshall Allen on the internet. I'll save you the trouble for now by just highlighting this incredible performance recorded for French TV in 1969: Fast forward to the 1990s. When Sun Ra passed away in 1993, the band, billed as the Sun Ra Arkestra, continued under the direction of John Gilmore with Marshall Allen in tow. John Gilmore passed away a couple years later in 1995 and Marshall Allen took over as the leader. He has been leading the band for the next 30 years and counting. You might think that Marshall Allen would start slowing down once he reached his 90s, but you would be very mistaken. Here he is performing "Space Is the Place" in 2018 when he was "only" 93 years old: The next year he was still bringing the fire: He certainly hasn't lost his fastball! Marshall Allen has been living in the same house in Philadelphia that Sun Ra and the band lived and rehearsed in since 1968! Here is an interview…

Charlie Hunter is one of my all time favorite guitar players. He doesn't play a regular guitar like other mere mortals. He plays an 8 string guitar, with the lower strings acting as a bass. He can play bass and guitar parts simultaneously, which is pretty mind boggling. In the early 90s his band, The Charlie Hunter Trio, consisted of drummer Scott Amendola and saxophonist Dave Ellis. Here is a great live performance of them playing their original song "Funky Niblets" off of their self titled debut record which was released on Les Claypool's (the bassist from Primus) Prawn Song label: Incredible stuff! They are locked into a pretty ferocious groove, anchored by Scott Amendola's great drum breaks. He later went on to be part of the Nels Cline Singers, but he has been a steady foil for Charlie Hunter in a wide variety of contexts and groups over the decades. One of the groups that Charlie Hunter and Scott Amendola played together in was called T.J. Kirk (not to be confused with the modern day weirdo podcaster). The band was named T.J. Kirk because of their repertoire: They play covers of Thelonious Monk, James Brown and Rahsaan Roland Kirk...sometimes mixing the artists together into wild medleys! In fact, the band was originally called James T. Kirk, but they were threatened a lawsuit from Paramount (who owns the rights to Star Trek) and ended up changing their name. The band was a quartet. Hunter and Amendola were joined by two other guitarists: John Schott and Will Bernard. The three guitars allowed them to play some pretty intricate grooves, even while one of them is soloing. The band was short lived, only playing together from 1995 1997. They put out two studio records (in 1995 and 1996) and a live album. Their self titled debut record is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. As I mentioned, they exclusively…

I was summoned to jury duty today. As you're probably aware, this usually results in a bunch of downtime while you wait to see if you'll actually be seated in a jury for a trial. You basically bring snacks, some reading material, good headphones and wait to see what happens. What happened for me today was just the snacks, reading and music on headphones. I was not asked to perform the civic duty of being part of a trial. One of the reading materials I packed for the day was the latest issue of Exotica Moderne . This is a quarterly magazine focused on tiki culture: Polynesian themed bars, cocktails and, of course, surf and exotica music. It was a nice escape from the cold and dreary January that we have been experiencing. Exotica Moderne is high quality: great writing, excellent photography and tons of information to chew on. Reading this periodical influenced what I was listening to on my headphones. I found myself queuing up the classic Martin Denny record...but I wanted to dig deeper into the exotica genre. Which lead me to the series of records Robert Drasnin released under the Voodoo banner. There ended up being three records in the series and they are all today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. In 1959, while working as an arranger for the tiny Tops Records he was asked to write his own take on the style of music Martin Denny was popularizing at the time. Voodoo was that record. It didn't have a big splash at the time, but over the next several decades it became a cult favorite with a growing fanbase. In the mid 1990s during the neo lounge music resurgence / craze (with bands like Combustible Edison) it was finally re released on CD. This is when I first heard about it. It is a fantastic recording. The songs are laid back, yet catchy. The crystal clear production and arranging allows you to hear every instru…

As many of you know, I am somebody who dives pretty deep into the world of underground death metal. It's not for everyone, but it is definitely for me! When you immerse yourself into the genre it is pretty obvious that while there is a lot of great metal from the United States, there is also a ton that originates from elsewhere in the world. Much of that is even more extreme and forward thinking than what is happening stateside! There are a few record labels that I keep tabs on their releases, because they have the pulse on what is new and unique in extreme metal around the globe: Nuclear War Now! Productions, Comatose Records, I Voidhanger Records and especially 20 Buck Spin. 20 Buck Spin is a Pittsburgh based label. They don't seem to put out as many records as the other labels I mentioned but I think that's because they subscribe to the philosophy of quality over quantity. Some bands worth checking out on their label include Tomb Mold and Immortal Bird. However, one band I particularly am fond of is an Italian group called Bedsore. They started out as a progressive death metal band not too far off from what groups like Death were doing on classic records like Human and Individual Thought Patterns . Longer songs with a ton of shifting parts and highly technical playing coupled with guttural, screaming vocals. Bedsore's first record on 20 Buck Spin, Hypnagogic Hallucinations , is a brutal slab of progressive death metal. The song that closes the record, "Brains on the Tarmac", is one of my favorites...they really stretch out here: They eventually started pushing the envelope more. Taking cues from bands like Opeth they included more synthesizers and started writing epics that are not far off in scope from what bands like Yes were doing with Close To The Edge . I'm not kidding. A fine example is their side of a split release they did with the band Mortal Incarnation. It's a 15+ minute prog suite called "Shapes from Beyond the Veil of Stars and Space". It starts out…

This week there was a horrific incident in the world of hard rock. Original vocalist of the band 24 7 Spyz, P. Fluid (Peter Forrest) was found dead in an apparent homicide. He was working for an ambulette company in New York City, and when co workers realized he wasn't making his pickups went to look for him and discovered his body in the vehicle. An awful tragedy. This made me go back and listen to the first couple 24 7 Spyz records, when P. Fluid was still in the band: Harder Than You from 1989 and Gumbo Millennium from 1990. These albums were in heavy rotation for me back in high school and brought back a lot of nostalgia for those days. Nostalgia aside, these records are incredibly diverse and the band was firing on all cylinders at the time. They could tackle a wide variety of styles from punk to funk to reggae and thrash metal. Harder Than You is a front to back banger and is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. There were not many African American bands at that time playing hard rock and metal so they were pushing boundaries. Living Colour and Bad Brains are obvious comparisons, but 24 7 Spyz had their own unique sound that is impossible to replicate. Plus, even though they were part of the same scene as Living Colour and were early members of The Black Rock Coalition, there was apparently bad blood between the two groups. The first big break for 24 7 Spyz was their cover of Kool & The Gang's "Jungle Boogie". They made a pretty fun video for it that got some airplay on MTV's 120 Minutes : That wasn't the only cover on Harder Than You . They also recorded "Sponji Reggae" (originally by reggae group Black Uhuru). Incredible stuff: Their record label at the time, In Effect was mostly focused on hardcore and metal bands such as Agnostic Front, Prong and Madball. They knew 24 7 Spyz was something special tho…

It's hard to believe 30 years after the fact, but in the mid 1990s jazz swing music was immensely popular. There was a full on "swing revival" with a style of music from the 1930s being played on modern rock radio stations and on MTV. One of the earliest examples of a band that contributed was Royal Crown Revue. They formed in 1989 (well before the popular 1990s resurgence). They released their first album Kings of Gangster Bop in 1991 and basically nobody noticed. That all changed when they were featured in the Jim Carey movie The Mask in 1994. Here is the pivotal scene in the movie of Jim Carey dancing to "Hey Pachuco!" with the band: This basically kick started the "swing revival" trend. Other bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Brian Setzer Orchestra and Squirrel Nut Zippers soon followed suit (in their zoot suits). It reached critical mass by 1996 when the movie Swingers was released and then was on a downward trend. By 1999 the revival was essentially over. Royal Crown Revue was there every step of the way. They released their 2nd album Mugzy's Move around the same time as Swingers . It included a re recorded version of "Hey Pachuco!" along with "Zip Gun Bop" from Kings of Gangster Bop . The latter of which they made a music video for: It also included the bonkers song "Barflies on the Beach" which is about exactly what the title implies. They made a wild music video for that too, which includes a ton of funny footage of the band frolicking on a beach plus footage of them playing in concert (showing people crowd surfing, of all things!): While the band is musically great, there was a lot of kitsch in their approach (see: "Barflies on the Beach"). For their follow up record in 1998, The Contender , they brought a more serious approach. That album is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. I don't believe they m…

2024 is rapidly coming to a close. As I was compiling my list of favorite records this year, other people's "best of" lists were already showing up online and coming to my attention. At first glance of other lists I saw, I was initially surprised that hardly any of my favorites were showing up on other lists! There are obvious exceptions with high profile records like The Cure, Blood Incantation and Mdou Moctar...but most of my list seemed out of touch with other listeners. However, even between other people's lists there wasn't much crossover beyond the aformentioned high profile examples. It made me realize that we're reaching a breaking point of siloed music listening. In the current state of personalized playlists, unique social media feeds, niche podcasts and the entire history of music at our fingertips everyone's in their own little worlds. No longer are there cultural zeitgeists like MTV, mainstream radio stations or magazines. Even previous online juggernauts like Pitchfork and Stereogum are no longer universal. Sure, Taylor Swift is still huge and there was Brat Summer etc but those are generally out of my wheelhouse (I did like Brat , for what it's worth). It made me wonder: who are these year end lists really for? Are people really diving into them to find things they missed? Maybe it's just to document for future generations? I dunno, but I'm still making my list anyways. I, for one, have made a separate note of albums I missed that showed up on other "best of" lists I want to check out...but I suspect I am the exception and not the rule. At any rate, below is my list. I can confidently say the top 20 records are definitely my favorites of the year, generally ranked in the order or how much I loved them. After that, the math becomes fuzzier but they are all worth hearing and I heard them all multiple times throughout the year. I'll likely keep coming back to most of them in the future. They each have links to the full albums in Spotify. At the top of t…

Another year has flown by (by my count there were 38 albums picked in 2024!) and that means the holiday season is upon us. That also means it's time for my annual Christmas playlist (now in its 16th year counting the time I used to make mix CDs back in ancient times). Every year there is a huge pile of new Christmas records that come out. I listen to a bunch of them (so you don't have to) and select some gems from the overall batch of coal to include in the playlist. I also pepper it with classics from Christmases past...some well known and some more obscure. This year's playlist collects 32 songs and will entertain listeners for a bit over an hour and a half. I hope it brings some cheer and optimism to you over the holiday season. One thing is for sure: Every year for the past 16 years of playlists there have been no repeats ! The exact same performance of the same song by the same artist has never reappeared on one of my playlists. However, every song is collected in a giant "Megamix" that has now swelled to an overwhelming 367 songs filling 20.5 hours. That's a lot of Christmas cheer!! Put that monstrosity on shuffle and you'll feel like you're living in the North Pole! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 20.5 HOUR MEGA MIX! Christmas 2023 Christmas 2022 Christmas 2021 COVID Christmas 2020 Modern Christmas 2019 It's Christmas Again? 2018 New Christmas Classics 2017 Merry Christmas 2016 Festive 2015 80s Christmas 2014 Jazzy Christmas 2013 Sounds of Christmas 2012 cRaZy ChRiStMaS 2011 Wacky Christmas 2010 Ultimate Christmas 2008

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, I am sending out this week's pick early! I know Phil's Wednesday Picks doesn't have the same ring to it, but hopefully everyone is fine with an early missive this week. I've been a fan of the band Chicago since at least high school (although likely earlier since it was seemingly impossible to avoid their music on the radio back in those days). I was in the band that performed at basketball games, playing favorites like "25 or 6 to 4", "Make Me Smile" and "Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is". Those songs are all classics. I am one of those fans that generally subscribe to the rule that the best Chicago records were the ones that included guitarist Terry Kath (who passed away from an accident involving a firearm in 1978). Every album from that era (through Chicago XI ) are all front to back bangers. Their live records from the era also illustrate how they were one of the best rock bands on the planet during that time. I'll showcase a couple deep cuts that they played live here. We all know the classic hits, so no need to rehash it here. First up is "Dialogue Pts 1 & 2" from Chicago V , performed at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago, November 1972: It's great hearing Robert Lamm and Peter Cetera singing their hearts out on that one! The rest of the band is in the zone. Another one worth watching is this incredible medley of "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long / Mongonucleosis" from 1977: It’s hard to top that performance. Terry Kath's solo alone is worth the price of admission here. Ok, I think that's enough evidence for justification for my Chicago fandom. Even after the classic era, I'd still occasionally check in on what the band was up to, although much less so once Peter Cetera left the group in 1985. By that point that were basically a soft rock, ballad heavy group with David Foster producing and co writing songs with the group and generally pulling the strings. Through all of the dreck, every once in a while, a gem would sneak o…

Isaiah Collier is a bandleader, composer and saxophone player who has been regularly putting out awesome records and performing exciting shows, both solo and with his band The Chosen Few for close to a decade. He's taken inspiration from the classic spiritual jazz music of John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Don Cherry and modernized it in new and exciting ways. Here is some early footage of the group performing John Coltrane's "Impressions" in 2019 at a Chicago street festival: Each of Isaiah's records are theme based. For example, Cosmic Transitions from 2021 was inspired by the planet Mercury, especially when it is in retrograde. Interestingly, it was recorded on John Coltrane's birthday in 2020 at the famous Van Gelder Studio (where Coltrane recorded many of his classic albums including Africa / Brass , Ascension and A Love Supreme ). Cosmic Transitions is a 5 part suite, with each song flowing into the next. The third part of the suite is called "Understanding". Here is the band playing it like their lives depended on it in 2022: This year, Isaiah Collier and The Chosen Few have put out two records. The first, released back in the spring, is The Almighty . It was inspired by John Coltrane's Interstellar Space (dig the sleigh bells at the beginning of The Almighty that is an obvious nod to that record, for example). Here is an incredible performance of Isaiah Collier and The Chosen Few playing "Love" from The Almighty . Total fire! I didn't think Isaiah Collier would be able to top The Almighty , but I am very wrong. Last month he released The World is on Fire . It takes the template of The Almighty and cranks up the intensity to the breaking point. It will likely be one of my favorite records of the year when it is all said and done. The World is on Fire is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. I'm not the…

Today it was announced that musician and lyricist Peter Sinfield passed away at the age of 80. He is best known for writing most of the lyrics in the early days of King Crimson, notably for their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King and the song "21st Century Schizoid Man". He even chose the iconic artwork for the cover of that record! A friend of his created the original painting and he showed it to Robert Fripp, who liked it. Peter Sinfield was part of Robert Fripp's inner circle before the formation of King Crimson. In fact, "I Talk to the Wind", which one of the tunes on In the Court of the Crimson King , was originally performed by the group Giles, Giles and Fripp. The lyrics were written by Peter Sinfield. Here is a demo recording of "I Talk to the Wind" by Giles, Giles and Fripp with a spoken introduction by King Crimson manager David Singleton explaining the situation: One of my favorite King Crimson songs with Peter Sinfield lyrics is "Cadence and Cascade" from their 2nd album In the Wake of Poseidon . It's a beautiful tune: I believe the only King Crimson album where Peter Sinfield can be heard playing an instrument was on their fourth record, Lizard . He played the newly released EMS VCS 3 synthesizer on two of the songs. One of them is "Indoor Games". This "Live Recording Sessions" excerpt better highlights his playing than the version included on the album itself: Peter Sinfield was very fond of his time in King Crimson, even after he parted ways with them in 1971 (after continually butting heads with Fripp). Here he is talking about his time with King Crimson from the 2008 Prog Rock Britannia documentary: Additionally, here is a similar interview he gave on Japanese television in 2011: When King Crimson released the Epitaph live box set in 1997 Peter Sinfield participated in the promotional listening session for it. While you don't see him speaking in this clip, you can see him sitting at the large table signing autographs with other members o…

Welcome to the triumphant return of Phil's Phriday Picks! I have been on hiatus for the month of October...so in the immortal words of David Lee Roth: "I've heard you missed us, we're back! I brought my pencil! Gimme something to write on, man!" Now that I got the obligatory Van Halen reference out of the way, let's get back to business. The music world has been saddened this week by the announced passing of Quincy Jones There’s rightfully high praise for Quincy Jones’ most popular works ( Off The Wall , Thriller , We Are The World , In Cold Blood , Back on the Block , “It’s My Party”, “Sanford And Son”, “Fly Me to the Moon”….the list seemingly is endless!), and many people on the internet have already detailed his incredible career. This got me thinking about all the musicians involved in all his projects, especially during the 80s with Michael Jackson. One of the musicians that was a constant presence in Michael Jackson's band (both in the studio and on tour) was keyboard player Greg Phillinganes. Greg Phillinganes first big break was with Stevie Wonder. He was part of Wonder's band in the late 70s. Stevie Wonder introduced Greg Phillinganes to The Jackson's when they were recording the Destiny album in 1978. He helped with song arrangements and added some keyboard playing. This continued with 1980's Triumph . In fact, you can hear his playing on one of the big hits from that record, "Can You Feel It": Greg stuck with Michael Jackson when he went solo and worked with Quincy Jones on Off the Wall , Thriller and Bad . Here is an excellent interview with Greg where he discusses the recording of Thriller : You can tell Michael Jackson and Greg Phillinganes really had a deep bond, because Michael always made sure to specially introduce Greg during every concert. Here is a montage of some examples: During the recording of Thriller , Michael Jackson recorded a demo of a song called "Behind the Mask". It was originally written and recorded by a Japanese group called Yell…

One of the best modern day soul records is D'Angelo's Voodoo . This is not up for debate. When it came out in the year 2000 it was a game changer for the genres of soul, funk and hip hop and what they could be in the new millennium. Entire books have been written about the creation of this masterpiece, mostly focusing on the collaboration between D'Angelo and Questlove, the drummer from The Roots. While that collaboration was a huge part of what made the record so special, there were other musicians involved in it's creation that I think also made giant contributions to the overall awesomeness of Voodoo . The overall musicians collective came to be known as The Soulquarians. Two musicians in particular were trumpeter Roy Hargrove and bassist Pino Palladino. In fact, D'Angelo wrote most of the bass parts of the record with Palladino in mind. Even though D'Angelo played the bass on the majority of the record, there were a couple songs that Palladino played on ("Playa Playa", "Send It On", "Chicken Grease"). Plus, he was a part of the live band that toured behind Voodoo . Roy Hargrove was originally playing more straight ahead jazz in the 1990s, but he was tapped by Branford Marsalis to be in Buckshot LeFonque (which was a previous PPP). This was likely how D'Angelo got wind of his playing and ability to perform modern funk and soul. "Send It On" was one of the singles from Voodoo and it showcases both players. Here is the music video for "Send It On" that shows them both in action: The summer after Voodoo came out, D'Angelo performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival with both of them in tow. The performance is bonkers. Here they are performing "Brown Sugar" at the fest (for some reason split into two parts...probably because there is too much awesome to be contained in one video): Also part of the promotion of Voodoo , D'Angelo performed "Devil's Pie" at the MTV Movie Awards: Finally, I'll highlight D'Angelo's performance of "Chicken Grease" on The Chris Rock Show (Roy…

The band Camel was never one of the bigger names in England, but they are highly influential. They originated what came to be known as "Neo Prog". Bands that came after them such as Marillion, Beardfish and Porcupine Tree owe a lot to Camel for laying the foundation. If you asked someone to list British progressive rock bands from the 1970s, groups like Yes, Gentle Giant, Genesis or King Crimson would likely be chosen...but in my opinion Camel should be right up there with those bands. One of their biggest masterpieces (both in sales and length / scope) was The Snow Goose from 1975. That record is a nearly 45 minute instrumental suite that was inspired by Paul Gallico's book of the same name. In fact, Gallico sued the band and forced them to make the actual title of the record Music Inspired by The Snow Goose but people pretty much just call it by the original simpler name anyways. The Snow Goose consists of mostly composed music with very little improvisation so that it can properly follow the tale of the original book. The songs are catchy and melodic with just enough complexity to make it interesting. The entire song suite flows well and you can truly relate it to the story told by Gallico. Soon after the release of the album, Camel played a huge show at The Royal Albert Hall in London performing the complete suite accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra. Luckily the entire performance was recorded and was later released in 1978 as part of a live album they aptly called A Live Record , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. To give you a sense of what the music is like in a live setting, here is Camel playing "The Snow Goose / Friendship / Rhayader Goes to Town" from The Snow Goose on BBC TV in 1975: After The Snow Goose Camel released another concept album called Moonmadness in 1976. Four of th…

I recently learned that Chicago alternative rock legends Fig Dish have reformed. This is pretty cool news! They never really got huge during the 90s alt rock boom, which is a shame because they were a very fun and talented group. Their new record, Feels Like the Very First Two Times was released today and they are playing a couple club shows in Chicago over the weekend. I haven't had a chance to fully absorb the album yet, but here is the video for the single "Science Goes Public": Even though Fig Dish weren't a massive success outside of Chicago in their heyday, they were still signed to major label Polydor Records. Their first album, That's What Love Songs Often Do , was released in 1995. It featured the single "Seeds" which showcases their indie rock / power pop sound pretty well: Their second album arrived two years later and was called When Shove Goes Back To Push . They were annoyed that the lack of support they received from Polydor so they self sabotaged their big opportunities. The most notorious was wasting $80,000 on a basically unplayable on MTV risqué video for "When Shirts Get Tight": Consequently, they were dropped from the label. Fig Dish basically broke up, but still played infrequent shows in Chicago, most famously for their Halloween shows with their buddies in Local H (dressing like famous bands and playing their songs). I was lucky enough to catch one such show in 2002 at The Double Door. It was, to say the least, a wild night. Two of the members of Fig Dish, Blake Smith (guitar & vocals) and Mike Willison (bass), regrouped. They became inspired by the growing popularity of electronica and decided to blend that with the heavy rock sound of Fig Dish and a big dose of irony (similar to Urge Overkill). They formed a band called Caviar. Caviar released their self titled debut album in 2000 and is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social?…

People who know me, along with long time Phil's Phriday Pick readers, know that I am a jazz fusion fanatic. Especially heavy jazz fusion from the early to mid 1970s. The pinnacle of this style of music is Billy Cobham's 1973 masterpiece Spectrum . I'm surprised I haven't picked that album yet...but maybe soon. The (maybe not so) secret weapon on Spectrum was guitarist Tommy Bolin. He died too soon at the age of 25 in 1976, and at one point was a member of Deep Purple (appearing on the criminally underrated 1975 record Come Taste the Band ) but before that he was playing really heavy jazz rock, such as Spectrum . For those unfamiliar I will showcase the scorching album opener from Spectrum , "Quadrant 4": Blasting out of the gate and taking no prisoners! That's what I'm talking about! As much renown that Spectrum has there is another record that comes in a close second to that legendary album. It also features Tommy Bolin on guitar and is a solo record from another great jazz fusion drummer. The record I'm referring to is Alphonse Mouzon's Mind Transplant , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Before Mind Transplant , Alphonse Mouzon already had an incredible resume. He was in the very first version of the band Weather Report, appearing on their self titled debut in 1971. Here he is playing "Waterfall" with Weather Report during that short time he was in the group: Afterwards he joined pianist McCoy Tyner's band. McCoy Tyner is, of course, part of the legendary John Coltrane band that performed on A Love Supreme . His solo albums in the early 70s expand on that spiritual jazz sound and takes it to new heights. Alphonse Mouzon played on one of my favorite Tyner records Sahara . The whole thing is straight up fire, especially the 20+ minute title track. Speaking of fire, Mouzon also played with Tyner at…

Drummer Mark Nauseef is one of those players you've likely heard play, but you didn't know it. He played with some famous people but generally stayed out of the limelight. In fact, his first "big break" was playing for a latter day version of The Velvet Underground! This was after all the original lineup (including Lou Reed) had already departed. It was the Doug Yule version of the group. Mark Nauseef played live with them as part of a European tour in 1972 and the group was done for good soon after. Afterwards he joined Ronnie James Dio in his pre Rainbow group called Elf. He played on the final Elf record Trying to Burn the Sun and toured with them in 1975. Here they are performing around that time. The footage is raw, but I think it is the only known video of this group in action (in a unique double drummer lineup!): Everyone else in Elf besides Mark Nauseef joined up with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore to form Rainbow. They all went on to larger success and Nauseef stayed in the shadows. Ritchie Blackmore was previously in Deep Purple with singer Ian Gillian. When that version of Deep Purple disbanded Ian Gillian started his own group (called The Ian Gillan Band, naturally!) and Mark Nauseef joined him. Confused yet? The Ian Gillian Band released three records, including Clear Air Turbulence in 1977. Here is The Ian Gillian Band performing "Money Lender" from Clear Air Turbulence : After that group disbanded, Mark Nauseef became tired of playing in rock bands. He decided to immerse himself in much different styles like gamelan, Indian and Ghanaian music. By the late 1980s he joined forces with percussionist Leonice Shinneman and formed a group named Dark. Leonice Shinneman is primarily known for playing tabla. Here is a fine recent example showing his style and virtuosity: Dark expanded their membership to include bassist Mark London Sims (who played in early versions of Nels Cline's trios appearing on the album Silencer ) and Bosnian guitarist Miroslav Tadic. Thi…

Louis Cole is an incredible musician and composer. First and foremost he is known for his proficiency behind the drum set. Here he is performing a drum solo on top of some prerecorded music that makes me realize I really need to practice my drumming more: One of my favorite albums from 2022 was his solo record Quality Over Opinion . Though he is primarily a drummer he also plays other instruments such as keyboards and guitar. His style of playing is generally frantic and precise. He also has a wacky sense of humor. All of this is apparent in every single song on this album. He released a video for the single "I'm Tight": He also performs in numerous bands. One of them is called Knower which is a collaboration with musician Genevieve Artadi. They put out a record last year called Knower Forever which included this fun song called "I'm the President": He is also part of the grindcore / free jazz duo called Clowncore with saxophone player Sam Gendel. Their music reaches the outer edges of sanity. They released a series of videos of them playing in an old minivan in clown costumes (and released an accompanying album simply called Van ) back in 2021. Here is "Earth" from Van : Louis Cole's latest project is even larger in scope. He has collaborated with the Dutch orchestra Metropole Orkest on an album called Nothing , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The Metropole Orkest has been collaborating with rock musicians for decades, so this is not a new concept for them. There are dozens of recorded examples of them performing with many popular artists. For example, here they are playing "For the Love of God" with Steve Vai all the way back in 2004: They also performed a concert with Elvis Costello that was released as a album called My Flame Turns Blue in 2006. Here is "Clubland" from that concert: I think L…

Michael Manring is a virtuoso bass player, who is mostly known for his association with the Windham Hill record label and playing with guitarist Michael Hedges. Which is to say he's often pigeonholed as a "new age" musician. This isn't exactly fair. Even when playing in those situations, he was playing some really wild stuff. Take for example this live footage from the mid 80s of him playing "Out on the Parkway" with Michael Hedges originally on the record Watching My Life Go By : That being said, the music is definitely on the mellower side. Which is why it was surprising that in the early 90s he started playing with hard rock musicians. One of the first examples of this was his 1994 albun Thonk which is today's pick! Innerviews conducted a very informative interview with Michael Manring from 1994 that explains his approach and thought process on the record. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The musicians that play with him on Thonk include drummers Steve Smith (of Journey fame) and Tim "Herb" Alexander (of Primus fame). Steve Smith was originally with Journey during their superstar years: 1978 through 1985. (He rejoined Journey again in the late 90s). Here he is playing a quick drum solo with Journey in 1981: He also had his own jazz fusion group called Vital Information, with Tom Coster on keyboards and Jeff Andrews on bass. Here they are in their prime in 1992: He also excelled in playing more traditional jazz. He was one of the musicians picked by Neil Peart to play on the Burning For Buddy Buddy Rich tribute records and concert. Here he is absolutely nailing "Nutville" with the Buddy Rich Big Band: Tim Alexander's drumming was a huge part of the unique nature of Primus' music. His interesting polyrhythmic playing is intricate enough that it stands on its own. Here he is playing many Primus songs solo (along with so…

Sorry for the later than usual post tonight. It's been a pretty busy day, including diving into a ton of enjoyable new releases that came out today including Smashing Pumpkins Aghori Mhori Mei , Orville Peck Stampede , X Smoke & Fiction , Meshell Ndegeocello No More Water and Chrystabell / David Lynch Cellophane Memories . They are all worth checking out...but none of these are today's pick. I've been on a bit of a Jack White / White Stripes kick lately. This is partly because I recently traveled to Nashville for my birthday and this trip included a stop at the Third Man Records location there. While browsing the racks there I saw one of my favorite albums of all time for sale there: They also had a ton of cool, unique records on display such as this one: I took a behind the scenes tour of the warehouse. It was awesome but they didn't allow photos on the tour unfortunately. I also caught a show at the adjacent Blue Room. The aptly named space is basked in blue light with blue walls. In fact, the photos for album covers of many records released on Third Man were taken there. Here's me looking very blue there: They have an actual elephant head on the wall, which is pretty wild: The headliner that night was Eric Slick. His band was incredible: Anyways, my current Jack White / Third Man Records obsessions have come at a good time, because Jack White recently released a surprise record called No Name , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. It was originally released for free only to customers at Third Man Record stores as an unmarked white vinyl record. There was a lot of mystery and hype about the record but Jack White encouraged people to share it online. Local Detroit radio station WDET even played the album in full! Soon afterwards Jack White played a small show at a Nashville American Legion Hall and p…

Jah Wobble was a very busy man in the early 80s. He left his short lived position as the bass player in Public Image Ltd. in late 1980 (he only appeared on one record: 1979's Metal Box ). One of his final performances with the group was on the television show The Old Grey Whistle Test where they played "Poptones" and "Careening": Immediately after leaving PiL Jah Wobble began forming new bands and collaborating with a wide variety of musicians. The band he formed was called Invaders of the Heart that took the Metal Box template and took it in jazzier and more avant garde directions. Here they are performing in 1983: He also started working with ex members of the German band Can: Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit. They first appeared together on Holger Czukay's 1981 solo record On the Way to the Peak of Normal on the song "Hiss 'n' Listen": This trio turned into a more long term working unit. They recorded a full album together called Full Circle in 1982 and made a music video for the song "How Much Are They?" which is pretty representative of the whole album: For the next album, they took the concept even further. Somehow, they recruited U2 guitarist The Edge to collaborate on the next album, Snake Charmer , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Details are sparse as to how The Edge got involved in the recording sessions. It seems like he would have been smack dab in the middle of the massive U2 tour for War when the recordings were made! Perhaps there was a few off days on the tour that coincided with the session that the other players were already a part of? Nevertheless, I'm glad the opportunity arose because Snake Charmer is probably some of the wildest stuff The Edge has ever been a part of. "Hold On To Your Dreams" is my favorite song on the album. It's sort of a mutant disco / prog rock / avant j…

The story of Hermann Szobel is so crazy that it defies reality. Hearing it for the first time you'd likely think it was unbelievable and not true. However, I assure you it is not the work of fiction. Hermann Szobel is the nephew of music promoter Bill Graham. Graham is famous for his work starting in the 1960s with the clubs the Fillmore East and West along with major festivals like Day on the Green and the US Festival . Hermann Szobel was born and grew up in Austria, but because of his association with Bill Graham he came to the United States in 1975 as a very technically accomplished seventeen year old piano virtuoso. He allegedly sat in with Roberta Flack in the studio when she was recording Feel Like Makin’ Love (thanks again to Bill Graham) and people in the studio were so blown away they let him assemble his own band to record a album. The album was simply titled Szobel and is today's pick. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Szobel (released on the major label Arista Records in 1976) is a completely unique record. It is only 5 songs, spanning almost 40 minutes (a huge chunk of it consumed by the 12 1/2 minute "The Szuite ) and runs the gamut from heavy funk to blindly fast jazz fusion workouts that sound like unreleased Frank Zappa songs from the Hot Rats / Waka/Jawaka / Grand Wazoo era. Truly, mind blowing stuff. The album starts off with "Mr. Softee" and is racing right out of the gate with a complex jazz funk workout. Next is the aforementioned "The Szuite" which has a heavy Magma / Zeuhl influence along with more funk plus some improvised free jazz blowing from the saxophone. "Between 7 and 11" follows with contains so many tricky stops and starts that it sounds like the band and their instruments are falling down a flight of stairs while continuing to play. "Transcendental Floss" sounds like it could be a Tony…

Van Halen was one of the biggest hard rock bands of their time. Their first six records (all with singer David Lee Roth) are bona fide classics. Each album contained multiple hits and sold millions of copies each, culminating with 1984 which sold an incredible ten million copies in the United States alone. When Roth left the band soon after that, many wondered if Van Halen would be able to continue. Obviously they were able to continue. They recruited singer Sammy Hagar and continued to put out extremely successful records... 5150 still sold a very respectable six million copies and OU812 sold four million more. One of the reasons David Lee Roth left the group was Eddie Van Halen's reliance on using keyboards and synthesizers in the songs. This trend continued after he left, especially on ballads like "Dreams" and "When Its Love". Long time fans balked at these new directions of the group and there was much criticism and pressure for Van Halen to return to their roots. So they went into the studio with that mindset: No ballads, no synths (acoustic pianos were used instead) and no B.S. They also brought back producer Ted Templeman who the band had not worked with since 1984 . The result was For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. As much as I love the Roth era classics, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is actually my all time favorite Van Halen Record. It's basically relentless from beginning to end...all hard rock power! The closest thing they came to a ballad was probably the ode to 1 900 number commercials "Spanked". The album probably has some of the most complex parts and solos Eddie Van Halen ever performed. Even the kind of corny idea of playing his guitar with a power drill on the intro to "Poundcake" doesn't sound ridiculous and actually adds to the ambitiousness of the…

Happy Fourth of July! I'm just writing a very quick pick for this week since, like many of you, I am enjoying a very long weekend. Today's pick is Ray Charles' awesome 1972 album A Message From The People ! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. In my opinion this is one of the most patriotic records ever made. The album starts with "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and ends with an absolutely stunning version of "America The Beautiful". In between these two classics are eight more perfectly chosen and impeccably performed songs (many arranged by Sid Feller and entirely produced by Quincy Jones). Highlights include covers of Melanie's "Look What They Done To My Song, Ma", John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and Dion's "Abraham Martin and John". There is also a great version of "Hey Mister" which is an awesome protest song about the government ignoring the needs of poor people. Listening to this album always makes me feel proud to be an American. Hopefully it does for you as well. How can this not? You can listen to Ray Charles A Message From the People on your streaming platform of choice (including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Tidal, YouTube Music and more!).

I'm a huge fan of guitarist Allan Holdsworth. He's been involved in tons of great bands and albums in his long 40+ year career. In fact, in the past I've picked at least one album he's performed on: Gong's Gazeuse / Expresso . However, I have not picked one of his solo records before. One of the many bands Allan Holdsworth was in was The New Tony Williams Lifetime in the mid 70s (appearing on Believe It and Million Dollar Legs ). Live recordings of the band are rare, but here's a quality recording from 1975: Also part of this band was keyboard player Alan Pasqua. After The New Tony Williams Lifetime disbanded, Alan Pasqua stuck with Allan Holdsworth and continued to be a part of his bands (even while playing with more famous musicians like Eddie Money and Santana). His playing with Holdsworth ended up being a very fruitful collaboration. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Allan Holdsworth also liked keeping up with technology. In the mid 80s he started playing a weird instrument called the SynthAxe. The SynthAxe was a MIDI controller that was shaped like a guitar with two separate sets of strings and a bunch of buttons. It connects to synthesizers to make noise. Here is Allan Holdsworth discussing the SynthAxe and performing a little demonstration of the instrument: In 1986, Allan Holdsworth teamed up with Alan Pasqua, along with drummer Gary Husband and bassist Jimmy Johnson to record his first of many records featuring the SynthAxe. The album was called Atavachron (named after a Star Trek time travel device) and is today's pick! Atavachron is a wild record that manages to mix jazz fusion with progressive and symphonic rock. It also features some of Allan Holdsworth best playing, especially since he can expand the voice of the guitar into previously unheard realms with The SynthAxe. Supplementing the core band is drummer…

Innovative no wave musician James Chance passed away this week at the age of 71. There are tons of retrospectives and tributes online, so I won't dive too much into it here. I first became obsessed with James Chance back in 2003, when a comprehensive box set called Irresistible Impulse was released. I snapped it up when I saw it at Reckless Records and basically spent months pouring over all the music. It contains tons of great music, but with an approximate 4 hour run time, it’s a lot to take in (It's also woefully out of print). Instead I'll highlight the first record by James Chance's band The Contortions, Buy , which was included as part of the box set and is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The Contortions were part of the original no wave scene in New York City in the late 70s. The scene was first documented by Brian Eno on the compilation called No New York (which includes The Contortions along with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Mars and DNA). It accurately showcases all four of those bands and is a great overall introduction to the genre and music scene. Buy , which was released soon after No New York , was a tour de force for James Chance and the band. It is a relentless blur of funk rhythms, jagged guitar, stabbing organs and wailing free jazz inspired saxophone. Their live shows at the time were even more unhinged. Check out the original lineup of the band (the lineups fluctuated wildly in The Contortions short lifespan) playing at Max's Kansas City in 1979: If you like this, you'll love Buy . It was a hugely influential record for me showcasing that you didn't need to play like a virtuoso to play music...you just needed to bring a lot of passion, power and a unique frame of mind. Its still very inspirational for me even today. Rest In Peace James Chance! You can listen to The Contortions Buy on…

Joshua Ray Walker is an incredible singer and songwriter. While he doesn't look like a typical country musician, his talent excels past much more popular artists. He has been singing since he was kid, but started getting bigger breaks about five years ago after putting out his first solo record Wish You Were Here . The album included ten original songs of old school country music featuring his powerful voice and a tight backing band. One of the singles was "Canyon" which aptly illustrates what the whole record sounds like: He released two more albums in quick succession. Glad You Made It in 2020 and See You Next Time in 2021. After his third record he hit the big time when he was invited to perform on The Grand Ol' Opry. Here he is recalling that experience: Along with the original songs, he also performed cover songs. He released a cover of Lionel Ritchie's "Hello" soon after his Opry debut including reenacting the original music video: This lead him to record an entire album of cover songs, but with a twist: Every song was originally performed by a female singer! This record is called What Is It Even? and is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The album starts with an awesome cover of Lizzo's "Cuz I Love You". Here is the music video for that: Here he is performing "Cuz I Love You" on Jimmy Kimmel Live : Another highlight is a cover of "Linger" originally by The Cranberries. It even includes a cameo of Kyle from Tenacious D on recorder! The rest of the songs are equally as incredible and runs the gamut: "I Want To Dance With Somebody" (Whitney Houston), "Believe" (Cher), "Blue" (Leann Rimes), "Nothing Compares 2 U" (Sinead O'Connor) and "Halo" (Beyonce) are also included. They are all well performed with sincerity and are not done in a cheesy or kitschy way. This lead to a high profile tour opening up for T…

The Flying Luttenbachers have long been one of my favorite bands. In fact, I have previously picked a couple Flying Luttenbachers albums: On May 25, 2019 my pick was Infection and Decline and on July 9th, 2021 I picked Negative Infinity . This week will be a rare "pick trifecta"! The Flying Luttenbachers only constant member is Weasel Walter. While the lineup has not been stable over the years, the group's commitment to extreme music, velocity and musical complexity has always remained. The current version of the band includes Weasel Walter on guitar, (which he switched to from drums back in 2021), Luke Polipnick on bass and James Paul Nadien on drums. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Luke Polipnick also plays in the band Abhorrent Expanse, who play a very wild hybrid of death metal and free jazz. They recently put out a great record called Gateways to Resplendence . Here is the epic "Arcturian Nano Diamonds from the Tranquil Abyss" from that album: James Paul Nadien also has a free jazz background. Here is a show he played just a couple months ago with bassist Caleb Duval and tenor saxophonist Lao Dan: This configuration of The Flying Luttenbachers is currently on tour with Melt Banana, and I was able to catch them earlier this week in Cambridge Massachusetts. If you didn't see one of their shows, it's too late because the last show in the tour is tonight. You snooze, you lose. Maybe you don't completely lose, because fans have been recording videos of some of the concerts. Here they are in Minneapolis, MN on May 30: The next night they were in Madison, WI: After that, they played in Chicago, IL: The Flying Luttenbachers recently released a new demo style EP called Spectral Warrior Mythos 2 , which is today's pick! The songs on Spectral Warrior Mythos 2 are the same ones they are currently playing on the road, so it is…

Musician and composer Skip Heller is extremely prolific and immerses himself in a wide variety of genres. For approximately 30 years he has released tons of records running the gamut from organ jazz to country / blues to exotica. It's hard to condense the gigantic scope of his output into a tiny blog post, but I'm going to try. Perhaps some of his historical biography can be best summed up by the man himself. So, here is a somewhat recent interview (from 2019) with him where he describes his modus operandi and some of the musical projects he was working on at the time. I first encountered Skip when I was in college in the mid 90s. We were both members of an email discussion group about John Zorn. Along with chatting about John Zorn in this virtual forum, we also discovered our mutual fanaticism for Frank Zappa, The Minutemen, John Hartford and tons more. We've kept in touch ever since. Exchanging emails, following each other on every imaginable social media site (pretty sure we were connected on sites like Friendster and Myspace before modern day applications like Facebook or Instagram were even a dream). We also exchanged mix CDs in the mail, hyping our recent discoveries and obsessions. All along the way, whenever Skip released new music, I was listening. Some of my favorites are Couch, Los Angeles , Homegoing , and Mean Things Happening In This Land . I'll list a highlight from each record to give you an idea the albums are like.... On Couch, Los Angeles the original "Spy Perfume" shows his interest in noir jazz: Homegoing was a live organ trio record that was mostly instrumental but also included some vocal numbers. "Time After Time" is one example featuring Dave Alvin of The Blasters fame: The entire Liberal Dose album is excellent. Not a single bad track from beginning to end so it's hard to only select one example. However his arrangement of "Funeral March from The Mahler 5" is a great choice: | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday…

Besides their weird and mysterious nature (each member is anonymous, and they always appear in public in some sort of costumes or masks), The Residents have always been a very ambitious group. Throughout their long discography they have released many elaborate concept albums. This was especially true in the early 80s when they were working on what became known as the "Mole Trilogy". The Mole Trilogy was a series of records that told the story of a conflict between two rival peoples, the Moles and the Chubs. In true form for The Residents the trilogy was never completed in its original form, but there were five albums that were part of the concept: Mark of the Mole , Tale of Two Cities , The Big Bubble plus the live records The Mole Show and Intermission . To kind of take a break from the Mole concept, The Residents came up with a "simpler" idea for a set of records called The American Composer Series. This was planned to comprise 10 albums which would pay tribute to pop artists and classical composers from the United States. The first album of the series was George & James , featuring the music of George Gershwin and James Brown. The second record (and unfortunately final one they recorded after losing interest in the idea) was Stars and Hank Forever , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Stars and Hank Forever features music of Hank Williams on one half of the record and compositions by John Philip Sousa on the other half. Quite a weird combination, but I think it works well! For the Hank Williams side they cover "Hey Good Lookin'", "Six More Miles (to the Graveyard)", "Kaw Liga", "Ramblin' Man" and "Jambalaya". Obviously, they don't play any of them in a straight country style. Each one is very outside of the confines of what anyone might consider country music, but you can still recognize the origi…

There was not many bands bigger in 1983 than The Police. When they broke up at the height of their popularity after touring behind Synchronicity many wondered what each of the individual members would do next. This was especially so for singer / bassist Sting. He played a series of solo shows (literally "solo" often performing by himself) for a while but was itching to prove that he was a more "serious" musician than his previous band. In order to do this, he had to recruit "serious" musicians to be part of his new band. During Sting's early solo period, he appeared on the Miles Davis record You're Under Arrest ...he had a spoken word part on the song "One Phone Call / Street Scenes": The bass player on You're Under Arrest was a young hotshot player named Daryl Jones. Sting was able to poach him away from Miles. He also ransacked trumpeter Wynton Marsalis' band. They were a very popular jazz ensemble around that time. Included in that group were his brother Branford Marsalis on saxophone and Kenny Kirkland on keyboards. Here they are performing in 1983: Sting was able to convince both Branford and Kenny to join his growing ensemble. This actually made Wynton very sour about rock music in general. He gave the genre a lot of attitude for a long while after this move. All Sting needed was a drummer. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Omar Hakim was that drummer. Omar was riding high in the mid 80s. He performed with David Bowie on the albums Let's Dance and Tonight but didn't tour with Bowie so he was behind the scenes. Tony Thompson also appeared on the records and was part of Bowie's live band. In fact, here is the video for "Modern Love" where Omar Hakim was the performer but he doesn't appear in the video at all. The cameras purposely never focus on the drum set: Omar Hakim also performed on the entirety of Brothers In A…

I'm sending out an early special pick this week. This Friday I will be celebrating my 50th birthday and will be otherwise busy and not picking an album. Wow, I've been on this planet for a half century. Since I've been picking albums for so long including all genres and decades I wondered if I had selected an album from every year since 1974, the year I was born. Sadly, this is not the case but I did come very close to realizing this goal without even trying. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Since 1974 I have only missed picking albums released on these individual 8 years: 1986, 1987, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Not too shabby. My picks have also been pretty evenly represented by decades. Since 1974 there have been 31 1970s picks, 26 1980s picks, 55 1990s picks, 33 2000s picks, 19 2010s picks, and 19 2020s picks. Now that I've given you all this useless data, I'll turn it into something enjoyable. I created a (perhaps misnamed) playlist called 50 Years of Phil that includes one song from one pick from each year. Enjoy this nearly 5 hour 42 song chronological deep dive. I'll be back next week with a regular pick! Here are the picks I highlighted in the playlist, including the year: Yes Relayer (1974) Hatfield & The North The Rotters Club (1975) Return to Forever Romantic Warrior (1976) Iggy Pop The Idiot (1977) The Residents Duck Stab (1978) Zoogz Rift Idiots on the Miniature Golf Course (1979) Steely Dan Gaucho (1980) Dun Eros (1981) Ornette Coleman Of Human Feelings (1982) Herbie Hancock Future Shock (1983) Minutemen Double Nickels on the Dime (1984) Black Flag The Process of Weeding Out (1985) Living Colour Vivid (1988) Jeff Beck Guitar Shop (1989) Megadeth Rust in Peace (1990) Ozric Tentacles Strangeitude (1991) Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds s/t (1992) Cynic Focus (1993) Vinnie Colaiuta s/t (1994) Mike…

Dusty Springfield was a huge sensation in the late 60s. Her blue eyed soul styled pop singing brought her many hits both in her native U.K. and in the United States including "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" and "Son of a Preacher Man". This culminated in perhaps her most famous record: Dusty In Memphis which is still critically acclaimed today. Here she is performing "Son of a Preacher Man" on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1968: She continued to put out records in the 1970s and 1980s but with diminishing returns. She started to fade into obscurity. Then she was saved by...The Pet Shop Boys. The Pet Shop Boys just released a new record called Nonetheless which has been getting a ton of great press lately (well deserved, it is another fantastic record in their basically unblemished discography.) This led me to revisit their older albums and I am especially obsessed with their second record called Actually from 1987. The very same album that brought Dusty Springfield back into the spotlight with the huge hit single "What Have I Done To Deserve This?". People sometimes mistakenly think that the Pet Shop Boys sampled Dusty Springfield in the song, but she actually sang it with them. Here is the original music video for the tune: She even performed the song in concert with the Pet Shop Boys. A famous example was during the BRIT Awards in 1988: The song was an enormous success. It rose to number two on the charts, only kept out of the top spot by George Michael's "Father Figure". To capitalize on the success, Dusty Springfield put out her first solo album in eight years. It was mostly produced by the Pet Shop Boys and half of the songs were written by them as well! It originally came out only in the UK (eventually reaching the United States 7 years later!) so it was unfortunately ignored here. The album was called Reputation and is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like bein…

John Martyn was a singer and musician who was way ahead of his time. He started out playing mostly folk rock (with a heavy jazz influence) in the late 60s and early 70s. What made him stand apart was his use of guitar effects (especially a tape delay effect called an Echoplex) plus drum machines and loops. His earlier albums such as Solid Air and Inside Out were good, but didn't sell very well. Similar to his friend Nick Drake he was critically acclaimed but wasn't a commercial success. In fact, John Martyn wanted to put out a live record but his label, Island Records, refused because they didn't think it would be successful. John Martyn ended up releasing the album, Live At Leeds , himself via mail order. He had a heavy touring schedule, including playing a bunch of shows in the United States opening for Traffic. This didn't lead to greater success. After the tour a guitarist in his backing band, Paul Kossoff (originally from the band Free), passed away from pulmonary embolism. Around the same time his buddy Nick Drake also passed away. All of this tragedy mixed with heavy drug use lead to John Martyn getting disillusioned with the music industry. He decided to take a sabbatical to Jamaica to clear his head and regroup. This turned out to be a very good decision. While in Jamaica, Island Records founder Chris Blackwell introduced John to Lee "Scratch" Perry and he immersed himself in reggae culture. Similarly singer Robert Palmer (later of the band The Power Station and known for big hits like "Addicted To Love" and "Simply Irresistible") also moved to Jamaica and dove into reggae music. Robert Palmer recorded a single produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry under the pseudonym Bree Daniel called "Oh Me Oh My". John Martyn played guitar on the record: Inspired by this session, John Martyn started writing his own music heavily influenced by dub music. He recorded demos in Jamaica including "Blackman On Your Shoulder": He eventually flew home to England and recorded his new…

Tomorrow is Record Store Day, the most wonderful time of the year! For the uninitiated, Record Store Day started in 2008. It is intended to "celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally" according to their official definition. Part of this celebration is pressing special releases of albums specifically for the day, to be sold exclusively at independent record stores. In 2008 there were only 10 of these. The next year it the number grew to about 85 and has continued to multiply every year. This year there are 387 releases. Any hopes of collecting them all has long since vanished, so buyers carefully curate lists of their favorites that they are hoping to purchase. The special releases are in extremely limited quantity so many times people are disappointed and sadly re sellers love to price gouge online after the event. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. All that said, I love participating every year. The thrill of the hunt is part of it, but stores also treat it like a party with live bands, giveaways and other fun activities. The first year I went to a record store in Ohio (where I lived at the time) that no longer exists called Indie Wax. I bought the R.E.M. "Supernatural Superserious" single. I have attended Record Store Day every year since then in a variety of cities and many stores. With all that background, this week's pick is going to be a little different. I'm going to highlight a few of my favorite record stores (who are all participating in Record Store Day) along with listing a few special releases I'm hoping to track down tommorow. We'll be back to the regular PPP format next week. Record Stores Here are my top five record stores. Whenever I am in the locality of these shops I make sure…

Crazed avant rock band Sleepytime Gorilla Museum recently reformed after a twelve year hiatus. The put out an excellent new record, Of the Last Human Being , and went on a lengthy U.S. tour. If you're not familiar with their brand of theatrical, heavy art rock here they are performing "Sleep Is Wrong" on their recent tour: Here is a music video they made for "Burn into Light" from their latest record: Their triumphant return has me going back into their discography (sadly small with only four proper studio albums since 2001). This also includes some of their side projects and groups the members performed in before forming Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. One of those bands I have a particular affinity for is Charming Hostess. Charming Hostess was active mostly from 1999 2010. They were fronted by singer / musician Jewlia Eisenberg with a wide and ever changing set of musicians. Their later material was more focused on a cappella material (such as the album Trilectic from 2001) or modern day classical music (such as on The Bowls Project in 2010). However, their earlier songs were more rock based with what later became known as the "Charming Hostess Big Band". Members of the Charming Hostess Big Band included Carla Kihlstedt (voice, fiddle), Nils Frykdahl (guitar, flute, saxophone, percussion) and Dan Rathbun (bass) who all later became members of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. The songs performed by this band were eclectic. Even though the instrumentation was mostly using traditional rock instruments, the style they played incorporated music from other cultures like Bulgaria, Turkey, and Hungary. There was also a chorus of singers (Carla Kihlstedt, Nina Rolle and Jewlia Eisenberg). They put out three records in this format including Punch and Sarajevo Blues (both from 2004). Their first record, Eat , from 1999 is my personal favorite and is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you li…

I have been debating what would be an appropriate pick for this week since a full solar eclipse will be happening on Monday. I eventually decided that a Sun Ra record would be the best bet (since Sun Ra is named after the Egyptian god of the Sun) ...but with such a lengthy and convoluted discography what would be the best one to choose? As part of my process, I have been playing selections from my large (but far from complete!) Sun Ra vinyl record collection, which can be seen here. One of my prized possessions in that pile of records is the Egypt 1971 box set that I was able to snag on Record Store Day a few years back (now woefully out of print and going for a pretty penny online). It's a five record set, consisting of three previously released albums and two unreleased records. Sadly, the stuff exclusive to the box is not available for streaming, but the other albums are available separately so I will select all of them as today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The three albums are: Dark Myth Equation Visitation , Nidhamu and Horizon and altogether they paint a pretty clear picture of what they sounded like on what was likely an amazing trip to Egypt for what was at the time an Arkestra that was twenty one members strong. the musicians that took part in the trip included: John Gilmore tenor sax, percussion, Danny Davis alto sax, flute Marshall Allen alto sax, flute, oboe Kwamw Hadi trumpet, conga drums Pat Patrick baritone sax Elo Omoe bass clarinet Tommy Hunter percussion Danny Thompson baritone sax, flute June Tyson vocals Larry Narthington alto sax, conga drums Lex Humphries percussion Hakim Rahim alto sax, flute Sun Ra organ, moog, piano Back in 2021 The Nation magazine wrote a pretty interesting overview of the trip that is worth reading to get some background. Basically, they were already in Europe and…

Today marks the five year anniversary of Phil's Phriday Picks! What started as just an informal discussion group between a small group of my co workers has grown into a blog, email newsletter, and Facebook group. The first post on the blog is dated March 29, 2019 exactly 5 years ago. The first pick? A compilation album called Post Now: Round One Chicago vs. New York (Blog | Substack) on the Skin Graft record label featuring artists like Cheer Accident, The Flying Luttenbachers, Bobby Conn and Lovely Little Girls. It is still a fantastic record and was an ideal launching pad for 318 picks over the next half decade. I've covered a lot of ground over the years. Genres such as pop, classic rock, heavy metal, country, progressive rock and more have been represented with a pick. The early picks were usually only a few sentences. Over time the posts have grown more elaborate with historical footnotes, related videos and personal anecdotes. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. At one point near the beginning of the COVID 19 Pandemic in 2020 I was challenged to write a pick every weekday, instead of just on Fridays. This went on for six months (from March through August of that year). I even gave a lightning talk about Phil's Phriday Picks at my department all staff meeting last year. The slides are available online (thankfully I don't think there is any audio or video footage of my presentation). The Spotify playlist, consisting of one song from each pick, continues to grow. Currently you would need over 32 hours to get through the entire thing! Put it on during your next party and your guests will be surprised by your impeccable taste in music. For this week, I'm going to highlight one pick from each previous year that is worth revisiting. Let's call them my top 5 picks! 2019: Cheer Accident Introducing Lemon Read the pick on the…

Today Joni Mitchell announced that her music would return to Spotify after a two year absence. The music was available pretty much immediately after the announcement, which is welcome news to heavy Spotify users like myself. This made me want to revisit some of my favorite Joni Mitchell records. Her beautiful record from 1972, Blue , gets plenty of accolades (and rightly so) but it isn't the one I reach for the most. Her association with Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue or The Band's Last Waltz also would be easy choices, but that's not how I roll. It's probably not surprising that my favorite era of Joni Mitchell's music is in the mid to late 1970s when she ditched folk rock and went all in on jazz fusion. This started with Court and Spark in 1974, which features Tom Scott and the L.A. Express as her backing band. Tom Scott was a hotshot saxophone player who played on tons of studio sessions before hooking up with Joni Mitchell. Here they are backing Joni Mitchell on the supporting tour for Court and Spark in 1974 playing "Help Me": Court and Spark was the start of a long line of albums that Joni Mitchell recorded that we're basically wild jazz fusion records with an amazing singer on top (which was actually kind of rare and unique at the time): The Hissing of Summer Lawns (in 1975), Hejira (in 1976), Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (in 1977) and Mingus (in 1979). Along with Tom Scott and the L.A. Express, there were a ton of other great famous jazz players who recorded with Joni Mitchell during this time: Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, John Guerin, Airto Moreira and Herbie Hancock are notable examples. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Two players who frequently played on the records and were a huge part of the sound and style was saxophonist Wayne Shorter and bassist Jaco Pastorius (who were both also in the band Weather Re…

Drummer Roy Haynes celebrated his 99th birthday this week! It's hard to believe that Haynes is still alive and still reportedly playing. His career began in the 1940s and has continued for 80 years. He has played with seemingly everyone famous in jazz music: Lester Young, Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughn, Thelonious Monk, Eric Dolphy, Andrew Hill, Chick Corea and many more. An incredible achievement. Some of the earliest footage of him I could find was from 1966, playing with Stan Getz. Gary Burton and Steve Swallow were also in the group (Roy Haynes played extensively with both of them throughout the years afterwards). Here is "Scrapple From The Apple": They are really cookin' there! Even better is this footage of the same band playing "Jive Hoot" complete with a monstrous drum solo that sounds like something a heavy metal drummer would play if it was 20 years later: Speaking of Roy Haynes drum solos, here is a one from 1973 that is astonishing: With such a lengthy career, it was hard for me to pick one album that showcases his playing more than any other. I considered Andrew Hill's Black Fire , Jackie McClean's Destination...Out! and Gary Burton's Duster but ultimately decided on Now He Sings, Now He Sobs the Chick Corea record from 1968. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Now He Sings, Now He Sobs is quite possibly the best jazz trio record ever made (Miroslav Vitous is the bass player). It is a universally acclaimed album that showcases the virtuosity of each musician. It is mostly improvised, but does include some melodic ideas that Chick Corea wrote that became standards such as "Steps" and "Windows". The original record only had 5 songs, but in 1988 it was re released with 7 songs from the same recording sessions (including the aforementioned "Windows" along with the Thelonious Monk tune "Pannon…

Nik Turner was an originator of what became known as space rock. Space rock is a particularly trippy sub genre of progressive rock that is much more psychedelic and trance like. Hawkwind is probably the most famous of the early space rock groups and Nik Turner was a founding member, playing saxophone and flute. Lemmy, a bass player who went on to form the long running hard rock group Motorhead was also an early member of Hawkwind. Unfortunately there is not too much video footage existing of the band in their 1970s peak. Here is one of the few examples you can find of them "Playing" on the BBC show Top of the Pops . The video is from their performance at Dunstable Civic Hall on July 7, 1972 but the audio is just the studio version of the song "Silver Machine". The video footage is pretty killer though, so I'll take what I can get: If you want to hear Hawkwind at their best, I recommend checking out their studio albums In Search of Space , Doremi Fasol Latido and Hall of the Mountain Grill . Most essential though is the record Space Ritual which is one of the best live albums ever made. Nik Turner's playing is all over these things and is pretty incredible. Recently the record label Cherry Red Records released a video of the song "Born To Go" from Space Ritual with an incredible animation of the band performing the song. While it’s not real live footage of the band it is still pretty wild...and again, I'll take what I can get of the classic era of Hawkwind: By the late 70s Hawkwind dissolved. Soon afterwards Nik Turner traveled to Egypt to explore the Great Pyramid of Giza. He brought his flute with him and was allowed to play it inside The Kings Chamber. He took those recordings back to Wales. With the help of some members of the band Gong (Steve Hillage on guitar, Miquette Giraudy on keyboards and Mike Howlett on bass) they fleshed out the flute recordings into full blown songs. They also brought in a ton of percussionists, playing everything from congas, timpani,…

Musician David Sylvian just celebrated his 66th birthday last week, so it seems like a fine time to revisit his vast back catalog. He first rose to fame as the front person of the new wave / art pop group Japan. Their sound was a very peculiar, moody and subdued form of new wave. David Sylvian's singing and guitar playing along with Mick Karn's slippery fretless bass helped define their sound. Japan only lasted about 5 years, from 1979 to 1982 before breaking up due to tensions between all the band members. This is partially a shame because they were sounding phenomenal in 1982 but it was also a blessing in disguise as David Sylvian's solo career took his music to even greater heights. Japan's brilliance can be seen and heard in this clip from the television show Old Grey Whistle Test shortly before the band dissolved in 1982: By 1984 David Sylvian had hooked up with Holger Czukay (from the German group Can) and trumpet players Mark Isham and John Hassell. They put out an record called Brilliant Trees which was pretty great. It took the art pop sound of Japan and took it to much jazzier and spacey places. Here is some incredible footage of the recording sessions that resulted in Brilliant Trees : After those sessions, David Sylvian connected with Robert Fripp. They worked together with Holger Czukay on the soundtrack for the brilliant short film Steel Cathedrals : This was the beginning of a long partnership with David Sylvian and Robert Fripp (along with other members of King Crimson). The first of these collaborations was Gone To Earth in 1986 which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Gone To Earth was originally released as a double vinyl set. The first record was more pop oriented and the second record was entirely instrumental and mostly performed by David Sylvian solo. The record label didn't want to…

I have long been fascinated with Brian Eno's ambient music concepts. More than merely background music this style is, in the famous words of Eno himself "as ignorable as it is interesting". One of Eno's earliest experiments in this style was the collaboration with King Crimson's Robert Fripp called (No Pussyfooting) . It was the first ambient music I knowingly heard and I came across it because of the association with Fripp. I was pretty shocked and surprised with how it sounded because it sounds nothing like the bombastic progressive rock of King Crimson. It consists of what became known as "Frippertronics" consisting of the guitar played with tape delay and loops in a very slow and calculated way. Here is Robert Fripp describing Frippertronics in 1973: Brian Eno's most famous ambient work is Music For Airports which he composed mostly for piano and synthesizer. It also incorporates tape loops and often has multiple piano parts playing simultaneously but in very calming sustained notes. Few have tried to replicate Music For Airports live, but one notable group that did was Bang On A Can. They performed the music as an ensemble of strings, guitar, synthesizer and percussion. Here they are performing "1/1" from Music For Airports at the San Diego Airport in 2015: More recently, pianist Bruce Brubaker has performed and recorded three of the four songs from Music For Airports for solo piano. This was released as part of the album Eno Piano which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Bruce Brubaker is a Julliard trained musician and composer who has focused a large part of his career around performing ambient music from composers like John Cage and Philip Glass. The biography on his website has a pretty detailed rundown on his illustrious career. Additionally there is a great interview with Bruce about his time…

I Signori Della Galassia are obscure. Even on the internet, information on this Italian group is sparse. Nevertheless, they are a pretty incredible, unique band. I Signori Della Galassia translated in English is "The Lords of the Galaxy" which is a pretty apt name for their sound and aesthetic. They mainly sound like 70s disco music, but it is mixed with healthy doses of progressive rock, space rock and Italian pop music. It is as bizarre as it sounds, but also compelling and intriguing. They hail from Savona, Italy which is in the far Northwest part of the country, close to France. So it is no surprise they are influenced by bizarre, space disco like the French band Rockets which treads similar ground. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. I Signori Della Galassia only released two albums, both long out of print. Luckily the Medical Records label recently re released their first album, Iceman , which is today's pick! "Archeopterix" was actually a minor hit in their home country, when it was released as a single in 1979 (with "Volcano" on the b side): Both songs appear on Iceman , so there is no need to seek out the single separately. Iceman starts out with the 8 minute disco / progressive rock epic "Proxyma Centauri". They apparently promoted this because they made a crazed music video for it: I could not find much live footage of I Signori Della Galassia except for this interesting interview footage of them on Italian TV, where they also perform "Proxyma Centauri": After the release of Iceman they put out another single "Luce" backed with "Eliane" which are included on the recent re release. They lean more towards Italian pop than the disco / prog rock mix but are still great. Iceman is one of those records that is great to play in the winter months, because the cold, spacey and atmospheric music fits the mood of the seaso…

Mojo Nixon passed away this week at the young age of 66, after performing on a cruise ship. This is a huge loss in the music community. You can read the details about his professional career in the many obituaries floating around the internet, so I won't rehash it all here. Obviously his biggest and longest enduring hit is "Elvis Is Everywhere". The original video is great, but this crazed performance of it on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1987 is even better: The first Mojo Nixon album I bought was 1989's Root Hog Or Die . "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two Headed Love Child" is the most notorious song on the record (in fact, MTV refused to air the video). However, I think the video for "(619) 239 KING" (yet another homage to Elvis) is even better: Early on, Mojo performed and recorded exclusively as a duo with Skid Roper. Eventually he expanded to a full band (dubbed The Toadlickers). Another notorious tune that he performed with this group was "Don Henley Must Die": Aside from the comedic music, Mojo Nixon was also active politically. Here he is arguing about parental advisory stickers on Crossfire in 1990: Activism like this led him to collaborating with Dead Kennedy's Jello Biafra on an album in 1994 called Prairie Home Invasion which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Prairie Home Invasion is a pretty unique collaboration and doesn't sound like anything else in either artist's catalog. Much of the record is cover songs of old folk music performed with updated lyrics. Examples include "Convoy in the Sky" (originally by The Willis Brothers), "Love Me, I'm A Liberal" (originally by Phil Ochs) and a version of the traditional song "Old Joe Clark" retitled "Let's Go Burn Ole Nashville Down". Jello Biafra handles most of the vocals, but Mojo makes his presence known throughout with occasional singing and h…

Matthew Sweet's career as a musician took a little while to take off. He moved to Athens, Georgia in the early 80s from Nebraska and became part of the same music scene as R.E.M. At one point he was even in a band with Michael Stipe called Community Trolls but that didn't go anywhere. Eventually he became a member of The Golden Palominos, presumably through a connection with Stipe since Michael sang on the album Visions of Excess in 1985. Matthew Sweet sang on the following album Blast of Silence . The Golden Palominos had a rotating cast of characters, mostly from the New York City punk and no wave scenes. While in this group Matthew connected with guitarist Robert Quine (who played with Richard Hell & The Voidoids, Lou Reed, Material and tons more), drummer Fred Maher (of Massacre as well as Lou Reed and Material) and guitarist Richard Lloyd (of the band Television). These people formed the core of Matthew Sweet's band for most of the 1990s. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The first album they released together was Girlfriend in 1991, which was a big hit. The title track was played frequently on the radio and the video was in heavy rotation on MTV: For the follow up record Matthew Sweet wanted to expand the sound and scope of their material. This record was 1993's Altered Beast which is today's pick! Along with the musicians mentioned already, guests on Altered Beast also included pianist Nicky Hopkins (who played with The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who etc), drummer Pete Thomas (who played in Elvis Costello & The Attractions), and Mick Fleetwood (from Fleetwood Mac). To say this record is star studded is an understatement! The easiest way to showcase the range of music on Altered Beast is to listen to the two versions of "Ugly Truth". The first one is a country song and the second one is a heavy rock tune (compl…

David Bowie and Iggy Pop first worked together professionally in 1972. David Bowie helped produce Raw Power the last studio album by The Stooges before they broke up. Bowie was not present for the recording sessions, but worked with Iggy Pop during post production. Afterwards they went their separate ways, but stayed in touch. In 1976, when David Bowie went on tour to promote Station To Station he invited Iggy Pop to join the entourage (Pop did not perform, presumably Bowie and Pop just did drugs together). The music performed likely had a profound influence on Iggy. Imagine watching something like this every night: How could you not take away something from that! After the tour, both Iggy Pop and David Bowie were in bad shape. They collectively decided to move to France and detox. While there, they started working on Iggy Pop's first solo record, The Idiot , which is today's pick! The Idiot is an anomaly in the Iggy Pop discography. Nothing else in his canon sounds quite like this. Gone are the punk and garage rock influences. Instead it is mostly subdued, electronic and avant garde. The first song that was part of the sessions was "Sister Midnight" which David Bowie performed occasionally on the 1976 tour. Here's some rehearsal footage of the song on that tour: Using this as a jumping off point they recorded similar material, with Iggy Pop writing lyrics in the studio inspired by the music being created. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. One of the most famous songs on the record is China Girl which was eventually re recorded by Bowie in 1983 for his album Let's Dance which was a big hit. I prefer the Iggy Pop version though. Another song that is a highlight is "Nightclubbing". This song was later recorded by Grace Jones in 1981. She even named the album it appeared on after it. Nightclubbing was perhaps Grace Jones' m…

Ginger Baker is most famous for being the drummer in Cream and Blind Faith. He is a legend based on membership in those bands alone, but his musical career is much more than that. But let's start with the aforementioned groups just because they are so awesome! Cream was a power trio with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce. They definitely put the power in power trio. A great example of Ginger Baker's drumming in Cream is the song "Toad". While there is a little bit of full band playing in the intro and outro it is essentially a drum solo. Here is a great version of "Toad" at the Royal Albert Hall in 1968: After Cream broke up, Ginger Baker joined Blind Faith with Steve Winwood, Ric Grech and Eric Clapton. They were even more short lived than Cream but left a big impression with their one self titled record. At Hyde Park in London in 1969 they played perhaps their definitive concert. Luckily there is footage on the internet. Here is "Had To Cry Today": Next, he started a jazz fusion band called Ginger Baker's Air Force. This was basically an expanded Blind Faith that was much jazzier. Awesome footage of them playing Wembley Stadium in 1970 is essential viewing: In the 1970s, Ginger Baker moved to Africa and immersed himself in the music culture there. He even built his own music studio in Lagos, Nigeria! Most famously there he collaborated with Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. If you want to see and hear some absolutely bonkers drumming, look no further: In the 1980s Ginger Baker essentially went into hiding. He still lived in Africa but lived a secluded lifestyle. Eventually he moved to the United States and was playing again with a vengeance. He collaborated with a ton of musicians at this time, including Bill Laswell, and even played in a reformed Cream. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The best of the collaborations in my opinion…

The Smashing Pumpkins recently announced that they are holding open tryouts for a new guitar player. While this is weird for a band of their size and acclaim, it is not the first time they held open auditions. They also held open auditions for drummers back in 2009 when Jimmy Chamberlin left the band (he has since returned). Billy Corgan and The Smashing Pumpkins have always done things out of the ordinary and these are just more examples. One of the biggest examples was how they followed up their 1993 album Siamese Dream . That record was, of course, a huge success. Selling over 6 million copies behind hits like "Today", "Disarm" and "Rocket". Naturally the safest choice would be to make a Siamese Dream II : rehashing their mix of alternative rock and shoegaze...but they did not do that. Instead they decided to go full on progressive rock. They released a double album that ran through a wide variety of styles from hard rock to jazz and beyond. While all the songs didn't really work together as a "concept album", they did split the songs into themes of "day" (the first disc) and "night" (the second disc). The record company was obviously worried, but the record was an even bigger success than Siamese Dream ! The resulting album was Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (selling 5 million copies but because it was a double CD it technically sold 10 million copies). Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The album spans 24 songs in two hours...and while the hits are uniformly excellent (and I'm sure you know them all: "Bullet With Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight Tonight" and "Thirty Three") the rest of the songs are just as high quality, which is rare for a record of this size and scope. The scary thing is, there were dozens of B sides that were also just as gr…

It's the end of another year. 2023 is quickly coming to a close, which means everyone's "Best Of" lists are coming in fast n' furious. I've been finding other people's lists fascinating lately, because there really doesn't seem to be much consensus (likely thanks to streaming and the internet in general). People are in their own microcosms. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. I, of course, am in my own unique bubble. I compiled my list before diving into other people's lists (so I wouldn't be influenced) and I was genuinely surprised that I didn't see many of my favorites show up in other lists! I hope this means my list will offer a unique perspective on 2023 and introduce you to tons of new music (even though alert readers should be familiar with some of the choices since they have been featured in previous Phil's Phriday Picks). As in years past, I don't rank the albums. Instead, I make a listenable playlist of my favorites. In 2023, it consists of a whopping 94 songs spanning nearly 8 hours from what I consider the best albums of the year. This is intended as a digestible snapshot of what new albums I enjoyed the most this year. Additionally, it provides listeners an opportunity to dive further into whatever albums catch their ear the most. Likely surprising nobody, it covers a huge swath of styles and genres. Everything from country to free jazz to progressive rock to death metal there is literally something for everybody. The playlist is available in Spotify for your listening pleasure. At the end of this post, I will write little blurbs about each album. Aside from the songs in these playlists I want to highlight a few other albums that I listened to frequently this year that are not available on streaming services. Vomitatrix Violently Ill The one and only "Acid Grind" band returns with another quick blast of chaos…

The last time I wrote about my Pandemic Status series of playlists was almost two years ago to the day: Dec 16, 2021. At that time I had created 6 playlists and was speculating if I would make a 7th. The answer to that question is a resounding "Yes"! Since that time I have created an additional 14 playlists. Wow! To recap: As a form of self care I decided to make large playlists of tunes both topical and personal favorites. They run the gamut from progressive rock to jazz fusion to 80s pop music to hip hop to death metal to country. A little bit of everything I love with the intent to cheer me up. The only rule is: No repeats! A song cannot appear on a previous edition of the Pandemic Status series. With each playlist containing approximately 150 songs and spanning 12+ hours, this has become quite the challenge the longer this goes on. According to my calculations, at this point the total song count on all the playlists is 2923 and will take 256 hours 12 minutes (10.5 days) to hear in its entirety! Wow! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Over the past year, the playlists have become more of a "moment in time" of what I've been listening to. They mix new albums, old favorites that I listen to constantly, stuff that was recommended to me my trusted friends and other sources (blogs etc), songs I heard on SiriusXM and things I Shazamed while I was out. Pandemic Status 20 will likely be the last in this series. I may continue something similar under a rebranded format. So to close this chapter of my playlisting, here are all of them in reverse chronological order. Dive in, I'm sure there's things here you will enjoy and likely have never heard before. Next week's pick will be my favorite albums of 2023! Pandemic Status 20: Over And Out! (167 songs, 13 hours 53 minutes) Pandemic Status 19: Hobbling Into Autumn (161 songs, 15 ho…

My Christmas mix tradition has reached a milestone: 15 years! This year's mix is on the jazzy side. A healthy selection of instrumental classics mixed with my usual brand of comedy and weirdness plus some highlights from this year's new pop Christmas albums. It runs the gamut. Previous mixes are also listed below...including the nearly 19 hour, 335 song megamix of every previous year! Put that thing on random play and your holiday party guests will not believe you're playing banger after banger! The schedule for Phil's Phriday Picks the next few weeks might be spotty. I'll be undergoing a medicial procedure Monday and it's unclear when I'll be able to blog in the near future. I hope to present the latest (and likely final) Pandemic Status playlist as well as my list of favorite albums of 2023. Also note that because TinyLetter is shutting down, I am migrating the email newsletter to Substack. The archives there are kind of wonky right now, but will hopefully be cleaned up soon. I might also start featuring some special content for just paid subscribers...stay tuned! Who knows what 2024 will bring? In the meantime, Merry Christmas! 19 HOUR MEGA MIX! Christmas 2022 Christmas 2021 COVID Christmas 2020 Modern Christmas 2019 It's Christmas Again? 2018 New Christmas Classics 2017 Merry Christmas 2016 Festive 2015 80s Christmas 2014 Jazzy Christmas 2013 Sounds of Christmas 2012 cRaZy ChRiStMaS 2011 Wacky Christmas 2010 Ultimate Christmas 2008

I was in Cambridge, Massachusetts this week for work. While I was there, I was able to check out a live performance from Lydia Loveless at the famous Middle East club. It was an incredible show. Lydia Loveless is a singer songwriter who has been gaining popularity and critical acclaim for over a decade. She is closely associated with the Bloodshot Records label in Chicago, even though she isn't strictly in the country mold that the label is famous for. She first came on my radar in 2011 when she put out the record Indestructible Machine . This is definitely more alt country than the records she is doing now, but the songwriting was already great. One highlight of that album was the song "Steve Earle" about a stalker who claimed to be the famous musician but actually wasn't. Nowadays her records are much more steeped in blues and rock, but the country influence is still present. Here is a recent concert that showcases her current style: | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? . | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Her latest album is Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again which is today's pick! The first single off of the record, which is a good example of the sound, is "Toothache": There is also a recent documentary movie about her called Who Is Lydia Loveless? which is worth checking out: Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again will likely be one of my favorite records of the year (full list of 2023 favorites coming soon!), so consider this week's pick a sneak peek!

Musician Juliana Hatfield (of Blake Babies, Lemonheads and The Juliana Hatfield Three fame) has been recording a series of cover albums over the past several years. In 2018 there was Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton John . Then in 2019 came Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police . Today, the 3rd installment in the series has been released: Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO . I have been awaiting this release for a long time. She released the excellent first single from the album, "Don't Let Me Down" back in May. Half a year later, we finally get the entire record (although two further singles "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" and "Telephone Line" were released in between). | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Like the previous covers albums, Juliana Hatfield plays all the instruments (except the drums which were played by Chris Anzalone). Unlike the original Electric Light Orchestra tunes, there are no large string sections involved. She instead transposed the orchestration down to keyboard or guitar...and even occasionally singing them such as on "Showdown". She also doesn't stick to just the ELO classics, choosing to play "Ordinary Dream" off of Zoom , which was originally released in 2001. The record is fun and exciting, yet intimate. She really hits the sweet spot between the overblown Jeff Lynne orchestrations and a garage rock band. I really liked Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police when it first came out and didn't think she could top it. After listening to Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO a few times already I believe I have been proven wrong. This is probably the best record in her covers project yet! I cannot wait to hear what she has in store for us next.

Bobby Keys was a saxophone player who appeared with a who's who of classic rock musicians over the years, but he was mostly known for his contributions to The Rolling Stones albums from the early 70s ( Let It Bleed , Sticky Fingers , Exile On Main Street , Goats Head Soup etc). He first met The Rolling Stones in the mid 60s when they played a show together (Bobby Keys was touring with singer Bobby Vee). He really hit it off with Keith Richards and they became fast friends. This eventually lead to him playing with The Rolling Stones on record and on tour. One of his most famous solos is the one on "Brown Sugar": Probably my favorite Bobby Keys solo with the stones was on "Can't You Hear Me Knocking": Part of the reason why he got along so well with Keith Richards was because they were both hard partiers. The most famous example of their antics was when Bobby Keys and Keith Richards threw a hotel TV out of the window: Along with The Rolling Stones, Bobby Keys recorded with dozens more artists, most notably George Harrison, John Lennon, Joe Cocker, Harry Nilsson and Eric Clapton. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Bobby Keys was part of the famous "Apple Jam" sessions that appeared on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass , especially on "Out Of The Blue": In fact, around the same time as the "Apple Jam" Bobby Keys recorded his own solo record with many of the same players who appeared there. It was his only solo record, released in 1972. His self titled album is today's pick! Though uncredited at the time of release, we now known that there were plenty of famous musicians playing on the record: George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Nicky Hopkins (who really shines throughout) and Klaus Voorman. So what does it sound like? Completely instrumental rock / funk with really amazing horn parts, fantastic solos (especially…

Warren Cuccurullo was kind of a rock n' roll enigma. You've probably heard and enjoyed his music, but did not even know it. His professional career started out as a rhythm guitar player in Frank Zappa's band. He was a crazy fan in the late 70s and went to every Frank Zappa show on the east coast. Eventually becoming friends with Zappa and some of the members of the group at the time (notably drummer Terry Bozzio). In fact, you can see him backstage with Frank Zappa in the Baby Snakes movie. This is further documented in the movie's soundtrack, where Zappa is egging him on to sing the song "Baby Snakes": He eventually joined Zappa's live band and appeared on the classic album Joe's Garage . But he didn't stay with Zappa too long. Terry Bozzio and his wife, Dale Bozzio, were starting a new band and convinced Warren to join the group along with Zappa's bassist Patrick O'Hearn. This group became known as Missing Persons. They had several new wave hits in the early 80s, including "Destination Unknown". Here they are playing it on the Dutch TV show TopPop: Even bigger fame awaited Warren Cuccurullo as he joined Duran Duran as a session guitarist after Roger Taylor left the group in 1986. After appearing on tours and albums such as Big Thing and Liberty he was officially made a full time member of the group for their 1993 self titled album. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Warren Cuccurullo's fingerprints are all over the record. In fact, the biggest hit of the album "Ordinary World" was written by Warren. Here is the video of the vastly popular tune: During this time, Warren Cuccurullo and Nick Rhodes were also working separately from Duran Duran on a side project of weird, avant garde electronic rock music. They named the group TV Mania. Nothing from the group was released initially. However, their sound influenced the next…

I have been considering what scary music to pick for the Halloween weekend. I decided to go in a little more unusual direction. Instead of picking a typical horror movie soundtrack or a heavy metal record, I chose to go with perhaps my favorite group that recorded as part of the classic Wax Trax Records roster: My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult! My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult was formed by Groovie Mann (Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (Marston Daley) in 1987. They have been the masterminds of the group until present day. Before forming the group, they toured with Ministry when the band was supporting the album Twitch (before they added the heavy guitars). It's hard to find footage of Ministry in that era, but here is some incredibly low quality footage of them performing in Houston in 1987. It's hard to tell in the fog and darkness but I'll assume one or both Buzz McCoy and Groovy Man are involved here. Nevertheless, it is killer footage of early Ministry: My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult was originally supposed to be a film and they were just recording the soundtrack for it. The film was never completed and it instead became a band. For the uninitiated, in the early years they played a style of very dark industrial music with lyrics and imagery focused on horror themes and satanism. Which makes them a perfect selection for Halloween! Later on they added more disco and surf influences and had greater success (specifically with Sexplosion! in 1991 and the single "Sex on Wheels") but I always preferred their earlier material. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. A lot of those songs were originally released on Wax Trax Records on a series of singles: My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult in 1987, Some Have To Dance, Some Have To Kill in 1988 and Kooler Than Jesus in 1989. Luckily, Rykodisc compiled all those singles and mor…

Composer and pianist Carla Bley passed away earlier this week. Much has already been written about her amazing and prolific career spanning many decades and I will not attempt to encapsulate it all here. An early touchstone of her lengthy discography is Escalator Over The Hill . The sprawling 3 LP jazz opera (or "chronotransduction" as its referred to on the album cover) would be an easy choice for my pick, but it would require a book length discussion. Let's just say I was completely blown away the first time listening to it in the late 90s when I checked the box set out from the local library because I saw that musicians like John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce, Linda Rondstadt, Don Preston and Don Cherry (among many many others) all appeared on it. A life changing recording if there ever was one. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Instead I'll focus on a more obscure record. In the late 70s, after Pink Floyd wrapped up their extensive tour for The Wall , drummer Nick Mason was working on material for his first solo album. He ended up coming to New York City and meeting up with trumpeter Michael Mantler and Carla Bley and collaborating with them instead. Collaboration is an understatement, as Carla Bley wrote all the songs on the album, produced it and included many of the musicians who were playing in her band at the time. Looking at the liner notes of her solo albums released near the same time ( Musique Mecanique , Social Studies and the awesome Live! ) support this. Members include: Steve Swallow, Michael Mantler, Gary Valente and Vincent Chancey. The resulting album was released under Nick Mason's name (likely to capitalize on his fame from Pink Floyd by the record company) and was called Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports , which is today's pick! This is not to say that Nick Mason's involvement is minimal here. His unique dru…

Texas has traditionally been a hotbed for country music and that still holds true today. Austin based Mike and the Moonpies has been quietly releasing amazing records for over a decade, mostly under the radar and far away from the bro country and country pop that has been dominating the public consciousness for a while. Make no mistake: Mike and the Moonpies are as far away from drivel like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt as you can get. They keep the flame of "real" country music alive nowadays. They first came to my attention back in 2017, when they released a single with the evocative title "Country Music's Dead": Soon afterwards they put out a full length album called Steak Night at the Prarie Rose which is a front to back classic. There is not a bad song on it. A great example is "Road Crew"...they even made a clever video to go along with it: Another one of my favorites is One to Grow On from 2021. It is another solid effort from a group that can seem to do no wrong. "Hour on the Hour" was the single and video and released from that record: Their prowess as a live act is really their bread and butter though. They have been constantly touring and because of that they are a well oiled machine at this point. Here are 5 songs from them earlier this year where you can see them effortlessly blazing through their music with a fun attitude that is infectious: Earlier this month, they released a new live album that captures them perfectly called Live From the Devil's Backbone which is today's pick! The Devil's Backbone looks like an interesting club that is located between San Antonio and Austin. It used to be a Sinclair gas station and has a history of ghost sightings....and nowadays is a classic country music bar. This makes it a fitting place for Mike and the Moonpies to record their live set. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks…

I'm keeping today's pick short n' sweet as I have been spending most of this week recovering from COVID 19. This will not completely stop the PPP from moving forward! Today's pick is the new solo album from former Yes singer / guitar player Trevor Rabin. Trevor, of course, first joined Yes in 1982 and wrote "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and most of the other songs on the album 90125 ....but of course with all things Yes it was not that simple. Long story short: Originally, he just was working with keyboardist Tony Kaye in a new band they were calling Cinema. Eventually singer Jon Anderson heard the material and joined the group along with drummer Alan White. Record executives intervened and convinced them all to resurrect the band name Yes. This was obviously a very successful and savvy move. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Trevor Rabin stayed in Yes until 1994. His last album with the group was the underrated Talk . I really liked this record and saw the tour which was really great. One of the highlights from the album and tour was the epic "Endless Dream": Trevor Rabin's post Yes career has basically been as an in demand film soundtrack composer. He has contributed to over 50 movie soundtracks and has essentially put rock music in his past...until recently. In 2011 he put out his first solo album since 1989 called Jacaranda . However, it wasn't a full blown return to his mainstream rock as it was an all instrumental jazzy affair. He also joined forces with Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman in 2016 to tour playing old Yes songs. Unfortunately, a studio album of this group was never made, but they did put out a pretty great live album. Today, that all changed with the release of his new album Rio . It truly is a "solo record" in the strictest sense: He plays most of the instruments himself (although monster drummer Vinnie Cola…

Composer and saxophonist John Zorn recently turned 70 years old. To celebrate, he staged a series of concerts over 5 days at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. During the shows, there was a surprise announcement that John Zorn's record label: Tzadik would finally release their entire catalog to streaming services. Tzadik has long been a holdout to add their vast discography (over 400+ titles going back to 1995) to streaming sites, so this was surprising, but very welcome news. Since the announcement, I have been wondering what I could pick from the Tzadik archives. When John Zorn turned 50, he released a series of 12 CDs from live performances at Tonic in New York City that were part of that celebration. Back in 2004 2005 I eagerly awaited every release in this series and collected them all (I hope there will be a similar series for the 70th celebration). Something from the 50th Birthday Celebration series seems like a great choice. But which one? Solo saxophone solos tagged as Classic Guide to Strategy Volume 3 ? Maybe one of the wild duo recordings with Fred Frith or Milford Graves? Perhaps the monstrously heavy Painkiller recording with Bill Laswell, Hamid Drake and Mike Patton? All good possibilities... | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. I eventually decided to choose the first volume in the series: A recording by the Masada String Trio! 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 1 is today's pick! Masada is a long running band that John Zorn fronts. Initially envisioned as a set of 100 "songs" notated within a limited number of staves and confined to specific modes or scales, Zorn's Masada project would eventually total 613 compositions divided into three specific "books". Those compositions were also performed by a wide range of other groups. Two notable examples are Electric Masada (playing the songs in a heavy prog…

Alice In Chains was one of the biggest hard rock bands in the country in the 1990s. Their 1992 album Dirt went 5x platinum (over 5 million copies sold) and the 1995 full length follow up self titled record was double platinum (over 2 million copies sold). While Layne Staley was the singer of the group and front man, guitarist Jerry Cantrell was a huge part of their success. He wrote most of the songs, sang backup vocals and even occasionally lead vocals with the group. A fine example of his lead singing is "Grind" from Alice In Chains : Unfortunately, the rampant drug use of every member of the band derailed any follow up records from the classic lineup. Layne Staley was the most notorious, but the other members (especially Jerry Cantrell) were not much better off. Alice In Chains essentially disbanded in 1996, with both Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell living mostly reclusive lifestyles. Nevertheless, Jerry Cantrell did continue to write new songs and record them. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. He put out his first solo record, Boggy Depot in 1998. For this album his band included Mike Inez and Sean Kinney from Alice In Chains on most of the songs, but also included unusual guests like Primus' Les Claypool plus Norwood Fisher and Angelo Moore of Fishbone fame. Boggy Depot stays pretty close to the musical template of Alice In Chains but does branch out in some country / folk directions from time to time. One of the videos released from the album was "Cut You In" which is representative of the whole record: It didn't sell very well, and critics didn't give it high praise. Soon after, he started writing songs with Ozzy Osbourne and his band. He was hoping to have his songs and guitar playing included on Ozzy's next record, Down To Earth , but that didn't ultimately happen. Both things certainly didn't help the self este…

I am a huge fan of Herbie Hancock. There are distinct eras in his length career that people typically point to as some of his best work: The mid 60s with the Miles Davis Quintet, the early 70s with his wild avant garde Mwandishi group, the mid 70s with his group The Headhunters and their heavy jazz funk and the mid 80s with his futuristic techno funk of "Rockit" all come to mind. One time period of Herbie's music that usually gets unsung is the mid 1990s. He was basically spearheading the Acid Jazz movement at the time, releasing Dis Is The Drum in 1994. The album even included some rapping and DJ scratching! He took that sound on the road, playing to bemused crowds at jazz festivals. Here is at the Umbria Jazz Fest for example: He also hooked up with drummer Jack DeJohnette, who through his association with ECM Records was working on a solo album with guitarist Pat Metheny. They put out an excellent record called Parallel Realities that stuck close to the script of Metheny's brand of electric jazz fusion. They played some live dates together with bassist Dave Holland as well. Here is an example of them playing Hancock's "Cataloupe Island" (originally from 1964): Jack DeJohnette's long time tenure in pianist Keith Jarrett's "Standards Trio" (where they exclusively played old jazz standards but stretched them in wild and interesting directions) must have rubbed off on Herbie Hancock, because in 1996 he decided to do something similar. However, the songs chosen were not old chestnuts, but more contemporary rock and pop music. This became the aptly named album The New Standard which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Joining Hancock and DeJohnette on the record was Dave Holland, along with guitarist John Scofield (before his spaced out funk collaborations with Medeski Martin and Wood) and saxophonist Michael…

Jimmy Buffett passed away over Labor Day Weekend at the age of 76. He suffered from an aggressive form of skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma. There have been plenty of detailed obituaries and historical retrospectives written about Buffett in the past week. However, something I haven't seen too much of a focus on was the commitment and long time membership of many of the musicians in his backing band The Coral Reefers. Most of The Coral Reefers had been playing with Buffet for decades, and had success and careers outside of the group. Some lesser known examples include pedal steel player Doyle Grisham who was a member since 1974, Jim and Peter Mayer (bass and guitar) members since 1989, percussionist Ralph McDonald from 1974 until his death in 2011, and harmonica player Greg "Fingers" Taylor from 1975 until 2000. More predominantly is guitarist and songwriter Mac MacAnally. He started writing songs for Jimmy Buffett in 1980 ("It's My Job" off of Coconut Telegraph ) but didn't join the touring band until 1994. Mac MacAnally has put out a ton of excellent solo albums and wrote big hits for other artists. His most well known are probably associated with Kenny Chesney. He wrote "Back Where I Come From" which Chesney turned into a hit in 1996 and "Down The Road" which Chesney also turned into a hit in 2008. Mac MacAnally also has the distinction of being part of Jimmy Buffett's last public performance. Jimmy sat in unannounced on a small Mac MacAnally solo show on July 2, 2023: Another unique member was singer Nadirah Shakoor who joined The Coral Reefers in 1995. She was previously a member of hip hop group Arrested Development. You can see her in their video for "People Everyday": Keyboardist Michael Utley (Coral Reefer since 1975) and steel drum player Robert Greenidge (Coral Reefer since 1983) are also very notable. Outside of their work with The Coral Reefers they started their own group called Club Trini. They played instrumental music as a duo, but over time…

Harp in a jazz context is seemingly in a resurgence nowadays. Alice Coltrane got a nice feature in the The New York Times last year and Dorothy Ashby was profiled in The New Yorker in June. She was also on the cover of the latest issue of We Jazz magazine. The New Land record label recently released a comprehensive box set of Dorothy Ashby's solo albums, which is likely why magazines are taking notice. Whatever the reason, it is a well deserved spotlight on a mostly obscure artist. I say, "mostly obscure", because you have likely heard Dorothy Ashby's playing on Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic" off of Songs in the Key of Life : A more contemporary example of jazz harpist that has been getting a good amount of exposure lately is Brandee Younger. She has come across my radar in the last few years because of her association with drummer Makaya McCraven (appearing on previous Phil's Phriday Picks Universal Beings Sides E&F and I'm New Here ) and Kassa Overall's I Think I'm Good (another previous PPP!). She is also prominently featured on the new Meshell Ndegeocello album The Omnichord Real Book . She also had a nice story in The New York Times a few years ago. She also recently released her own new record called Brand New Life which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Most of Brand New Life is a tribute to Dorothy Ashby. 5 of the songs on the album were written by Dorothy Ashby and there is also a cover of Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic". Makaya McCraven plays drums throughout and Meshell Ndegeocello also sings on "Dust". So, there is a lot of mutual respect between all of these players. Overall Brand New Life is a creative mix of contemporary jazz, modern R&B and hip hop. On the hip hop side of things Pete Rock and 9th Wonder produce much of the music. One of the ways Impulse Records promoted Brand New Life wa…

Frank Black was one of the founding members of alternative rock legends Pixies (although he was known as Black Francis at that time). Along with Kim Deal (bass), David Lovering (drums) and Joey Santiago (guitar) Frank Black and Pixies redefined what alternative rock is, and their influence is wide ranging. However, all good things come to an end. Pixies originally broke up in 1992 after touring behind the album Trompe le Monde . Trompe le Monde is also notable for being the first recorded collaboration between Frank Black and bass / keyboard player Eric Drew Feldman. Eric Drew Feldman first rose to fame as part of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band in the late 70s / early 80s (appearing on Shiny Beast , Doc at the Radar Station and Ice Cream for Crow ). They met on a previous Pixies tour when Feldman was playing with opening act Pere Ubu and hit it off...so Feldman provided keyboards on Trompe le Monde . You can see him playing with the band in the "Alec Eiffel" video: After the band's breakup, Frank Black formed a new band with Eric Drew Feldman and drummer Nick Vincent. They originally intended to put out a covers album, but the concept was quickly abandoned when Frank Black started writing a ton of new material specifically for the band and album. Only one cover, "Hang on To Your Ego" originally by The Beach Boys, was eventually released on the album Frank Black . They even made a video for it, directed by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants fame: The album mostly stayed within the wheelhouse of latter day Pixies albums. For the next album, Frank Black expanded the scope (as well as the size of the band) running through a wide variety of styles and moods. That album is the 22 song double record Teenager of the Year which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. For Teenager of the Year the band also included…

People who know me even a little bit are fully aware that I am a obsessive Frank Zappa fanatic. As someone who has been listening to and collecting Zappa for over 30 years, I pretty much have it all: All 120+ officially released albums, all of the albums in the "Beat the Boots" series, a bunch of live DVDs, a smattering of bootleg records and CDs, dozens of books and magazines...you name it, I probably have it in my archives! So, of course, an obvious question that comes up regularly is "What is your favorite Zappa album?" or "If I'm new to Zappa, where should I start?". These are good, yet challenging inquiries that do not have an easy answer. A lot of times I would point people towards my massive Untouchable Zappa playlist, but at close to 7 hours and running through all the lineups and eras of Zappa's career it can often be too much for the casual listener. However, if I were hard pressed to pick one thing that spans a wide range of his musical compositions and styles, with great playing from world class musicians my answer would be Lather (Which is actually pronounced "Leather"). | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. One of the main reasons for this is because it truly does showcase a healthy cross section of what makes Frank Zappa's music so great: wild progressive rock ("Re Gyption Strut", "RDNZL", "The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution"), orchestral compositions ("Duke of Orchestral Prunes", "Naval Aviation In Art?", "Revised Music for Guitar and Low Budget Orchestra", "Pedro's Dowry"), awesome guitar solos ("Down In De Dew", "Lather", "Filthy Habits"), crucial live recordings ("The Legend Of The Illinois Enema Bandit", "The Purple Lagoon"), fun straight ahead rock ("Lemme Take You To The Beach", "Big Leg Emma") and his brand of dirty humor ("Broken Hearts Are For A holes", "Ti ies and Beer")...this album really does hav…

Questlove is someone who basically needs no introduction. Aside from his role as drummer and musical director of The Roots (including being part of Jimmy Fallon's house band) he is also a famous DJ, podcaster, record producer and Soul Train aficionado to name a few of his many accolades. What is perhaps lesser known is his association with people in the jazz avant garde. Sure, there are jazz musicians featured on records by The Roots (especially early records like Do You Want More?!!!??! ) but he also plays on records that are strictly in the jazz realm. One earlier example was an album called The Philadelphia Experiment . This album featured a trio including pianist Uri Caine and bassist Christian McBride. An excellent record that saw them playing originals along with cool covers of Sun Ra ("Call For All Demons"), Elton John ("Philadelphia Freedom") and Grover Washington ("Just The Two Of Us"). So it should come as no surprise that a new collaboration album has been recently been released featuring Questlove playing with another jazz great, saxophonist David Murray, and keyboardist Ray Angry. The record is called Plumb and is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. David Murray is most famous for being a founding member of the World Saxophone Quartet, which formed in the late 70s. They were an incredible ensemble. Here is some classic footage of them in 1987: Of course, David Murray also has long been associated with The Roots. One song from Illadeph Halflife is named after him and obviously features him: "Dave Vs Us": Ray Angry has been a member of The Roots since about 2010, featuring heavily on all their albums since then. This includes their collaboration with Elvis Costello Wise Up Ghost in 2013. Here is a cool video of them playing "Wake Me Up" from that album: So what does Plumb sound like? To me it sound…

Kassa Overall is an extremely talented drummer and rapper. He has been putting out albums on small labels (including a previous PPP I Think I'm Good ) which are worth checking out. He recently signed to Warp Records, which should bring him much larger exposure. The first record that is part of that collaboration is called Animals and is today's pick! Animals whips by at a mostly furious pace (12 songs in 35 minutes). In that short time span he melds a diverse set of styles from jazz to hip hop to rock. A lot of times it is hard to tell what is played organically and what is electronic. Similarly, its difficult to know what is structured or improvised. It flows so well, and the songs are so well written, orchestrated and produced that it doesn't hinder the enjoyment you get from listening to it. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. The album also features many guests: Nick Hakim on "Make My Way Back Home", trumpeter Theo Croker on "The Lava Is Calm" and Francis and the Lights on "So Happy" and "Going Up" are just a few examples. There were two videos produced for the record. One is "Make My Way Back Home": The other video is for the song "Going Up": There are a few strictly instrumental songs, but they are maddingly short ("No It Ain't" and "Still Ain't Find Me" zoom by in under 2 minutes each). This means the focus is on the vocal oriented songs. Kassa's lyrics mainly deal with themes of mental health and societal ills, which are interesting topics in today's day and age. Throughout the whole album Kassa's drumming is powerful and exciting. He frequently plays some blazing fast fills between the funky beats, and they bring a sense of urgency to many of the songs. Kassa Overall recently performed on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert . The short set shows him switching between drumming and rapping with features from the rest of his awe…

There were a bunch of notable musicians who passed away in the last week: Tony Bennett, Sinead O’Connor, and Randy Meisner (founding bass player of The Eagles). One musician that also passed away this week who hasn't been given the same attention is Brad Houser, who passed away from a stroke on July 24th. He is perhaps best known for being the bass player (and founding member) of New Bohemians. That group became very famous once singer Edie Brickell joined the group and released Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars in 1988. This is today's pick! "What I Am" was the monster hit on this album, and rightfully so. Here is the music video for the song: Here are Edie Brickell and New Bohemians playing the same song on Late Night with David Letterman in 1988: In both videos, the band is highlighted. In fact, there is lots of great footage of Brad Houser playing in those clips (you can especially see him getting WAY into the song on Letterman's show). | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. I believe that a huge part of what made Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars sound so amazing is Brad Houser's excellent fretless bass playing throughout. The album is mixed well, and you can hear his tasteful licks in every song. The 2nd single from the album was "Circle" (which I think is an even better song that "What I Am"). It came with another video that highlighted the band: Aside from the singles, the rest of the album is equally as strong. "Air of December", "The Wheel" and "Keep Coming Back" (which is comparatively fast and rockin' from the rest of the record) are all well crafted, catchy pop songs. Edie Brickell and New Bohemians put out a follow up album Ghost of A Dog in 1990 that wasn't nearly as strong. They broke up for a while and eventually reformed in 2006 and 2018...never again reaching their superstar status. I'd also like to point o…

Earlier this summer, it was announced that a recording of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy playing together was unearthed while a Bob Dylan archivist was digging through materials at the New York Public Library! What an incredible discovery...and one that highlights the need for institutions like public libraries to keep and archive everything for future enjoyment and research. The Guardian and NPR recently wrote two excellent articles describing in detail the recordings that are worth diving into. The recordings were released earlier this month as Evenings At The Village Gate , which is today's pick! As someone who has been fanatically listening to both Coltrane and Dolphy recordings since high school, my excitement to hear this recording was off the charts, and it did not disappoint. Along with Coltrane and Dolphy, the band includes Art Davis (double bass), Elvin Jones (drums), McCoy Tyner (piano) and Reggie Workman (double bass). | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. I specifically remember hearing the The Complete Africa / Brass Sessions 2 CD set when it came out in 1995 and it was a game changer for me. All of the players above played on the sessions... Evening At The Village Gate was recorded the same summer as Africa / Brass in 1961. Two of the songs, "Africa" and "Greensleeves" are played as well. The playing is wild and free, especially Elvin Jones' drumming. Eric Dolphy's mastery of several instruments is also showcased. He plays alto sax, bass clarinet and flute here. The flute solo that opens "My Favorite Things" is practically worth the price of admission alone. Eric Dolphy was only recorded in a very short period (1958 until his death in 1964) so any new recordings of him are obviously very welcome. Although he did pack a lot into those 6 short years (Multiple albums each with Chico Hamilton, Charles Mingus, John…

Heavy metal band Megadeth has quite a turbulent history. Guitarist Dave Mustaine is the only constant member of the group, and the lineup generally changes from album to album and tour to tour. Which is part of what made the band from 1990 1996 so remarkable. During these years the lineup was completely stable (the longest such stretch in Megadeth's existence). Megadeth consisted of guitarist Marty Friedman, drummer Nick Menza and bass player David Ellefson. It is considered their most "classic" and technically proficient lineup...and perhaps not coincidentally it was their most popular and successful as well. Of course, this lineup didn't come out of thin air. The previous lineup, which included Mustaine and Ellefson along with guitarist Jeff Young and drummer Chuck Behler had a heavy drug and alcohol problem. While on their 1988 tour supporting So Far, So Good...So What! they basically blew apart. Chuck Behler was the first to go, but Nick Menza was specifically hired as the drum tech in case he was unable to play. So, this worked out nicely. After the tour, Dave Mustaine was arrested for driving under the influence and possession of narcotics after crashing into a parked vehicle occupied by an off duty police officer. Soon afterwards he went to rehab and became clean. Jeff Young was hardest to replace. They went through a series of auditions with famous players such as Slash (Guns N' Roses), Dimebag Darrell (Pantera), and Criss Oliva (Savatage) but nothing really came out of them. Eventually, Cacophony guitarist Marty Friedman was found. Amazingly part of his audition tape is available online! I just want to take a moment to point out that Marty Friedman didn't come completely out of nowhere. Cacophony was an incredible shred metal band who also had guitar virtuoso Jason Becker in the lineup. Jason Becker, sadly, developed a very severe case of ALS and can no longer perform or speak. But here they are at the height of their powers in 1989: With this band assembl…

Tony Williams was already a legendary drummer by the time the late 60s rolled around. He was part of Miles Davis' "Second Great Quartet" from 1964 1968 (along with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter). Albums such as E.S.P ., Miles Smiles , Sorcerer , Nefertiti , Miles in the Sky , and Filles de Kilimanjaro are all classics. He also put out solo albums for Blue Note and played with other jazz heavyweights at the time including Eric Dolphy and Andrew Hill. As if all this wasn't enough, Tony Williams became more interested in heavy, loud rock music. So, in 1969 he formed a new band called Tony Williams Lifetime. It was originally a trio, with guitarist John McLaughlin (pre Mahavishnu Orchestra) and organist Larry Young (who was at the time working with Miles Davis on Bitches Brew and recently released his watershed solo album Unity ). Their first album was a sprawling 2 record set called Emergency! . It featured a loud, heavy brand of jazz fusion with a heavy influence from progressive rock and free jazz. This was a POWER trio in every sense of the term. Most songs are over 8 minutes long, and some pushed 15 minutes. A massively epic recording. For the follow up album, the recruited bassist Jack Bruce. He, of course, was part of another heavy power trio: Cream. They had recently broken up and was looking to do something new. The resulting record was Turn It Over , released in 1970. It is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. For this record, they tighten up the song lengths. Only one song (A wild cover of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Once I Loved") exceeds the five minute mark. However, this didn't stop them from increasing the intensity. Every song is like a runaway freight train. All the players are at the top of their game. This is especially so with John McLaughlin and Larry Young who rip out some incredi…

Last weekend the TV show 60 Minutes aired a segment on composer Hans Zimmer. It is worth checking out if you have not seen it: Hans Zimmer, basically needs no introduction. He is one of the most prolific and celebrated modern day film composers. He started with Rain Man in 1988 (after a brief stint in the rock band The Buggles) and has basically been on a tear ever since. With over 150 composing credits to his name, it got me thinking what my Hans Zimmer score is? There are plenty of candidates: The Lion King , The Simpsons Movie , Pirates of the Caribbean , Dune , Inception and The Dark Knight would all make my top 10 list, but if I were to pick one it would be Man of Steel ...which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Man of Steel is unique in the Hans Zimmer canon because it puts a heavy focus on drums and percussion. This, of course, is right up my alley. Since this is a Hans Zimmer soundtrack this is accomplished in the most over the top and bombastic way possible. Look at the list of drummers that are part of the percussion ensemble of Man of Steel : Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, Perfect Circle, David Bowie, Tori Amos) Josh Freese (Vandals, Devo, Foo Fighters) Danny Carey (Tool) Jason Bonham (John Bonham's son) Pharrell Williams (The Neptunes) Sheila E. (Prince) John JR Robinson (Michael Jackson) Jim Keltner (John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Traveling Wilburys, Ry Cooder) Vinnie Colaiuta (Frank Zappa, Sting, Joni Mitchell) And that's not even everybody! Go big or go home was obviously Zimmer's motto here! They filmed the recording sessions for Man of Steel and there are some interesting snippets of them available online. Here are a couple that are focused on the drummers: And here is one that focuses on the steel guitar players that are also featured throughout, including Chas Smith, Marty Rifkin, Skip Edwards,…

Zach Hill is one of my favorite modern day drummers. I have previously highlighted some of his work in the past, choosing Hella's Hold Your Horse Is as a PPP in way back in January 2021. Outside of Hella, Zach Hill has been very prolific. Releasing dozens of albums under different names with different musicians...it’s a deep rabbit hole to dive into. I'll keep today's post focused but encourage a deeper dive if the mood strikes. In 2007, Hella expanded from its original duo format into a much larger band (complete with a singer) and released There's No 666 In Outer Space . Around the same time Zach Hill started a side band called The Holy Smokes and put out two records: Masculine Drugs / Destroying Yourself Is Too Accessible in 2004 and Talk to Your Kids About Gangs in 2006. They pushed the mathy, brutal prog rock of Hella to the outer limits. Completely overwhelming, noisy and complex the records definitely catered to a small audience of drummers and avant rock aficionados. In 2008, Zach Hill took the best parts of the concepts introduced on those albums, added a bit more melody, recruited some high profile guests and released his best solo record (in my opinion): Astrological Straits on Mike Patton's Ipecac Records. Some of the bigger names on the album were Chino Moreno (Deftones, Team Sleep), Tyler Pope (!!!) and Les Claypool (Primus, Frog Brigade). Even with that cast of musicians it is still Zach Hill's sound and vision with completely crazy, psychedelic, high speed music with his constant soloing style of drumming and pitch shifted vocals mixed to the front. The drumming alone really pushes the limits of human endurance and are completely mind blowing and awe inspiring. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Pitchfork's review of it at the time gave it a pretty apt description: "At its best, Astrological Straits is a m…

This week Blackie Onassis (John Rowan) drummer from the peak era (1991 1995) Urge Overkill passed away. No cause of death has been publicly announced, but it is well known that Blackie struggled with drug abuse which lead to his estrangement from the other two members of Urge Overkill, Nash Kato and Eddie Roeser. For details into this saga, look no further than a 1996 interview in the Chicago Reader with Blackie (after the band crashed and burned following the tour for Exit The Dragon ) and a 2004 interview in the Chicago Reader with the rest of Urge Overkill (when Urge Overkill was reforming sans Blackie). I don't want to focus on this drama, I'd rather celebrate how awesome Urge Overkill was in their heyday. Urge Overkill first came on my radar in 1991. I heard they were the opening act on Nirvana's Nevermind tour and their CD The Supersonic Storybook was languishing in the used section of one of my local record stores for weeks. I don't know why someone sold it seemingly right away and why nobody bought it for what seemed like weeks (I kept seeing it in the rack every time I dropped in the shop). Eventually I took a chance and bought it, not really knowing what they sounded like. It was a great little rock record! It had a dry production from Steve Albini and some catchy songs (especially "Vacation in Tokyo", "Emmaline" and "The Kids are Insane"). When I bought the record the store owner also recommended their 7" single "Lineman", which was a cover of Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" so I bought that too. I've always loved that song and it was a cool version of it: None of this really prepared me for what came next, which was 1993's Saturation , their major label debut. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Everything about Urge Overkill's sound and image was pushed to the limits. A completely over the top rock record th…

Without a doubt, one of my favorite groups from the early 90s was The Rollins Band. This, of course, is the name of Henry Rollins' musical group once Black Flag blew up in the mid 1980s. During Henry Rollins' time in the group, they went from a more straightahead punk rock group into something that tried to morph together heavy metal and free jazz. It alienated a lot of fans over time which led to the breakup of the group. Near the end of that band's original existence, guitarist Gregg Ginn started an instrumental band Gone with Sim Cain as the drummer. Here they are performing in 1986: Simultaneously Henry Rollins was doing spoken word performances and toying with the idea of a new musicial project. This eventually led to his first solo album called Hot Animal Machine . Included in this band was guitarist Chris Haskett. Eventually Rollins poached Sim Cain from Gone and recruited bass player Andrew Weiss (who later when on to fame with the band Ween) and Chris Haskett to form the Rollins Band. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. They were a decent group, playing punk rock but with a heavy blues edge. The crowning achievement of this version of the group was probably 1992's The End Of Silence which found them playing a heavy metal / jazz fusion hybrid with extended song lengths. The song "Low Self Opinion" is a pretty good encapsulation of what they sounded like: Andrew Weiss left under the punishing conditions of touring behind that album and was replaced with avant jazz bass virtuoso Melvin Gibbs. Melvin Gibbs previously played with drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson (of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time fame) in his group Decoding Society. Here they are blowing the roof off the place in 1983: This is the band who put out the album Weight in 1994. An absolute masterpiece in 90s angst rock. I present to you Exhibit A which is the c…

Foo Fighters finally announced Josh Freese as their new drummer this week, following the unfortunate passing of long time member Taylor Hawkins. They did so with an elaborate movie called Preparing Music For Concerts . Its pretty amusing to watch the "tryouts" at the beginning and the excellent concert that follows. Josh's actual live debut is tonight at the Boston Calling music festival. The decision of Josh Freese joining the Foo Fighters is not a left field choice by any stretch of the imagination. Since the early 90s he has been playing with a who's who of alternative rock bands (along with being a member of The Vandals). The list is impressive: Nine Inch Nails, The Offspring, Guns N' Roses, A Perfect Circle...and the list goes on and on. To give you an idea of how well he performs with such an impressive list of bands, I'll highlight some live videos! Here he is playing Nine Inch Nails’ "Wish" back in 2010: In 2014, Devo went on tour playing songs from 1974 1977 ("Hardcore Devo") and Josh was the drummer for that. Here they are playing "Uncontrollable Urge": Here is Josh performing with A Perfect Circle on Conan in 2000: And finally, here is more recent footage of Josh playing with Danny Elfman at Coachella last year: In between all this activity, Josh Freese still manages to put out his own solo records! One of my prized possessions is my copy of the picture disc of his first record The Notorious One Man Orgy . His second solo record from 2009, however, is my favorite. It's called Since 1972 and is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Since 1972 does not mess around. It flies through 11 songs in less than a half hour, basically bulldozing everything in its path. A completely goofy, fun, melodic punk rock record that is so infectious that once I start listening to it, I usually put it on repeat for an add…

A quick missive for the Phil's Phriday Picks today as I am in transit. This pick coming to you live from Boston's Logan Airport! This weekend is the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore (which is part of the triple crown). I don't really follow much horse racing, but when I think of it, I always think of the album cover of Stephen Still's fifth solo album Thoroughfare Gap so it is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Stephen Stills had recently recorded with Abba in 1976 (playing percussion on "You Should Be Dancing") so he had disco fever. He decided to make an album that had one foot in his typical classic rock sound and the other foot in disco. It was not very well received at the time but has grown to be a cult favorite by some (including me). Andy Gibb and the Bee Gee's producer Mike Lewis appear along with drummer Joe Vitale so the disco quotient is pretty high, but really enjoyable. There are also covers of The Allman Brothers "Midnight Rider" and Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" which gives the whole album a well rounded, though slightly schizophrenic overall feel. It's almost time to catch my flight, so enjoy Thoroughfare Gap .

Did you know that Daryl Hall (of Hall & Oates fame) and Robert Fripp (of King Crimson fame) worked together on a couple of albums in the late 70s and almost formed a band together? It sounds crazy, but it is absolutely true! In 1974, Robert Fripp broke up King Crimson. He completely left the the music industry for a while immersing himself in new age philosophies. He even joined philosopher John G. Bennett's International Academy for Continuous Education for a couple years. Eventually he was coaxed out of his retirement by Brian Eno, who convinced him to do session work with David Bowie (That's his guitar you hear on "Heroes"). Fripp consequently moved to New York City and became involved in the city's punk and new wave scenes. He devised a concept he called "The Drive to 1981". This was a loose idea he had about being active in a few smaller groups instead of reforming King Crimson and each group would have a unique style and put out their own album. He also incorporated his concept of "Frippertronics" into his music heavily around this time. "Frippertronics" involved playing solo guitar along with tape loops of his playing in a mostly ambient style. This concept was first released on the (No Pussyfooting) album he made with Brian Eno in 1973. At the same time Hall and Oates had recently released Bigger Than Both of Us which spawned their first 1 hit "Rich Girl". But Daryl Hall was feeling constrained by group's formula and wanted to try something new. He ended up teaming up with Robert Fripp while he was working on his solo album Exposure . Daryl Hall ended up co writing a lot of the music on the album and originally sang on all the songs. However, Hall's record company got wind of this and freaked out. They didn't want him appearing on what they deemed an uncommercial progressive rock album at the height of new wave and punk. Ultimately the record company and Robert Fripp reached some sort of agreement that hall's vocals would only appear on two songs and the re…

Dave Lombardo is probably most known for his time as the drummer of Slayer, but he is so much more than that. Of course, he was a founding member of Slayer. Appearing on all their albums from 1983's Show No Mercy through 1990's Seasons in The Abyss . Every Slayer album in that timeframe are groundbreaking classics, especially Reign in Blood . I've attended many Slayer concerts over the years, but the first time is probably still my favorite. They opened for Motorhead at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom in 1988. For some reason, they set up folding chairs near the front of the stage for people to sit on during the Slayer show? Once Slayer hit the stage, the chairs instantly became flying projectiles. It was definitely dangerous...somehow, I survived to tell the tale. Here is Slayer performing "Reigning Blood" and "Silent Scream" in 1988 to give you a sense of their intensity: | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. My favorite era of Slayer was probably 1990 1991. For my money "War Ensemble", from Seasons in The Abyss is their best song. Check out the bonkers video for that song: In 1992 Dave Lombardo left Slayer. He occasionally came back for select shows and tours but has since focused on a wide variety of other bands and projects. Soon after leaving Slayer, he formed the band Grip, Inc. They were still pretty much in a thrash metal wheelhouse but were pretty good. Here is their music video for "Ostracized" from The Power of Inner Strength : Things really started to get interesting in the late 90s. Two very important things happened. The first is he appeared in the wild Matthew Barney movie Cremaster 2 . He performed in a trio with Steve Tucker and a SWARM OF BEES. Crazy stuff: He also joined Mike Patton's new "supergroup" Fantomas along with Mr. Bungle's Trevor Dunn and Buzz Osbourne of The Melvins. I saw them at The Metro in Chica…

Willie Nelson will be celebrating his 90th birthday this weekend! It is truly amazing that not only has Willie lived this long, but he continues to record and perform at pretty much the same pace as he has most of his life. Along with the star studded 90th birthday concert, he is also going on tour (playing over 30 shows headlining the "Outlaw Music Festival" with a rotating set of support acts). Last month, he also put out his 73rd album I Don't Know A Thing About Love: The Songs Of Harlan Howard ! Things weren't always easy for Willie Nelson. In November of 1990, the I.R.S. raided his Texas ranch and seized his assets, claiming he owed over $16 million in taxes. How did this happen? Apparently, Price Waterhouse, who was managing his money neglected to pay his taxes over a period of many years. They also made many bad investments on his behalf. Willie Nelson later sued them. Texas Monthly wrote a pretty detailed article about the situation in May 1991. The I.R.S. attempted to auctioned off Willie's Austin ranch, but after several attempts it only sold for the minimum bid of $203,840...a far cry from the millions of dollars owed and well below market value for the sprawling 44 acre ranch. It was bought by a huge Willie Nelson fan who later sold it back to Willie, so the joke was on the I.R.S. in the end. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. What did Willie Nelson do to get out of this situation? Well, at the time he had his own theater in Branson, Missouri (similar to what many other country stars had at the time) and he played a bunch of shows there. Check out this T Shirt from the theater: Farm Aid was also a popular concert, but that didn't help him because the money raised there was already earmarked to save farms from forclosure. Nevertheless, he still performed. Here he is playing "Always On My Mind" at Farm Aid in 19…

Bonus pick this Friday since I missed last week's pick! Record Store Day is tomorrow. The annual event has grown larger and more overwhelming each year and I find it less exciting as labels seem to flood the market with junk (Does anyone really want Macho Man Randy Savage's Be A Man on vinyl??). One thing on this year's release list that caught my interest is the re release of Medeski, Martin & Wood's It's A Jungle In Here . The album is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year (initially released in August 1993) and this will be the first time it is pressed on vinyl. I'm excited about that, so It's A Jungle In Here is today's bonus pick! It's A Jungle In Here is Medeski, Martin & Wood in their early stages. This is before the heavy hip hop influences of Shack Man . It is before they opened for Phish and became darlings on the jam band circuit. It is before they played on John Scofield's A Go Go and became Scofield's backing band for a while. It is certainly before the heavy electronic, jazz fusion hybrids of The Dropper and Uninvisible . | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. It's A Jungle In Here is almost entirely acoustic, although John Medeski does run his organ and piano through some effects pedals. They play more like an avant garde jazz trio than the futuristic funk band they later became. The set of covers on the album reflects this: "Moti Mo" originally by King Sunny Aide, "Syeeda's Song Flute" originally by John Coltrane and a cool Thelonious Monk and Bob Marley medley "Bemsha Swing/Lively Up Yourself". The originals are also great...especially the heavy funk of "Shuck It Up" and the title track. While I probably won't get up early and fight the crowds and long lines for Record Store Day tomorrow, I am hoping that when I stop in to my local shop they still have a copy of It's A Jungle In Here waiting for me.

I recently started reading the excellent book Black Metal Rainbows . It is a very insightful collection of essays from people involved in the outer fringes of black metal (As if black metal itself wasn't fringe enough!). The book's official blurb accurately describes what it contains: Beyond its clichés of grimness, nihilism, reaction, and signature black/white corpse paint sneer, black metal today is a vibrant and revolutionary paradigm. This book reveals its ludic, carnival worlds animated by spirits of joy and celebration, community and care, queerness and camp, LGBTQI+ identities and antifascist, antiracist, and left wing politics, not to mention endless aesthetic experimentation and fabulousness. From the crypt to the cloud, Black Metal Rainbows unearths black metal’s sparkling core and illuminates its prismatic spectrum: deep within the black, far beyond grimness, and over a darkly glittering rainbow! Highly recommended! One of the essays is by Haela Hunt Hendrix, frontperson of the wildly experimental band Liturgy. Hunt Hendrix, who has recently come out as transgender, has been confounding black metal purists for many years. Liturgy first reached prominence with their album Aesthethica in 2011. It was a black metal album, but taken to the absolute extremes. Extremely complex and intricate songs but with an unbelievable power and precision from all the players. Here they are performing "Tragic Laurel" from the album in 2012: Around this time Hunt Hendrix wrote a controversial paper called A Vision Of Apocalyptic Humanism explaining the band's M.O. as "Transcendental Black Metal". It is a pretty technical and difficult read, but definitely worth digesting. Soon after, Liturgy expanded their sound beyond the strict confines of black metal. They incorporated more electronic elements and free jazz influence in the completely bonkers The Ark Work in 2015. The music video for "Quetzalcoatl" accurately sums up the direction of the album pretty well: One of the high…

Since 2017 rapper Lil Yachty has been kind of a fun novelty. He put out albums and mixtapes in a trap music style with a heavy dose of humor. Songs like "Broccoli" were amusing but I honestly didn't follow his career too closely. That is, until he teamed up with modern psychedelic rock band Tame Impala for a remix of their song "Breath Deeper" from their excellent album The Slow Rush back in 2022. Soon afterwards rumors were swirling that Lil Yachty was working on an album that was heavily influenced by progressive rock. That album is Let's Start Here , which was released earlier this year. It was first teased on January 24th, with an odd video called "Department of Mental Tranquility": A few days later the first single, "Say Something", was released. I was definitely intrigued! This was no longer the simplistic, goofy trap music Lil Yachty was known for. The album showed up on streaming services pretty immediately after the video and I quickly dived in. To say it is a complete reinvention is an understatement. A full hour of full blown progressive space rock mixed with rap and autotuned vocals. The AI generated album artwork of crazed looking people in suits aptly illustrates how wild the music is. The album kicks off with "Black Seminole" which sounds like prime era Pink Floyd! Lengthy instrumental parts and a cool guitar solo set the tone for the rest of the album. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. Other highlights include the funky "Running Out Of Time", the thrashy hard rock of "I've Officially Lost Vision" and "Should I B?" which has a post punk kind of vibe similar to what the band Algiers is doing. Soon after the album's release Lil Yachty assembled an all female band to bring his vision to the stage. He premiered it at the Rolling Loud festival, with the first 20 minutes or so of the set focused entirely on song…

The harp is not something you hear about so much outside of a classical orchestra setting. There are a few notable exceptions such as them sometimes appearing on a Beatles song ("She's Leaving Home") or the playing of Zeena Parkins (her excellent playing is all over Bjork's Vespertine ). Ukrainian harpist Alina Bzhezhinska is looking to change that. Alina Bzhezhinska came across my radar very recently. I recently read cover to cover the winter 2022 issue of Finnish magazine We Jazz and one of the many highlights was an interview with Alina. What initially caught my interest was her association with the new wave of British jazz stars like Shabaka Hutchings (of The Comet Is Coming fame). Here they are playing together along with keyboardist Kamaal Williams from 2021: However, the more I dove into her catalog the more impressed I became with her music. Especially with how she is trying to combine 60s/70s spiritual jazz with a more modern flair (such as trip hop and acid jazz influences). She pays homage to the past while looking ahead to the future in very imaginative ways. | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. One of those ways is through an organization she founded called the HipHarp Collective. According to their bio they are "made up of contemporary artists and collaborators, professional music makers, electronic music producers and harp lovers, who support everything innovative, new unusual and out of the box". Sign me up for that! One of the many things that came out of the work of HipHarp Collective is Alina Bzhezhinska's most recent album, Reflections , which is today's pick! The band on the album includes Tony Kofi (Saxophones), Jay Phelps (Trumpet), Julie Walkington (Double Bass) and vocalist Vimala Rowe, strongly supported by international talents Mikele Montolli (Electric Bass), Joel Prime(Percussion), Adam Teixeira…

When you think of the band Wilco, you don't typically think of them as a drum focused group. This is unfortunate, because their drummer, Glenn Kotche, is a very unique and interesting percussionist. He joined Wilco in 2002 and the first album he played on was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot . This came about because Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy played a show with experimental guitarist Jim O'Rourke in 2000. Jim knew Glenn Kotche previously and introduced him to Jeff. They ended up forming an experimental trio called Loose Fur. This lead to all of them working together on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot . Glenn joined Wilco as a full time member, but Jim essentially was a session musician on the album. "Jesus Etc." is one of the highlights from that album. Here is Wilco, with Glenn Kotche playing the song on The Late Show with David Letterman: While that song is a pretty straightforward rock song, much of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot had a more experimental vibe with less traditional drums and percussion. An example of that is "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart". Here is Glenn Kotche playing the elaborate percussion parts in a solo format: You can see and hear the elaborate drum set that Glenn typically plays there, including live with Wilco...and it is pretty awesome! At the same time Glenn was working on solo material. When I say "solo" I mean exactly that. He ended up writing 7 compositions for vibraphone, kalimba, mbira, and drum kit and recorded them all (along with a cover of Steve Reich's "Clapping Music") for an album called Mobile , which is today's pick! | Don't Miss A Pick! | | : :| | Do you want to get Phil's Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? | | Do you like being social? Follow Phil's Phriday Picks on Facebook. One of the highlights is the 11+ minute "Monkey Chant" which makes it feel like you're stuck in the jungle, surrounded by local wildlife with a drum ensemble performing nearby. Way cool! In 2005 and 2006, during a break from touring with Wilco, Glenn Kotche wen…

Keeping track of the membership of the band Yes has always been somewhat confusing, but probably the late 1980s was the most convoluted. Yes was still riding high on the success of "Owner of a Lonely Heart" when they released Big Generator in 1987 and went on an extensive tour. At the time the band included Jon Anderson (vocals), Trevor Rabin (guitar), Tony Kaye (keyboards), Chris Squire (bass) and Alan White (drums). They pushed themselves hard on the tour, scheduling close to 100 shows in 1987 and 1988. By the tour's end Trevor Rabin literally collapsed from exhaustion and Jon Anderson decided he had enough and quit the group. Jon Anderson reunited with members of Yes from the "classic" era of 1971 1973: Steve Howe (guitar), Rick Wakeman (keyboards) and Bill Bruford (drums). The band they formed was aptly named Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe. The group also included Tony Levin on bass (of King Crimson and Peter Gabriel fame among countless others) though his name was not included in the band's moniker. Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe played music more in the style of their 70s progressive rock heyday than of the 80s pop style. The remaining members of Yes eventually decided to continue forward. Bassist Chris Squire befriended guitarist Billy Sherwood from the band World Trade. It was decided he would play rhythm guitar and sing for Yes. However, things ended up not being that simple! Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe's music was not to their record company's liking...and Jon Anderson eventually reconciled with Trevor Rabin. The problem was both separate groups had written a bunch of new material in their different styles. (Including a song that Billy Sherwood wrote called "The More We Live Let Go"). With urging from the record company, they all decided to join forces as a giant supergroup version of Yes! Everyone would be involved in the recording and playing of the album Union . Depending on who you ask it was either an interesting collaboration or a gi…

Recently, I saw an advertisement for a tour consisting of Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire. They are presumably playing all of their monster hits because the tagline of the concert is "Sing A Long All Night Long" (clever!). It made me wonder how many of the core members of Earth, Wind & Fire are still touring these days simply because many of them from the classic mid 70s period have passed away (Maurice White, Andrew Woolfolk, Fred White, Charles Stepney etc) and there is a general trend of bands having one original / core member and touring under the band name with a bunch of younger nobodies. I was pleasantly surprised to find that original member Verdine White is still playing the bass and longtime members Philip Bailey (vocals) and Ralph Johnson (percussion) are still holding down the fort. It's not like Earth, Wind & Fire had a particularly stable lineup for any length of time anyways. In fact, when the band was originally formed in 1970 with brothers Vernice and Maurice White the band had an entirely different membership than when they sold tens of millions of albums and won a ton of Grammys playing R&B and funk. Originally, they were more of a soul band with jazz fusion tendencies. Philip Bailey was not yet in the group. Their first big break was performing on the soundtrack to the film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song in early 1971. Here is some recently unearthed footage of the early band playing in 1971 which is incredible: The early Earth, Wind & Fire lineup also included organist Doug Carn along with his wife Jean Carn (although I'm not certain if they ever played live with the group or only recorded with them). During this time in 1971 The Carns were associated with Gene Russell's Black Jazz Records label and putting out classic albums like Infant Eyes (to give you a sense of what they sounded like, the album included covers by McCoy Tyner, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter and Horace Silver). This era of Earth, Wind & Fire is probably my favorite. Es…

Bruce Ditmas is a drummer who straddles two different worlds. He first came into success by playing in Judy Garland's big band and backing Barbra Streisand in the 1960s. Eventually he started playing in more interesting groups. In the 1970s he was playing with trumpeter / composer Thad Jones big band. Here he is in 1974 playing a show in Norway. His powerful playing is really driving this large ensemble: He also hooked up with pianist / arranger Gil Evans (who was fresh off his success working with Miles Davis) who also started his own big band but with more of a electric / jazz fusion focus. Also in that group was guitarist John Abercrombie. Here they are in playing in France, also in 1974: This group was essential for Bruce Ditmas for many reasons. Abercrombie's presence led him to working with a ton of artists associated with the ECM record label over the decades. He also was able to meet Jaco Pastorius and was part of his big bands before he joined Weather Report. Along with all that, Gil Evans also loaned him a bunch of high tech gear (drum machines, Moog synthesizers) to experiment with. Those wild experiments lead to Bruce Ditmas' two solo albums that he released in 1977: Aerey Dust and Yellow . They are both extremely rare and hard to find. Nevertheless, those that were able to come across them were confronted with really crazed avant garde funk and jazz performed completely by Bruce Ditmas' on a Mini Moog, an Arp 2600 and tons of electronically treated percussion. Luckily, U.K. based archival label Finders Keepers collected the best music from those two albums and released them as Yellow Dust for a wider audience. This is an essential collection that really still sounds out of this world even today...which is why it is today's pick! A free jazz freakout with Moog / Arp synths and drums exploding all over the place that is an overwhelming tour de force which is oddly accessible even while being completely bonkers. I recommend you play it at maximum volume a…

In the 1990s and early 2000s the Midwest was a breeding ground for a ton of math rock and progressive rock bands. This was especially so in St. Louis Missouri. Dazzling Killmen was a big part of that scene. Their hybrid of progressive rock, punk and jazz was highly influential if not exactly well known. They broke up shortly after putting out their masterpiece Face of Collapse in 1995. Their bassist, Darin Gray, was a huge part of their heavy sound. One of the projects he started after Dazzling Killmen was a very bizarre instrumental power trio of sorts called Grand Ulena. Grand Ulena also consisted of drummer Danny McClain and guitarist Chris Trull. Their music is self described in the following ways, which I think is pretty accurate: "Grand Ulena is disjunct rhythms played at high velocity. Disjunct beats played under broken and jagged melodies. Complex structures combined with complete and utter failure. Failed soloing combined with rigid riffery. Extended instrumental techniques forged into song." Their music may sound completely random and improvised, but this was far from the truth. Their music was almost completely thorough composed with very little repetition. After a period of very intense rehearsals, they hit the road. They played Chicago pretty frequently and I was lucky enough to witness their astonishing music firsthand several times, including this show at The Fireside Bowl in November 2002: In early 2003, they released their only studio album Gateway to Dignity which is today's pick! It also happens to be one of my favorite rock albums of all time, so I'm kind of surprised it took me so long to make this an official PPP! The album contains much of the same material that was performed live. It is an incredible document of a unique vision by three people completely committed to the concept. The amount of force power and precision they put into their playing (especially the drumming) is something seemingly from another world. The Flying Luttenbacher's d…

Everyone knows Phil Collins' singing and playing in Genesis along with his solo work from the 80s. He was ubiquitous and unescapable. Aside from the studio hits, the live concerts he put on were amazing. This is partly due to his own talent, but also with the excellent band he put together which included drummer Chester Thompson, bassist Leland Sklar and guitarist Daryl Stuermer. As a fine illustration here he is with that band playing live in 1990 playing "Inside Out" from No Jacket Required . The band is absolutely on fire here, but especially take note of Leland Sklar's unreal bass playing late in the video: Along with being a great front man, Phil Collins is also a phenomenal drummer. Chester Thompson also played live with Genesis and handled most of the drumming, but Phil Collins would always play a drum duet with him every show. Here is a notable example from Genesis' 1992 tour: By the mid 90s, Phil Collins had grown tired of being a member of Genesis and quit in early 1996. Aside from continuing to focus on his popular solo pop music, he also decided to form a big band jazz ensemble with him behind the drum set. He retained guitarist Daryl Stuermer (who was also working on a solo career with his soon to be released solo album Live & Learn ) when he chose musicians to be in the group. They played mostly Genesis and Phil Collins songs arranged in the big band style, along with some jazz standards like "Birdland" and "Milestones". The BBC made a documentary near the beginning of their formation, and it is an eye opening and insightful glimpse into how this band worked towards playing in concert: Over time the band got even better. Later in 1996 they played at the Montreux Jazz Festival with Quincy Jones conducting. Here they are playing the Genesis song "Los Endos" complete with a super cool drum intro: I had the pleasure of seeing them live when they played a larger world tour (including the United States) in 1998. They played a free show in Chicago's Grant Pa…

The Tompkins Square record label, run by Josh Rosenthal, mainly focuses on archival releases of country, gospel, and blues music. Since 2005 the label has been releasing records as part of a series called "Imaginational Anthem" that highlights unique guitar players sometimes solely curated by Josh Rosenthal and sometimes with outside help. For the eleventh item in the series Tompkins Square worked with pedal steel guitar wizard Luke Schneider (who's Altar of Harmony record on Jack White's Third Man Records was a previous Phil's Phriday Pick!) to compile Chrome Universal: A Survey of Modern Pedal Steel . You might think that the record would sound like country or americana music, but this could not be further from the truth. Most of it is very jazzy, experimental, and ambient in nature. Which makes it right up my alley! Players on the album include B.J. Cole (who has previously played with a who's who of classic rock artists. In fact, that's his steel guitar you hear on Elton John's "Tiny Dancer"), Spencer Cullum (who plays with Dolly Parton, Miranda Lambert, and others), Baltimore native Susan Alcorn (who along with releasing her own experimental albums works with jazz players like Ken Vandermark, Evan Parker, Mary Halvorson etc.) and of course Luke Schneider himself. For those who like physical media, I also recommend buying the vinyl record as it comes with a pretty informative booklet about all the artists along with a history of the pedal steel guitar that is well worth reading. The music throughout the album sounds shimmering, beautiful, and glacial. It makes for a perfect listen during the chilly winter months.

Pianist Chick Corea is most well known for two distinct periods of time: His stint in Miles Davis' band (from 1968 1970 including albums In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew ) and his jazz rock fusion bands (such as Return to Forever and his Elektric Band). However, the time in between these two eras he was exploring very "out" free jazz. He was already tending towards that more avant garde direction while with Miles. He played electric piano run through a bunch of effects. Here is a great example of that band (which also included bassist Dave Holland, Saxophonist Wayne Shorter and drummer Jack DeJohnette) at the height of their powers in 1969 playing "Directions": Dave Holland left the band along with Chick Corea and they hooked up with drummer Barry Altschul and recorded the album A.R.C. (which stood for "affinity, reality, communication"...a reference to Scientology as Chick Corea became influenced by that belief system around this time) on the ECM label. ECM later became known for more sedate, new age jazz but early on they released a lot more free jazz influenced records. This was one of them. It included a great version of Wayne Shorter's "Nefertiti" among other highlights. Around this same time, Saxophone player Anthony Braxton was just starting to get his career off the ground. He associated himself with the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) and released his completely bonkers solo record For Alto , which stretched the limits of Alto Saxophone techniques at the time. He hooked up with the players from A.R.C. to form the band Circle in 1970. In a very short period of time they recorded a couple self titled albums and played extensively in Europe in early 1971. Here is some incredible footage of them performing in Paris on April 19, 1971: You can see and hear that each player is really stretching out using extended techniques. Barry Altschul has an arsenal of percussion that he switches between that is showcased pretty heavily here. A c…

Chicago rock band Fall Out Boy has recently been receiving a lot of hype for their upcoming new album So Much (For) Stardust . Between their new music video starring Weezer's Rivers Cuomo for "Heartbreak Feels So Good" and their last minute show at The Metro they have been generating a lot of buzz and excitement: Guitarist Joe Trohman (who actually recently announced he is taking a leave from the band) also recently put out a pretty interesting memoir, None of This Rocks , which is worth reading. This has led me to revisit a more tumultuous period in Fall Out Boy's career. After they released Folie A Deux in 2008 with a thud compared to Infinity on High they went on a hiatus. Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley joined forces with Anthrax's Scott Ian in the group The Damned Things and bassist Pete Wentz went off the electropop deep end with Black Cards. Singer / guitarist Patrick Stump went the completely solo route. He composed, sang, and played every instrument on his album Soul Punk which is today's pick! As the name implies Soul Punk is heavily influenced by 80s / 90s soul and R&B combined with the pop punk that Fall Out Boy were known for. Patrick Stump acknowledged that Michael Jackson was a huge influence on it. In fact, as part of the promotion of the album he recorded an acapella medley of Michael Jackson hits: As an additional pre album hype he surprise released a vinyl only EP called Truant Wave that introduced the new style with songs that mostly didn't appear on Soul Punk . Soul Punk is an impressive album. Very interesting songwriting, along with solid musicianship and stellar singing to match. There's not much else that sounds like it. The biggest single from the album was his tribute to Chicago called "This City" which also featured rapper Lupe Fiasco: Even though he played all the instruments on the album, he assembled a red hot band and took the show on the road. Along with playing headlining shows and festivals (I caught him playing a side stage a…

With the recent passing of Jeff Beck on January 11, 2022 I have been revisiting the guitarist's diverse catalog. I have been debating what album to choose as this week's pick and ultimately decided on Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop . This was the first Jeff Beck solo album I ever heard and is still one of my favorites. I discovered it through an interview with drummer Terry Bozzio in the June 1990 issue of Modern Drummer magazine. I tracked down the Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop CD soon after. The article (along with the rest of that issue) is well worth re exploring almost 33 years later. In 1990 I was already a huge Terry Bozzio fan due to his playing with Frank Zappa, Missing Persons and the prog band U.K. Plus he was pretty active in the drum clinic circuit at that time and was always in musician / drumming magazines around then. So, I was very intrigued to hear about this new album / band revolving around guitarist Jeff Beck and keyboard player Tony Hymas (there was no bass player in this trio. The "bass" parts were part of what Tony played on keyboard). The album is an awesome slice of late 80s / early 90s hard rock played by virtuoso musicians. It is mostly instrumental, though Terry Bozzio does do some humorous speaking on a couple of the songs. "Sling Shot" was the song they heavily promoted from the album at the time, and it is a good representation of the whole record. Here they are playing it on The Arsenio Hall Show in December 1989: Jeff Beck's guitar playing is off the charts on this record as always. Aside from the more straightforward hard rock, there is also "Behind the Veil" which is kind of a heavy reggae and the nice ballad "Two Rivers". Best played loud.

Welcome to 2023! Regular Phil's Phriday Picks posts of a single album a week will return next week after a long holiday hiatus. With 2022 finally coming to an end, it is inevitable that everyone has their opinions on what are the best albums of the year. Phil's Phriday Picks is no exception. As in years past, I don't rank the albums. Instead, I make a listenable playlist of my favorites. In 2022, it consists of 80 songs with a duration of over 6 hours from what I consider the best albums of the year. This is intended as a digestible snapshot of what new albums I enjoyed the most this year. Additionally, it provides listeners an opportunity to dive further into whatever albums catch their ear the most. Likely surprising nobody, it covers a huge swath of styles and genres. Everything from country to free jazz to progressive rock to death metal there is literally something for everybody. The playlists are available in both Spotify and Amazon Music for your listening pleasure. At the end of this post, I will write little blurbs about each album. Aside from the songs in these playlists I want to highlight a few other albums that I listened to frequently this year that are not availble in either streaming service. They all feature drummer / composer Weasel Walter and are all worth checking out by people who are into heavy prog rock and underground metal. The Flying Luttenbachers Terror Iridescence A fiendish twist on the Flying Luttenbachers usual style. 2 long tracks of slow motion brutality. Terror Iridescence by The Flying Luttenbachers Encenathrakh Ithate Thngth Oceate High speed / intensity exteme metal. Inhuman, alien sounds of overwhelming complexity. Ithate Thngth Oceate by Encenathrakh Vomitatrix s/t Self described "Acid Grind" band. A loud, twisted, and evil mind bender of an album. Vomitatrix by Vomitatrix As promised, here is the summary of my top 80 albums.... Cheer Accident Here Comes the Sunset Another solid entry into the large, unwieldy Cheer Accident ca…

Happy Holidays! 14 years of making Christmas music mixes is a long time...it is thankless work but someone has to do it. You know the drill. Over an hour of holiday themed songs...some old, some new...all killer, no filler. Previous mixes are also listed below...including the 17.5 hour, 311 song megamix of every previous year! Put that thing on random play and your holiday party will be lit! Phil's Phriday Picks will be on holiday until January 6, 2023. That pick will reveal my favorite albums from 2022. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 17.5 HOUR MEGA MIX! Christmas 2021 COVID Christmas 2020 Modern Christmas 2019 It's Christmas Again? 2018 New Christmas Classics 2017 Merry Christmas 2016 Festive 2015 80s Christmas 2014 Jazzy Christmas 2013 Sounds of Christmas 2012 cRaZy ChRiStMaS 2011 Wacky Christmas 2010 Ultimate Christmas 2008

Hank Williams III is the son of Hank Williams Jr, which makes him the grandson of the original Hank Williams. This would lead many to believe he just followed in the footsteps of his family and just played traditional or outlaw country music. This could not be further from the truth. While he does perform his fair share of music in that style (See albums such as Lovesick, Broke & Driftin' or Straight To Hell to hear him in that context) he also performs a lot of punk rock and death metal music! In fact, at one point he was playing bass guitar in former Pantera singer Phil Anselmo's band Superjoint Ritual. Hank III calls his punk rock / metal band Assjack. He released one self titled album under that band moniker, but most of it is released as Hank III albums ( Damn Right, Rebel Proud and Hillbilly Joker are two good examples). But none of this compares to the album he released under the band name of Hank 3's 3 Bar Ranch called Cattle Callin' . This was a full on death metal album (complete with distorted guitars and tons of double bass drumming) all completely performed by Hank III. What makes this even more crazy is that instead of having a traditional vocalist, he used recordings of cattle auctioneers instead. Their high speed speaking style works great within the death metal context. He ended up calling this unique style "Cattle Core". Cattle Callin' is today's pick! Hank III released Cattle Callin' during a period of extreme productivity and creativity in 2011. The same day he released Cattle Callin' he also released a 2CD set called Ghost To A Ghost / Gutter Town (a mix of traditional country and Assjack) and Attention Deficit Domination (which is a really cool doom metal project). Soon after in 2013 he released two more albums: Brothers of the 4x4 (traditional country) and A Fiendish Threat (traditional punk rock). During all this activity he managed to also tour heavily. Instead of focusing on one style or band, he would play a lengthy concert with 3 sets: a…

Steve Hackett was not a founding member of the band Genesis, but he was close. He joined the band in 1971 (around the same time as Phil Collins) and appeared on Nursery Cryme . Not only did he play some great guitar on the album (including on the amazing "The Return of the Giant Hogweed") he also contributed to the writing of a lot of the songs. This is especially so with "For Absent Friends" and "The Fountain of Salmacis". In short, he was an integral part of Genesis' early success. By the time of 1974's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway there were a lot of tensions within the band. Vocalist Peter Gabriel had taken tighter control over the songwriting and overall visual aesthetic. This left Steve Hackett writing a lot of material in hotel rooms on the 1975 tour intended to be used outside of Genesis, which he wasn't sure would survive. Genesis almost didn't survive. Peter Gabriel left the band. Steve Hackett, along with fellow Genesis members Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford recorded Steve's first solo album Voyage of the Acolyte shortly afterwards, which is today's pick! Also notable in the recording sessions was Steve's brother John Hackett who played keyboards and flute. Voyage of the Acolyte is basically a concept album revolving around Tarot cards. The titles and lyrics are all based on various cards in a Tarot deck. Here is an insightful video of Steve and John Hackett talking about Voyage of the Acolyte from a documentary called The Man, The Music : This album is a very underrated 1970s progressive rock masterpiece. Especially "Shadow of the Hierophant" which is a lengthy epic with a massive amount of power behind it. Steve Hackett still performs "Shadow of the Hierophant" and it has lost none of its fury as seen in this footage from 2019: As I'm sure you're aware, Genesis did end up surviving after all. Steve Hackett remained with them for several more years, including the albums A Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering . He eventually left the band in 1977…

In the late 1980s to the early 1990s Branford Marsalis was seemingly everywhere. He came to popular prominence as part of Sting's band after The Police broke up. He played on Dream of the Blue Turtles and many subsequent Sting solo albums. But he really shined in the live setting, as documented in the excellent Bring on The Night documentary from 1985: He also associated himself with The Grateful Dead. He never officially joined the band but played shows with them on a regular basis. Here he is performing one of my favorite Dead compositions: Help On The Way / Slipknot / Franklin's Tower in 1991: Of course, his most ubiquitous presence was as the bandleader of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno . He brought several hot players from his own jazz quartet (including guitarist Kevin Eubanks who would later take over the band and pianst Kenny Kirkland who would tragically pass away in 1998). Here is a fun promo of the show featuring Branford: In 1994, Branford decided to form a new band that fused jazz with hip hop called Buckshot LeFonque. Their first self titled album (of two that they released) is today's pick! The album is produced by DJ Premier (of Gang Starr fame!) and features his stellar turntable work. The band also features a who's who of great jazz players such as Kevin Eubanks (guitar), Roy Hargrove (Trumpet), Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums), Albert Collins (guitar) and Victor Wooten (bass) among many others. Here is a video from one of the singles they released from the album, "Breakfast @ Denny's", to give you a better idea of the style: The album covers a decent amount of ground fusing jazz with hip hop, some reggae and some rock. A fun party record. The album also includes a cool cover of Elton John's "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" in a very funky style. Unfortunately, Buckshot LeFonque was short lived as their popularity never eclipsed the hype and they broke up in 1997. Phil's Phriday Picks will be on holiday next week. The next pick will be December 2nd.

Since Veterans Day is this Friday, today's pick comes early! I recently stumbled across an excellent Drum N' Bass documentary that aired on Dutch TV in 1996 on YouTube called Lola da Musica : It features 3 artists that were big in the United Kingdom Drum N' Bass / Jungle scene at that time: Squarepusher, Photek and Sound Direct. It shows each of these artists in their home studios. The Squarepusher segment also includes some cool live footage of Tom Jenkinson playing bass at a music festival. I was really drawn to the Photek footage. It shows Rupert Parkes racing around the streets in his hometown (in his Lamborghini!!) and working in what appears to be Cubase constructing his songs. It's a fascinating look at his methods and process. This brought me back to Photek's excellent debut album from that era: 1997's Modus Operandi , which is today's pick! Modus Operandi is a very dark and murky album. The skittering beats are always inventive and keep the listener off kilter. It covers a lot of ground. There are the orchestral soundscapes of "Minotaur" and "Trans 7". "Aleph 1" brings the spaced out funk. A more straight ahead techno / house style is included with "124". Of course, there is a huge amount of jazz fusion influence throughout the whole album, but especially so on "Modus Operandi" and "KJZ". Photek rarely DJed in live settings. Rupert Parkes eventually started focusing less on Drum N' Bass and more on House music then transitioned into scoring movies and TV shows. Here is some killer footage of one of his DJ sets that has surfaced: With the sun setting earlier and the weather getting chilly, Modus Operandi is a perfect album to listen to this time of year.

Bernard Purdie is one of the most funky drummers you will ever hear. He has worked with everyone from James Brown to Steely Dan to Aretha Franklin (He literally played on hundreds of albums throughout his career). His signature beat is the "Purdie Shuffle" which is a half time shuffle beat with very distinct ghost notes running throughout. It is extremely difficult to master...especially if you want the groove to sound smooth. Here he is explaining the Purdie Shuffle for the New York Times in 2009: His most famous recordings with Steely Dan were "Home At Last" (on Aja ) and "Babylon Sisters" (on Gaucho ). Here are Walter Becker and Donald Fagen talking about his playing, along with some classic footage: He also played extensively in Aretha Franklin's band. Here is a full concert of them at the height of their powers: Even with all this session work, Bernard Purdie still found time to put out his own solo albums! The first one is called Soul Drums and it is today's pick! The band on the album includes pianist Richard Tee, Eric Gale and Billy Butler on guitars, bassist Bob Bushnell, and Seldon Powell playing tenor saxophone. Each song is super funky, drenched out in a huge amount of echo and reverb for maximum impact. The drums are some of the best funk drumming ever committed to wax and the band is playing out of their mind as well. The album was originally released in 1967, but was re released in 2009 with 8 additional bonus tracks. All of the bonus tracks are essential!

Bill Laswell is a bass player that had a very wide reach. He was part of the band Material and other related projects in the 1970s Downtown New York City avant garde rock scene. He was also a prolific producer and had his hands in successful albums by Sly and Robbie, Mick Jagger, PiL, Motorhead, Ramones, Iggy Pop, and Yoko Ono. Because of his massive success as a producer, he was able to start a lot of vanity projects and his own record labels. The Axiom label (which he started in 1990 with Island Record's Chris Blackwell) is one of them. This label put out records by guitarist Sonny Sharrock, sax player Henry Threadgill along with his own bands like Tabla Beat Science and Praxis. Praxis played a wild mix of funk, metal, hip hop and jazz. Their membership included guitarist Buckethead (who literally wears a KFC bucket on his head and at one point was a member of Guns N' Roses), drummer Brain (who was briefly the drummer for Primus), along with Parliament Funkadelic members Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins. Here they are playing a show typical of their sound in 1996: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic were in a bit of a resurgence in the early to mid 90s. The main group was the P Funk All Stars and they were playing large festivals such as Lollapalooza and released Dope Dogs in 1995. Here they are playing a festival in Georgia in 1993: Bill Laswell decided to combine P Funk All Stars and Praxis, along with many other guests into a gigantic supergroup called Axiom Funk and released their sole album (a massive 2 CD set) called Funkcronomicon in 1995 on the Axiom label. Funkcronomicon is today's pick! This is an underrated gem in the massive P Funk catalog. It boasts the distinction of being perhaps the final recording of guitarist Eddie Hazel (he of Maggot Brain fame). His playing on "Orbitron Attack", "Pray My Soul", and "Sacred To The Pain" (playing with Umar Bin Hassan from The Last Poets) is nothing short of amazing. Buckethead is also featured predominantl…

In the early 90s, Johnny Cash's career was in a decline. His last huge success was probably with the country supergroup The Highwaymen (Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson) in 1985. Their self titled album was a huge smash, selling over one million copies. I had a good fortune of seeing them perform in 1990 and it is one of my all time favorite shows. Here is Johnny Cash performing "The Highwayman" in 1986 (without the rest of the Highwaymen) in a gripping performance: His solo albums were not having the same success (but not without the lack of trying). In 1998 he put out Water from the Wells of Home which included a star studded roster (Paul McCartney, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr., Glen Campbell, Emmylou Harris Rosanne Cash) and containing old classics like "Ballad of a Teenage Queen". It didn't really sell, and the Mercury label dropped him. His fortunes picked up in 1992, when he performed on the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration at Madison Square Garden that was released on home video: Producer Rick Rubin, known for making hit records around that time with LL Cool J, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Danzig and Slayer saw the performance and approached Johnny Cash about signing him to his new American Recordings record label and giving Johnny complete artistic control. Around the same time, Bono wrote a song specifically with Johnny Cash in mind called "The Wanderer". Johnny was persuaded to record it with U2 and it was released on Zooropa in 1993. U2 still uses the recording as intermission music on their tours. Here is an example from their 2016 tour: Johnny Cash's first record with Rick Rubin was also called American Recordings and was a very stripped down record. Mostly just Johnny Cash performing acoustic guitar and singing. The single "Delia's Gone" is a good example of the haunting nature of the record. It was critically lauded but was not a smashing sales success. For the follow up record, Unchained , Rick Ru…

Since I highlighted actual music from cartoons for last week's pick, I decided to follow it up with a more contemporary take on the style. In the early 2000s there was a short lived trio of virtuoso musicians that went under the name Electrocution 250. They put out one album, the aptly titled Electric Cartoon Music From Hell in 2003. Electrocution 250 consisted of keyboard player Lalle Larson, drummer Peter Wildoer and guitarist Todd Duane. Lalle Larson first came to my attention on the zany Dr. Zoltan Obelisk (aka Carl King) album Why I Am So Wise, Why I Am So Clever and Why I Write Such Good Songs album. I had been following Carl King through his association with Trey Spruance / Secret Chiefs 3. He released an epic album under a different pseudonym (Sir Millard Mulch) called How To Sell The Whole F @!ing Universe To Everybody Once And For All! that I was obsessed with at the time. These two albums lead me to eventually diving into the discographies of the other musicians involved, including Lalle Larson. More recently, Lalle Larson played on guitarist Terry Syrek's album Story along with drummer Marco Minnemann and bassist Bryan Beller: Todd Duane was previously part of the Shrapnel Records stable of "shred guitar" players. He released one self titled album on the label and since then has been surprisingly focusing on Christian worship music. Peter Wildoer is probably most well known as the drummer of Swedish thrash band Darkane, but he also has a ton of side hustles with other metal groups. In fact, he also auditioned to be Mike Portnoy's replacement in Dream Theater in 2011: So what does Electrocution 250 sound like? Well, if the album title doesn't clue you in it's basically a Carl Stalling inspired set of zany instrumental jazz fusion. The musicianship is beyond comprehension throughout all the songs. The energy level and speed are basically set to the maximum level for the duration of the album. Even the solo pieces (each player has one small track where onl…

When I was a little kid, I was obsessed with Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Not just of the cartoons themselves (which I found hilarious) but also the crazed music. What was this off the wall symphonic music? Who comes up with this and who performs it? I loved it so much, when classic Warner Brothers Cartoons played on TV (Especially the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote ones) I would have a little tape recorder handy to make my own tapes of just the soundtrack to play back whenever I wanted (My life as an adolescent music pirate)! Here is the first Roadrunner cartoon, "Fast and Furry ous" from 1949: As it turns out, it was composed and conducted by Carl Stalling. He worked as the musical director of Warner Brothers Cartoons from 1936 until he retired in 1958. In that time, he wrote and conducted scores for over 600 cartoons! Before he worked for Warner Brothers, he was an organist at a movie theater who was discovered by Walt Disney. Disney hired him first to spearhead the Silly Symphonies series. Here is the first one he made, "The Skeleton Dance", from 1929: At Warner Brothers perhaps his most famous work was "Putty Tat Trouble", which was a Tweety and Sylvester short: In the early 1990s, Hal Willner compiled and produced two compilation albums featuring the "best of" Carl Stalling's Warner Brothers work. The first volume of The Carl Stalling Project is today's pick! It is a fascinating glimpse. Along with full scores, there are also rehearsal recordings which give the listener a behind the scenes peek at how the symphony worked through the more difficult material. I was hoping at the time that there would be many more volumes of the series (after all, there are over 600 cartoons!) but alas only 2 volumes were ever released. Sadly, no compilation of Roadrunner scores were officially released (although I did acquire a bootleg CD of "The Complete Roadrunner Scores" from a perhaps nefarious source somewhere along the way). After Carl Stalling retired in 1958,…

The Comet Is Coming is an excellent British jazz trio that has been around for close to a decade. Their members use pseudonyms and consist of saxophonist Shabaka Hutching (King Shabaka), keyboardist Dan Leavers (Danalogue) and drummer Max Hallett (Betamax). Their style is based on the cosmic free jazz of Sun Ra or Alice Coltrane but with a more modern / electronic twist. Outer space is obviously a common theme in their visual aesthetic and song titles. Here is excellent live footage of them performing on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert back in 2019 when they were supporting their then new album Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery : Shabaka's sax is run through a bunch of cool effects that acts as a great foil to Dan Leavers' electronic noises. Max Hallett adds a powerful, funky beat to the proceedings. Wild stuff. Shabaka Hutching is very prolific outside of The Comet Is Coming. He also fronts a group called Sons Of Kemet which plays in more of an afrobeat style with an unusual quartet lineup of sax, tuba and two drummers. Check out this great video of them performing live earlier this year: Additionally, Shabaka performs with a group called the Ancestors which consists of all South African musicians. Here they are playing the North Sea Jazz Festival back in 2017: Anyways, The Comet Is Coming recently released a new album called Hyper Dimensional Expansion Beam , which is today's pick! On this album they further hone and tighten up their unique style. The album is banger after banger. There is not a wasted second in its 43 minute running time. Here is the wild music video for "Technicolour" to whet your appetite before diving into the full album: Hyper Dimensional Expansion Beam will likely be one of my favorite albums of the year once 2022 ends!

Paul Wertico is an underrated drummer. He first came into prominence as part of the Pat Metheny Group. He joined that band in 1984, replacing original drummer Danny Gottlieb, for the album First Circle . He ended up staying with Pat Metheny for almost 20 years...touring around the world, selling boatloads of albums and winning Grammys along the way. Here they are performing "Have You Heard" on the Night Music television show in 1989: Paul Wertico also played with other Pat Metheny related projects, such as this amazing ensemble with saxophonist Ernie Watts and bassist Charlie Haden: In 2001, Paul Wertico grew tired of always being on the road and wanted to spend more time at home with his family. He ended up focusing his time in his hometown of Chicago. He ended up becoming a professor and faculty member at both Northwestern University and Roosevelt University. He also performed solo in drum clinics and released instructional videos. Here is a clip from Paul Wertico's Drum Philosophy (which I still have on VHS!): He also formed the Paul Wertico Trio around this time. The song in the previous video, “Cowboys & Africans", is a song the trio would perform. The Paul Wertico Trio consisted of guitarist John Moulder (who is also a Catholic priest!) and bassist Eric Hochberg. They played an intense, loud and aggressive, yet funky, version of jazz fusion. They played extensively throughout Chicago from 2002 2006 or so. I was lucky enough to be living in Chicago at that time and saw them every chance I got (probably dozens of times over the years). I saw them in The Green Mill, The Hot House, The Jazz Showcase and many other smaller clubs and coffee shops. They were a tremendous band and their sets varied from night to night. Their debut solo album was Don't Be Scared Anymore and is today's pick. It is probably still my favorite recording of the group as it accurately reflects what they sounded like during that period. The album features all original tunes written by each o…

Music producer Trevor Horn is a fascinating person. It’s hard to fathom how ubiquitous his handiwork was in the early 80s. Especially since most of the stuff he produced was so utterly bizarre yet became huge hits. He first came to prominence as part of the creative duo The Buggles (along with Geoff Downes). They, of course, had the monster hit "Video Killed the Radio Star". Capitalizing on that success, they both joined Yes for the previous Phil's Phriday Pick Drama . Geoff Downes left soon after to start the band Asia. Instead of joining or forming another band Trevor Horn decided to just produce a bunch of bonkers records. Consider the calendar year 1982 1983 alone. He produced the following records: ABC's The Lexicon of Love (including "The Look of Love" and "Poison Arrow") Yes' 90125 (including "Owner of A Lonely Heart") The Art Of Noise's Who's Afraid Of The Art Of Noise? (including "Beat Box" and "Close (To The Edit)") Malcom McLaren’s Duck Rock (including "Buffalo Gals" and "Double Dutch") Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Welcome to the Pleasuredome (including "Relax", "Two Tribes" and "Welcome to the Pleasuredome") That is an incredible run! Pretty much every song and album are widely considered classics and are basically standards of 80s new wave. Much of it at the time was very cutting edge. Trevor invested heavily in new technologies and was an early adopter of electronic instrumentation. For example, he was one of the earliest owners of a Fairlight CMI synthesizer and a LinnDrum drum machine. Instruments like these (along with lots of sampling and cut n' paste techniques) were cornerstones of his sound and aesthetic. In my opinion the wildest of all of these records was and remains Welcome to the Pleasuredome which is today's pick! "Relax" is well renown and comparatively tame pop music in 2022, but in 1983 it was very controversial. It's references to LGBT culture (especially the original video) sent shockwaves through the record buying public at the time.…

I posted some photos over on my Instagram account recently about the Helmet / Faith No More show I attended 30 years ago this month. Aside from the nostalgia of seeing the old photos from the concert, it also made me think back to bands in that style from that era. Helmet was awesome in those days. Nowadays it's Page Hamilton and a bunch of hired guns, but the classic lineup in 1992 was devastatingly good. No further proof is needed than the "Unsung" video from Meantime : Another band from 1992/1993 playing in a similar NYC hardcore style was Quicksand. They had recently put out their album Slip featuring the single "Dine Alone": Before Helmet recorded Betty in 1994, guitarist Peter Mengede left the group over creative differences. After 1995's Manic Compression , Quicksand broke up. So, their guitarist Tom Capone and Peter Mengede decided to join forces in a new band. They recruited former Cro Mags drummer Pete Hines, bassist Eddie Nappi (who later went on to play with Mark Lanegan) and vocalist Jeremy Chatelain (who later went on to form Jets to Brazil). They called themselves Handsome (attempting to buck the trend of NYC hardcore bands having tough sounding names) and released one brilliant self titled album in 1997. That album is today's pick! It is a shame they didn't get wider recognition. They opened for acts that were big at the time like Local H and Silverchair but never really built on that momentum. They released one single / music video for "Needles" which is a pretty accurate snapshot of their sound and style: Handsome really is one of those underrated albums that flies under the radar even today. Their mix of heavy dissonant music and melodic vocals is worth checking out (or revisiting) today.

Nick Mason has the unique distinction of being the only person who has appeared on every Pink Floyd album. From 1967's The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn through this year's single "Hey, Hey Rise Up!" he has been the drummer of Pink Floyd. 55 years is a long time to be doing anything. It is especially a long time to be doing something well. If you really want to be technical, he was also part of Pink Floyd when they were called The Tea Set in 1965. No matter how you slice it, he has been the most constant member of the psychedelic rock band. Pink Floyd's most popular material starts with the 1973 album The Dark Side of The Moon . Since that time the band rarely, if ever, played the songs on the earlier albums anymore. In 2018 Nick Mason sought to change that. He started a new band called Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets. They exclusively play Pink Floyd songs that were recorded prior to 1973, including material written by Syd Barret that hasn't been performed since he left the group in late 1968! Along with Nick Mason, the group is comprised of Lee Harris on guitar, Guy Pratt on bass, Gary Kemp (of Spandau Ballet fame!) on guitar and vocals, and Dom Beken (who played with The Orb side project The Transit Kings) on keyboards. Alert Pink Floyd fans might recognize Guy Pratt as Pink Floyd's live bassist from 1987's Momentary Lapse of Reason tour and beyond. Here is a video from that tour, where you can see Nick Mason and Guy Pratt playing together on "One Slip": In 2018 and 2019 they extensively toured Europe and the United States. As part of that tour, they recorded Live at The Roundhouse , which is today's pick! It is an excellent recording of a band that sounds incredible. Everyone is locked in and plays the songs with the right amount of precision yet keep their crazed psychedelic character intact. The setlist runs the gamut from recognizable fan favorites like "Interstellar Overdrive" (from A Piper At The Gates Of Dawn ), "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun"…

In the early to mid 1990s I was immersing myself heavily in jazz fusion, especially stuff featuring guitarist John McLaughlin. Primarily I was focused on his early band Mahavishnu Orchestra, which was an extremely explosive early jazz rock band. I was also enjoying his work with Miles Davis (specifically the albums A Tribute To Jack Johnson and Get Up With It ). Additionally, I was also starting my long love affair with Steely Dan around this time. Steely Dan had recently reformed, and I saw them perform in the summer of 1994 (at the long since closed Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates, Illinois). Their drummer on this tour was Dennis Chambers, so I started also diving into his work with jazz guitarist John Scofield (another Miles Davis alum) on the albums Blue Matter and Loud Jazz . So I was very excited to learn that the two had teamed up in a new group called The Free Spirits with keyboardist / trumpeter Joey Defrancesco and were releasing a live album aptly titled Tokyo Live . It was recorded live on December 16 and 18, 1993 at the Blue Note Tokyo jazz club. I'm pretty sure I bought it the week it came out in the winter of 1994. Tokyo Live is this week's pick! Even with my previous familiarity with 2 of the players, I was not ready for the unbelievable and exciting music performed on this concert! All three musicians in top form playing a bonkers mix of organ trio jazz and fusion. Especially prominent was the organ playing of Joey DeFrancesco who is absolutely playing out of his mind throughout the whole set. McLaughlin and Chambers also kept up with him playing at an extremely high level. Here is an excellent video of a different show of the same tour, so you can see as well as hear first hand how red hot this band was: As far as I can tell, they never released a proper studio album. There was a single song "Thelonious Melodius" on John McLaughlin's mixed bag album The Promise . There was also After The Rain where Elvin Jones replaced Dennis Chamber…

Did you know that the guitar player from Weird Al Yankovic’s band is also famous for his slack key guitar playing? I'm talking about this guy, Jim West: Jim West has been playing with Weird Al since 1983. He played on the album In 3 D (which includes the hits "Eat It" and "I Lost on Jeopardy") and has been a part of his band ever since. In fact, everyone in Weird Al's band from 1983 onward has been the same (drummer Jim "Bermuda" Schwartz and bassist Steve Jay). I always loved the title track and video from 1985's Dare to Be Stupid where you can see a lot of Jim West playing stupid guitar in the style of Devo: Anyways, on a break in touring with Weird Al in the late 90s he took a trip to Maui and fell in love with the island. He has been playing and recording traditional and original music on slack key guitar ever since. He has released over a dozen albums in this style for over 20 years! Here he is playing the Santo and Johnny classic "Sleepwalk": Here is an excellent video (featuring plenty of amazing footage of Maui) of one of his original compositions called "Maui Skies": In 2018, he won a Grammy in the Best New Age album category for Moku Maluhia , which is today's pick! Phil's Phriday Picks will be on holiday for the next two weeks. I will return on August 26th. Until then, enjoy Moku Maluhia !

Trombonist Bruce Fowler is primarily known for his work with Frank Zappa. He first started playing with Zappa in late 1972 as part of his Wazoo band. Although he didn't appear on the studio album The Grand Wazoo he was part of the touring band. He stuck with Zappa pretty much all the way until his last rock tour in 1988: He was part of the "Petite Wazoo" band that appeared on Apostrophe and Overnite Sensation He played with the "Roxy band" of 1974/1975 He played on the Zappa / Beefheart "Bongo Fury" tour of 1975 He was included as part of the epic "Lather" recording sessions of the late 1970s He played with Zappa's stunning '88 band who could seemingly play everything Allow me to highlight just a couple pieces of live footage to illustrate how amazing his trombone playing is with Zappa. Here he is playing T'Mershi Duween at the Roxy in 1974: Not awesome enough? How about him playing and doing weird dances with Zappa and Jean Luc Ponty also from the early 70s: Finally, here he is as part of the horn line of the 1988 Zappa band playing The Black Page, which truly must be seen / heard to be believed: In the late 70s, he left Zappa to be part of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band and played on a couple of his latter day albums (including one of my personal favorites Doc At The Radar Station ). After that stint, he did session / soundtrack work along with occasionally releasing albums as part of a band that included his brothers Tom Fowler (bass) and Walt Fowler (Trumpet) at different times called Air Pocket or The Fowler Brothers. After the '88 Zappa band imploded, he released a solo album called Ants Can Count , which is today's pick! I was lucky enough to find it in a cutout / bargain bin in the mid 90s. The band he assembled for Ants Can Count include some Zappa alumni (Chester Thompson on drums, Ed Mann on percussion) along with his brothers. It also includes this rather cool line drawing of Bruce in the booklet by Captain Beefheart! The music itself is much more subdu…

Nile is a completely fascinating death metal band. Founded and masterminded by guitarist Karl Sanders, they play an extremely fast, extremely technical brand of death metal. Aside from their astounding musical ability, what sets them apart is their reliance on Egyptian / Middle Eastern history in the lyrics and musical themes. Karl Sanders is not a neophyte on these historical topics. He devours books and other documents related to Egyptology. Here is a fascinating interview with him from 2010 about the subject. To my ears, the first three Nile albums ( Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren Ka , Black Seeds of Vengeance and In Their Darkened Shrines ) are untouchable death metal classics. I think at this point they had already perfected the mixture of metal and Middle Eastern music. Check out this absolutely brutal music video of "Execration Text" from In Their Darkened Shrines : Nile's albums are also peppered with interludes that are more subdued and include more traditional Middle Eastern music and instruments. "The Nameless City of the Accursed" from Black Seeds of Vengeance is a fine example: The visual elements of their albums was also focused on Egyptian themes. For their album Ithyphallic , they released a limited edition version of the CD encased in a pyramid! Bonkers stuff. Their album's liner notes also went into massive detail explaining the song lyrics and putting them into historical context. In 2004, Karl Sanders started working on a solo album focused completely on that style of music. Sanders explained that "he got sick of hearing big loud death metal everyday after touring", and started writing quieter music to relax, and recorded them. The result was Saurian Meditation which is today's pick! Karl Sanders played most of the instruments himself (including baglama saz, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ebow, guitar synthesizer, keyboards and bass guitar). However, original Nile drummer Pete Hammoura also plays percussion throughout. Much of it is acousti…

A regular feature of every Grateful Dead live show since the late 1970s was a sequence called "Drums/Space." During this segment of their concerts, drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann (collectively known as The Rhythm Devils) played a lengthy drum solo. Not only including their drum sets, but usually predominant use of other percussion instruments as well. Eventually that would segueway into the portion called "Space" where the rest of the band (and sometimes guests) would play very free jazz / space rock inspired improvisations. Much of the time, this included electronic noises and other unusual sounds. It truly showcased Grateful Dead's most out there inclinations. For a more detailed description into what "Drums/Space" was, how it came to be and how it evolved this blog post from 1999 by Michael Parrish is a great overview. Here is very early footage of "Drums/Space" from Oakland in August 1979: In late 1991, Grateful Dead released an album called Infrared Roses which compiled and morphed a bunch of recordings of "Drums/Space" from their 1989 and 1990 tours into an hour long head trip (by Bob Bralove, the sound engineer from The Dead's tours from the mid 80s onward). It is very much one of the most bizarre, yet awesome, entries in their very lengthy discography. There are no real "songs" on this album, just the wild sounds of a massive, imaginary "Drums/Space". Infrared Roses is today's pick! To see and hear how "Drums/Space" evolved over time, here is some incredible footage from Alpine Valley on the 1989 tour: About a year after Infrared Roses was released, Grateful Dead put out an accompanying video called Infrared Sightings which plays about 15 minutes of the music over some pretty amazing for its time (and still pretty trippy today) computer generated animation. You can watch it all online! While many people think drum solos at rock concerts are a fine time to take a bathroom break, I'm not one of those people. This is why Infrared Roses remains a favo…

Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is one of those musicians that many people don't realize that they know. He's played on some gigantic hits with popular bands for close to 50 years. His early success was as a member of Steely Dan. He was a member for all their early records (up to and including Pretzel Logic ). He left when Steely Dan became less of a band and more of a studio concern. Perhaps his most famous playing from that era was the incredible guitar on "Reelin' In The Years". Here he is wailing on that song for the Midnight Special TV show in the early 70s: After he left Steely Dan he joined The Doobie Brothers. A little while after he joined, the original singer Tom Johnston became ill. Jeff Baxter suggested a friend of his named Michael McDonald fill in on a tour. Of course Michael McDonald became the full time singer and keyboardist after that and was part of the Doobie Brothers biggest hits. A fine example is "Takin' It To The Streets". Here are The Doobie Brothers, with Jeff Baxter, blowing the roof off the place: By 1980 Jeff Baxter left The Doobie Brothers to focus on studio work. He performed on tons of hits throughout the 80s. Most interestingly, he also became interested in military missle defense in the mid 1980s! He eventually became a United States defense contractor and works regularly with congress on such things. Here is an interesting article detailing his work there. Eventually he started doing work for TV soundtracks and ended up collaborating with composer and keyboardist C.J. Vanston. C.J. Vanston encouraged him to work on his own material. Surprisingly, after all this time Jeff Baxter has never released a proper solo album. Until now. He recently released Speed Of Heat with C.J. Vanston which is today's pick! Among the originals, there are also excellent covers peppered throughout the album. One of those covers is "My Old School" by Steely Dan. Here he is performing it a few years ago with C.J. Vanston and you can tell he hasn't lost his fastball: O…

I've waxed poetic before about Billy Cobham here ( Inner Conflicts was a previous pick back in 2020). His studio albums in the 70s are beyond reproach (especially the timeless Spectrum which first blew my mind as a freshman in high school). However, his live concerts in this era were completely ridiculous. Of course, I cannot talk about live Billy Cobham without at least mentioning his time in the pioneering jazz rock outfit The Mahavishnu Orchestra. Here is a full set from 1972, with Billy Cobham practically stealing the spotlight from guitarist John McLaughlin throughout. Soon after this he released Spectrum with Mahavishnu keyboardist Jan Hammer and guitarist Tommy Bolin (who later had a short stint with Deep Purple before sadly passing away). Cobham picked up the pieces from the short lived Spectrum band by joining forces with the Brecker Brothers and guitarist John Abercrombie. They released a excellent studio album Crosswinds and hit the road. This band was absolutely on fire!! Taking songs from Spectrum along with new material and pushing the tempos and volume up to bonkers levels was the name of the game. Luckily much of this was recorded. Here is the band playing "The Pleasant Pheasant" and "Red Baron": Here they are absolutely blazing through a new tune called "Tenth Pinn", bookended by jaw dropping Cobham drum solos: This material has been in heavy rotation for me the past week. Yesterday, I went out to the local record store to find the live album documenting this band and tour called Shabazz . It was kismet and I bought it without thinking twice. Coincidentally (and hilariously!) my good friend Patrick in Chicago also bought Shabazz yesterday! If that isn't fate (and motivation for choosing it as today's pick) I don't know what is. A short, yet powerful recording! Along with "Tenth Pinn" and the title track it also features two Spectrum tunes ("Red Baron" and "Taurian Matador"). The band is in top form absolutely blazing through the songs. Essential li…

Last week the avant garde rock super group High Castle Teleorkestra released their debut album The Egg That Never Opened . I have spent the time between then and now immersing myself in this unbelievable magnum opus and still unraveling all the greatness contained within. For the uninitiated, High Castle Teleorkestra consists of members of bands that were previous Phil's Phriday Picks (Estradasphere, Deserts of Traun) and similar groups (Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, Farmers Market). If you have any familiarity with those ensembles you have a general idea about what this sounds like, but even with those expectations set you will likely be blown away by this. It basically takes the template of Estradasphere's excellent last album, Palace Of Mirrors , and pushes every element to the absolute extreme. High Castle Orchestra takes surf rock, film soundtracks, jazz fusion, 20th century classical, death metal, prog rock, and European folk music and throws it all into a blender at high speed. What you suspect might come out as a bunch of silly noise, half baked ideas or jarring juxtapositions actually comes out as a stunningly complex, yet catchy, highly enjoyable listening experience. A fine example is a song they released with a music video before the album came out: "Mutual Hazard". A song that combines Balkan folk with death metal and surf rock played in 7/8 with a tempo pushing 300 BPM. Believe me, you are not prepared: As if the music itself wasn't enough, the whole album is inspired by the book Radio Free Albemuth by Philip K. Dick. To learn more about the project overall, I recommend listening to this radio interview by bass player Tim Smolens: You could also just dive in to The Egg That Never Opened and the experience will be just the same: a jaw dropping listening session.

Japanese drummer Tatsuya Yoshida is one of my greatest influences on the drums. His complex, busy style has been something I have been trying to achieve ever since I first saw him play in The Ruins at the Empty Bottle in Chicago back in 2001. It was a crazy bill with Pak, Flying Luttenbachers and Cheer Accident also playing that night. A "brutal prog" overload if there ever was one. The Ruins were a bass and drums duo that were known for their short tunes packed full of quick time signature changes, heavy music and Magma / Zeuhl inspired vocals in a language of their own making. Tatsuya Yoshida would expand the concept with other bands that were larger in scope. My favorite of these is Koenjihyakkei. Along with bass and drums, the group also has keyboards, occasional saxophone and multiple vocalists. Taking cues from Zeuhl music but pushing the speed and heaviness up even further than the classic 70s bands in that style. Probably the best example of Koenjuhyakkei firing on all cylinders is their fourth album Angherr Shisspa , which is today's pick. It was originally released in 2005, but Skin Graft Records re released it in 2019 with some live bonus tracks. Just in case you don't believe they could pull the songs off in a concert setting. The whole thing is pretty mind blowing. The Skin Graft promotional materials describe the album better than I can, so I will quote them here: Angherr Shisspa , the band’s landmark fourth album explodes with glittery keyboard lines, speedy bass/drum workouts, emotive reed respites, and operatic female vocals that take the listener from sheer exuberance to absolute apocalypse... all performed with superhuman technique in confoundingly catchy, complex arrangements. Sign me up! As a bonus for today's pick here is a live video from 2006 where the band plays every song on Angherr Shisspa along with other classics peppered throughout the set. Incredible stuff! If you like this music, all of the other albums in their short discography are…

Before Michael Franti formed Spearhead and became well known for his sunny, reggae influenced music, he focused on much harsher, more politically charged music. The first widely known example of this was the industrial/hip hop group called The Beatnigs. Drummer Rono Tse was also part of this heavy hitting ensemble. Both Rono Tse later went on to form the more successful Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, which took the concepts The Beatnigs had to a much larger scale. Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy's most famous song "Television, The Drug Of The Nation" was initially a Beatnigs song. Here they are performing it in 1989, complete with power tools percussion: Along with Michael Franti and Rono Tse, Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy also included jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter before he gained larger fame playing 8 string guitar in instrumental ensembles. It is interesting to hear him in this context. The crazed, Public Enemy / Bomb Squad style beats, Gil Scott Heron inspired spoken word and lyrics encased in a barrage of samples is pretty different than what he (and even Michael Franti) are known for nowadays. Here's Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy's take on "Television": They were also a powerful, live act. Here they are performing "Famous And Dandy (Like Amos And Andy)" (ironically?) on late night television: Here they are performing their version of the Dead Kennedy's "California Uber Alles" at a club show: Their live act was so good they eventually opened for U2 on a portion of their Zoo TV tour, along with Primus! U2 was so into the group, that even after they were off the tour itself, their music was still incorporated into their massive show introduction. Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy only put out two albums (the second one being the backing band for William S. Burroughs reading selections of his works). So their first album, Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury , remains their definitive musical statement.

Stephen Perkins is best known as the drummer of the 90s alternative rock bands Jane's Addiction and Porno For Pyros. However, his skills go beyond plain ol' rock n' roll. After Porno For Pyros dissolved following their 1996 tour, Stephen Perkins started a more jazz and improvisation based band called Banyan. He recruited bassist extraordinaire Mike Watt to join (Watt also appeared on Porno For Pyro's Good God's Urge ) along with guitarist extraordinaire Nels Cline (who is now with Wilco) and Money Mark (of Beastie Boys / Grand Royal fame). They put out a self titled album with this membership in 1997, which is decent. In 1999, Stephen Perkins expanded the Banyan concept, including a wider variety of styles (funk, metal, world music, hip hop along with the jazz fusion) with a much larger ensemble and released Anytime At All , which is today's pick. The musicians who appear on the album is lengthy and amazing. Along with Mike Watt and Nels Cline the following bigger names are also on board along with a smattering of less famous individuals: Rob Wasserman (bass) John Frusciante (guitar) Buckethead (guitar) Flea (bass) Martyn LeNoble (bass) They still play shows and tour sporadically. Here is some bonkers live footage of Banyan playing in 2005, keeping the spirit alive: However, Banyan has not put out another studio album since 1999, so Anytime At All remains the best place to hear their music outside of a live context.

Max Roach has primarily been remembered as a ensemble player with various hard bop jazz bands (including playing with Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Theloneous Monk and probably dozens more not to mention his own ensembles). However, he is also notable for his focus on percussion based music and melodic drum solos, often using a bare bones setup to perform complex, yet memorable, compositions. This was pretty unique and forward thinking in the 1950s and 1960s. Drummers were mostly relegated to the background until players like Buddy Rich, Art Blakey and himself came along. They even soloed together in "drum battles" to showcase their skills! To whet your appetite for today's pick, I'm going to showcase a few examples. In 1959, Buddy Rich and Max Roach recorded Rich Vs. Roach . Along with some ensemble songs there was this drum battle called "Figure Eights": In 1965 Max Roach released Drums Unlimited which included perhaps his most famous solo called "The Drum Also Waltzes": Here is is performing it much later in 1994, preceded by a very musically interesting drum solo on Italian Television: The internet is full of incredible footage of Max Roach in action. Here is another classic drum battle from 1968 with Elvin Jones and Art Blakey: And finally, in the less is more category, here is Max Roach performing a solo with only a high hat in 1994: In the mid 1970s Max Roach went all in on this concept by forming a percussion ensemble called M'Boom. Not just featuring drum sets, the group also utilizes vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, timpani, gongs and much more. Members of this all star group included a who's who of jazz drummers such as Roy Brooks, Joe Chambers, Omar Clay, Fred King, Warren Smith and Freddie Waits along with Max Roach. They all wrote material along with playing their instruments. Here is some live footage of them in their prime in 1979: Around that time is when they released their self titled second record...it is what I consider to be their…

Univers Zero is a long running instrumental progressive rock band from Belgium. What sets them apart from typical bands in the genre is the influence of 20th century chamber music (Stravinsky, Bartok and Prokofiev all come to mind when listening to their songs). They are part of a loose collective of like minded bands called Rock In Opposition that is lead by the equally amazing group Henry Cow. The band was formed in 1974 by drummer Daniel Denis, so a lot of their music is very rhythmically complex. Apart from the usual rock instruments, they also typically include Oboe, Bassoon, Violin and Viola. The music is also typically very dark and depressive in nature. Their first two albums ( 1313 and Heresie ) were very gloomy and dissonant much of it guitarist Roger Trigaux's compositions. He eventually left the group in 1980 to start a band called Present. They took the doom and gloom even further. Meanwhile, Univers Zero lightened up (just a little bit). The first album after Trigaux left is Ceux Du Dehors , which is today's pick! Ceux Du Dehors is french for "Outsiders". The album compositions are heavily inspired by HP Lovecraft. One of the things that makes this perhaps my favorite Univers Zero album is the prominence of Mellotron throughout. Two standout tracks for me are the the lengthiest ones. Opener "Dense" which is full of quick tempo and time signature changes plus mournful violin and Mellotron. Later in the album the aptly named "Combat" is again full of mood and tempo changes and seems to accurately portray an actual battle or war. Intense stuff. After Ceux Du Dehors Univers Zero started adding more electronic instruments to their sound and disbanded in 1987. In the early 2000s they reformed and still put out albums and occasionally play festivals. Here they are in 2005 playing "Dense": If you dig that, then you'll likely find a lot to enjoy and uncover in Ceux Du Dehors .

Suicidal Tendencies has always been a punk / metal band that was a little bit weird and goofy, despite their name. The vocalist, Mike Muir, has always been the driving force behind the band. They first came across my radar via the video for "Possessed To Skate" from Join The Army in 1987. You can definitely see the humor in this video! Their next album How Will I Laugh Tomorrow, When I Can't Even Smile Today was probably their first major breakthrough...when they started becoming much more of a metal band than a punk band. Soon after that album bassist Robert Trujillo joined the band and they put out probably their best and most successful album Lights...Camera...Revolution . The interesting thing about that album was how Trujillo's bass brought a new sense of funkiness to the proceedings. Rocky George's guitar with his bass was a pretty amazing combination. Here was their big hit from that album "You Can't Bring Me Down" which is a pretty good example of the style: At that point, Mike Muir wanted to explore funk and funk metal more, so he decided to start a side project called Infectious Grooves. It was influenced by early Red Hot Chili Peppers and the lyrics and overall aesthetic was much more lighthearted and fun than Suicidial Tendencies. Infectious Grooves consisted of Muir and Trujillo along with guitarist Dan Pleasants (who ended up eventually replacing Rocky George in Suicidal Tendencies when he left to play with Fishbone), and Stephen Perkins (of Jane's Addiction fame) on drums. Their first album The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's The Infectious Grooves is today's pick! There's definitely a ton of fun rock on the album, mostly written by Muir and Trujillo: "You Lie...And Your Breath Stank", "Stop Funk'n With My Head" (where its debatable if they actually always say "funk" in the chorus), and "Punk It Up" are all highlights. They even convinced Ozzy Osbourne to lend a hand on vocals for the first single released from the album called "Therapy": Th…

Earlier this week, Gabe Serbian, drummer for San Diego grind punk weirdos The Locust passed away. He was only 44 years old. The Locust, and Gabe's drumming specifically, was a huge influence on me and my own playing in the early 2000s. I was completely immersing myself in what was casually called "Brutal Prog" around that time which was a combination of progressive rock with more heavy influences like punk rock, grindcore, and death metal. On the grindcore end of things, there were basically 3 bands I considered the pinnacle of this idea: Daughters, Agoraphobic Nosebleed and The Locust. All 3 of them released excellent albums in 2002, coincidentally enough: Daughter's self titled, 7" record, Agoraphobic Nosebleed's mind boggling Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope and The Locust's magnum opus Plague Soundscapes . Given the recent circumstances Plague Soundscapes is this week's pick, but the other albums are well worth checking out if you're into this sort of thing. The Locust's take on the sound involved very short bursts of songs, with heavy guitars, screaming vocals, very spazzy synthesizers with pummeling drums. Not for the faint hearted...this is not background music by any stretch of the imagination! An overwhelming tornado of sound with tons of details to unpack. When they played live, they also donned insect costumes to give them a pretty menacing appearance. When Gabe Serbian first joined The Locust, he was playing guitar. However, he switched to drums in late 2001, and we're all better off for it. The man was an incredible drumming machine. Completely powerful, overwhelming and complex was the name of his game. When he played live, he put his entire body into it and would basically pass out from exhaustion at the end of their short, yet blistering sets. I saw them live twice during this time...and luckily both of the shows are preserved on YouTube! The first one was at the More Than Music festival in Columbus, Ohio in 2002: They shared the stage that day with…

Synthesizer pioneer Klaus Schulze passed away earlier this week at the age of 74. He was a founding member of Tangerine Dream (though he left before they discovered the sound they were most famous for). As a solo musician, he was mostly known for his long form, ambient, spaced out compositions (His 1975 epic Timewind being one of my favorites from his extremely long discography). He also famously had a fascination with Dune and released several recordings inspired by it (including working with Hans Zimmer on last year's Dune soundtrack). One of the more interesting things he was involved in that hasn't got the same amount of hype was a progressive rock / jazz fusion super group he was a member of in the late 70s called Go. Go (which translates to "Five" in Japanese) was formed by another synthesizer trendsetter, Stomu Yamashta. One of Stomu's claims to fame was that his live album from 1971 The World Of Stomu Yamash'ta was the first commercial digital recording ever made! A hard to find classic. Anyways, the members of Go were pretty amazing: Stomu Yamashta percussion and keyboards Steve Winwood (Yes, THAT Steve Winwood) vocals and piano Michael Shrieve (Santana's drummer) drums Klaus Schulze synthesizers Al Di Meola (Return To Forever virtuoso) lead guitar How can that possibly be bad? The answer, of course, is it isn't bad. It is excellent. They released two studio albums in their brief existence, but my favorite recording of theirs was the live album from 1976 called Live From Paris , which is today's pick. This is an awesome recording of a sadly forgotten group of star musicians that really needs greater recognition for their performance together. Basically everything that is great about the individual members is showcased in this recording. Lightning fast guitar runs? Al Di Meola has you covered. Soulful singing and piano playing? Enter Steve Winwood. Powerful, funky drumming? Michael Shrieve to the rescue. Spacey keyboards and textures? Stomu Yamashta and Kla…

Pianist Brad Mehldau is someone who refuses to be pigeonholed. While he is world renown for his jazz trio and his association with saxophonist Joshua Redman his overall work encompasses a much larger scope. He has been known to dabble with rock formats and compositions over the years. For example, here he his performing Radiohead's "Paranoid Android": His latest album, Jacob's Ladder is heavily inspired by 70s progressive rock. In fact, the title is in reference to the Rush song that first appeared on Permanent Waves . The first song on the album "maybe as his skies are wide" is part of the lyrics of Rush's "Tom Sawyer" sang in a chant like way with Brad's beautiful piano and some skittering drums underneath. It then segues into "Herr und Knecht" which Mehldau claims is inspired by modern metal / djent bands like Periphery complete with some metal like screams. Very cool stuff. Later on the album is a fantastic cover of Gentle Giant's Cogs In Cogs (from The Power And The Glory ) stretched out into a lengthy 3 part interpretation and extrapolation. The band does the same with Rush's "Jacob's Ladder" itself later in the album. Sandwiched between those two is a crazed cover of Rush's Tom Sawyer (with Chris Thiele of Nickel Creek fame!) that has to be heard to be believed! The final track "Heaven" includes interpretations of Yes songs (including the "Life Seeker" and "Wurm" segments of "Starship Trooper") and some nods to Emerson, Lake and Palmer. This quite possibly will be one of my favorite albums released all year. It is both paying tribute to the past while being innovative and futuristic at the same time. Set Jacob's Ladder on repeat and play it loud!

After The Police broke up, drummer Stewart Copeland was mainly focused on writing movie soundtracks, jumping off of his success of The Rhythmatist . However, he eventually got the itch to play rock again and looked into starting another band. He teamed up with virtuoso bass player Stanley Clarke, who was best known with his association with Chick Corea and Return To Forever. They agreed that they wanted the group to have a female singer, and after holding a long series of auditions chose the then unknown vocalist Deborah Holland. Not only was she a very gifted singer, reminiscent of Linda Ronstadt, she was also a great songwriter. This seemed to be a perfect fit. They originally were called Rush Hour and convinced Andy Summers to play guitar. However, he thought it would be compared too much to The Police with his association, so it was short lived. After he left, they became known as Animal Logic. They never fully settled on a full time guitarist, but Michael Thompson and Rusty Anderson appeared with them in concert and on their two studio albums. The band had a pretty unique sound. Stanley Clarke's jazzy basslines, mixed with Stewart Copeland's funky and powerful drumming and Deborah Holland's poppy, country inspired vocals on top is a pretty intoxicating combination. Here they are appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman in 1989: Copeland is really swinging for the fences here. I don't think he can ever play a subtle beat. I also love the ending with the massive single stroke drum rolls. A master. Here is another great live clip of them performing on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson in 1991. Same deal: Great song? Check! Beautiful singing? Check! Unbelievable bass? Check! Slamming drums with machine gun drum roll ending? Check! Unfortunately, after their 2nd album they broke up. Stanley Clarke wanted to focus on his own soundtrack work (He worked on Pee Wee's Playhouse , Boyz 'N The Hood , Passenger 57 , and What's Love Got To Do With It in pretty quic…

Dave Mustaine has always been the face of the thrash band Megadeth. He is the front man / songwriter and the only person to appear in all lineups of the band since their formation in 1983. However, he always surrounded himself with extremely proficient players which helped in their overall sound and success. This is especially true where a fair share of the fancy guitar work and soloing was done by the guitarist who is not Mustaine in the group at the time. In the early days of Megadeth ('84 '87) this slot was filled by Chris Poland. He appeared on Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good! and Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? . Poland's fancy playing is all over these thrash metal classics and really helped shape their sound. Here he is playing with the band in 1987 in once of his last appearances in the group keeping pace with Mustaine: Unfortunately he was fired soon after because of his alleged drug abuse. This was overall great for Megadeth because this lead to their most successful / classic Mustaine / Ellefson / Friedman / Menza lineup that created Rust In Peace , Countdown To Extinction and Youthanasia which contained the band's biggest hits. This didn't mean that Chris Poland went away. He recorded a instrumental album called Return To Metalopolis in 1990. He plays all the instruments except for the drums which were performed by his brother Mark Poland. While this is a thrash metal classic, it didn't reach any kind of mainstream acceptance. So Chris Poland decided to make it into an actual band that would try to appeal to a larger hard rock audience. Bassist Dave Randi and guitarist / vocalist David Judson Clemmons joined the Poland brothers as the group Damn The Machine. They only released one self titled album in 1993, which is today's pick. The album really should have been bigger than it was. It is not unlike Megadeth's Countdown To Extinction in that it takes thrash metal and makes it radio friendly and less frantic. Listening back to it in 2022 it…

Emerson, Lake and Palmer were pretty confounding in a lot of ways. They were pioneers in the early 70s of adapting classical music into a rock context. Their songs were complex, with tons of room for long winded instrumental sections and virtuoso playing. The fact that they were hugely popular is pretty amazing. 1973's Brain Salad Surgery (which featured the 30 minute epic "Karn Evil 9") sold well over 500,000 copies and charted just outside the top 10! The tour for the album included an appearance at California Jam in front of 350,000 fans and was aired on ABC! Its hard to believe, but the bulk of their best material was released in a very short period of time. From their self titled first album in 1970 to Brain Salad Surgery they released 5 albums. Afterwards they basically lost the plot and never matched the quality nor quantity of their material. I'm a pretty big ELP fanboy, so I can find things to like on pretty much all their albums since (with maybe the exception of their last album In The Hot Seat which was dreadful front to back), but there is no question that their first 5 albums are beyond reproach and have not been bested. "Works Volume 1" might come close to keeping pace with the others if it wasn't for Greg Lake's awful side of the album filled with sappy ballads. It's hard to believe so much great material was made in such a short span of time before flaming out. The situation is muddied further by the fact that those first 5 albums have been re released and repackaged in countless ways since (Greatest Hits, Box Sets, Anthologies, "Definitive" Editions, "Deluxe" Editions, re titled albums with the same material and on and on). So it looks like their catalog is impenetrable, but if you're just diving in any of their first five studio albums are all you need. If there is one album I go back to most frequently, it is probably their self titled debut album, which is today's pick. Why? Because it's not too overblown and showcases all their strengths in ea…

The common consensus among classic rock fans is that Alice Cooper had a lapse of time in the early 1980s where he didn't do anything of note and it is considered that 1986's Kip Winger featured Constrictor is a comeback album. I dispute this notion. In that time frame I believe he put out some of his more unique and challenging albums. Much of them inspired by new wave and punk rock...basically abandoning his classic hard rock sound. Particularly the trifecta of albums Alice Cooper refers to as his "blackout" albums: Special Forces , Zipper Catches Skin and DaDa . They are called the "blackout" albums because Alice Cooper has no recollection of writing or recording them because of his cocaine abuse during that time! Of these three albums, I believe the middle album, Zipper Catches Skin is the strongest and is today's pick! Like I previously alluded to, the album is basically a combination of classic heavy metal with new wave. Sort of if Grand Funk Railroad and The Cars joined forces to make music. It is simultaneously amazing and ridiculous. The Steve Miller Band was doing something similar around this time with Italian X Rays , but I think Alice Cooper did the style better than his contemporaries. The album starts off with a song written from the perspective of Zorro (complete with castanets!) and just gets more insane from there. For example, there's the Steven Spielberg / E.T. tribute song "No Baloney Homosapiens" which really lives up to the bizarre title and theme. Additionally a kind of new wave power ballad "Adaptable" is about as close as Alice ever got to a love song. "Remarkably Insincere" is the polar opposite: a song that explains how he lies to his significant other with lyrics that border on Weird Al Yankovic levels of ridiculousness. The only thing close to a "hit" on the album was "I Am The Future" which was included in the pre Family Ties Michael J. Fox movie Class of 1984 . It probably is one of the more straightforward songs on the album. Finally…

Hard rock / hair metal band Extreme was always more cerebral than other bands in the same genre. While their first album was a Van Halen inspired affair (guitarist Nuno Bettencourt could have definitely given EVH a run for his money) they soon started widening their horizons. Their 2nd album, Extreme II: Pornograffitti had kind of a storyline, but to the average listener it just sounded like a collection of hair metal and funk metal songs. They ended up having a couple humongous hits with the ballads "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted". So naturally, when it came time to record their follow up....they decided to record a full blown progressive rock concept album! One of the inspirations for this might have been Nuno working with Dweezil Zappa on his solo album Confessions . He contributed vocals and guitar to many of the songs on the album, including an absolutely bonkers cover of "Stayin' Alive". It contains no less than 6 guitar solos by Dweezil Zappa, Zakk Wylde, Steve Lukather, Warren DeMartini, Nuno Bettencourt and Tim Pierce. It needs to be heard to be believed: Anyways, back to the next Extreme album, which was called III Sides To Every Story . It was broken into three sections: "Yours", "Mine" and "The Truth" (hence the name of the album). The "Yours" section is mostly hard rockers, many songs with a political message. "Rest In Peace" was one of the album's singles, but the rest of the songs in this section are even better and basically piledrive the listener the whole time. "Warheads" is heavy and clever and "Peacemaker Die" even includes a snippet of Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech. The "Mine" section contains the introspective ballads including two of the other singles from the album: "Stop The World" and "Tragic Comic". Even when making an over the top progressive rock album, they knew what paid the bills. Finally, "The Truth" section is when they completely go all in on the concept. A 22 minute suite called "Everything Under The Sun" w…

Jan Akkerman is a virtuoso guitar player from the Netherlands. He originally came to world renown as a member of the progressive rock band Focus. Focus had an unlikely top 10 hit in 1973 with the song "Hocus Pocus" from their second album Moving Waves . It is a absolutely monstrous progressive rock tune with crazed yodeling and flute throughout. How this became an international sensation is mind boggling, but very cool. If you haven't heard "Hocus Pocus" before, you're in for a treat. Here is a completely killer version of it on when they performed it on NBC(!!!) at the height of its popularity: Later that same year, Jan Akkerman put out a solo record called Tabernakel . To say it was different than what Focus was doing at the time is an understatement. On Tabernakel he plays mostly acoustic guitar and lute! Turns out he is a pretty phenomenal lute player. While he did include a reworking of "House Of The King" from Focus' first album, overall I'm sure this confused the core Focus fan base. Most of the first side of the album consists of pieces from the Renaissance and Baroque age. His playing is equal parts beautiful and mind blowing in it's effortless complexity. The second side consists of "Lammy", a 14 minute progressive rock epic. Here he is joined by bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice who were originally in the excellent boogie rock band Cactus. Bogert later rose to fame playing with Jeff Beck. Appice became a member of The Vanilla Fudge and backed Rod Stewart. So you can get a sense of the rock power that they lend to this song. As if that weren't enough, "Lammy" also includes a choir and orchestra. Before you dive in to Tabernakel I also urge you to partake in this excellent footage of Jan Akkerman in 1975 showing off his formidable lute skills playing the John Dowland composition "Fantasia": With that appetizer out of the way, your expectations are set to properly enjoy Tabernakel in all its glory.

Because of all the recent hype about the Showtime series Yellowjackets and the musical score by Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker I have spent time revisiting Wedren's previous rock band Shudder To Think. Shudder To Think were a post hardcore band from D.C. that was signed to Ian MacKaye's (Fugazi) Dischord Records for a while in the early 90s. They gained a lot of acclaim and popularity in that scene over the course of 3 albums. For me, it really started falling into place when guitarist Nathan Larson joined the group. As part of the alternative rock boom of the era, Epic Records ended up singing Shudder To Think and they released the excellent Pony Express Record soon afterwards. The first time I heard anything by Shudder To Think was on MTV when they aired the video for "X French Tee Shirt". It was a pretty wild song and video to get that kind of exposure. The song has strong dynamics, stuttering drum patterns, a crooning singer and an overall weird vibe. It also boasted a very catchy chorus that they basically repeated into infinity at the end of the song. I quickly went out and bought Pony Express Record . Overall, it is a very strange, yet intoxicating variant on the mid 90s alternative sound. It is practically math rock with the amount of unusual time signatures contained in the songs. Mix that with unprededictable, dissonant guitar scronk and funk, plus operatic vocals and it all tied together. To say this was a mind bender is an understatement. How Epic thought it would be able to sell boatloads of this record remains a mystery to me, but I'm glad they funded this masterpiece. The album starts of on the right foot with "Hit Liquor" and basically careens around for nearly an hour. I didn't even know there was a video for "Hit Liquor" until recently, so here's that! They even included a completely bizarro cover of "So Into You" originally by Atlanta Rhythm Section just to make sure you have no idea where they are coming from. Basically, Pony Express Record is a…

Back in 1967, Jean Luc Ponty was a classical violinist who began exploring jazz. He was inspired by Miles Davis, especially the contemporary at the time recordings of his Second Great Quintet (which included Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams) which lead to the invention of jazz rock fusion. Jean Luc was one of the first besides Miles' group to record in this style. He played at the Monterey Jazz Festival, which widened his exposure. This lead to him forming a group in the United States with keyboardist George Duke. They played in Hollywood and the concert was released as the live album The Jean Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio . Frank Zappa heard the concert and convinced both Ponty and Duke to join him in the studio to play some of his compositions. These sessions produced the excellent album King Kong: Jean Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa , which is today's pick! The album mostly included songs that were in the Mothers of Invention repertoire at that time ("King Kong", "Idiot Bastard Son", "America Drinks and Goes Home"), but there was also material that was brand new. These include an early version of "Twenty Small Cigars" which was soon after released on Zappa's album Chunga's Revenge with his first post Mother's rock band. The centerpiece of the album is "Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra". A long form piece taking up most of the 2nd side of the original record. A stunning composition with excellent playing from the entire ensemble (including Ian Underwood and Art Tripp III who were members of the Mother's). It includes themes from earlier Zappa compositions, but really stands alone as an excellent song on its own. The song was later re recorded in the mid 70s by another Zappa ensemble and released on Lather / Studio Tan as "Revised Music for Guitar and Low Budget Orchestra". Also included is a song Ponty wrote called "How Would You Like to Have a Head Like That" that is inspired by Zappa's comp…

One of my favorite bands of all time, Cheer Accident, released a new album today called Here Comes The Sunset . It has already reached heavy rotation on my stereo as I have listened to it a half dozen times already. The 30 minute running time certainly helps with that statistic. As with the other 20+ Cheer Accident albums, it covers a wide range of stylistic ground. Everything from instrumental progressive rock to poppy alternative rock (including an excellent cover of Cheap Trick's "Dream Police" that manages to be both of those things at once!) For the uninitiated, Chicago Reader has a nice writeup on the new album including a bit of historical context. Regardless of your previous familiarity, I urge you to dive into what might be one of the best albums you'll hear all year.

Today it was announced that Ian McDonald, a founding member of King Crimson and Foreigner, passed away from cancer at the age of 75. He only appeared on one King Crimson album. Their debut: In The Court Of The Crimson King . He appeared on the Foreigner trifecta of Foreigner , Double Vision and Head Games but was fired from the group before the massive success of 4 . His performances on all those recordings will and should be praised (because appearing on even one of those albums would make you beyond reproach). Here is a tantalizing, yet extremely short, clip of King Crimson with Ian McDonald performing live in 1969 when they opened for the Rolling Stones...complete with footage of confused hippies. In between these two groups (actually, right after he left King Crimson) he joined Michael Giles,the drummer on In The Court Of The Crimson King who also recently quit the band, for a new project. They named themselves McDonald and Giles and released only one self titled album in 1970. This is today's pick. They are joined on the album by Michael's brother, Peter, who also had ties to King Crimson/Robert Fripp as a member of pre KC group Giles, Giles & Fripp. As an aside, if you haven't heard The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp you're really missing out! Steve Winwood also contributes piano and organ to the album. Traffic was recording John Barleycorn Must Die in the same studio at the time. Many of the songs were written with the intent of being included on the next King Crimson album, so there are definitely shades of In The Court Of The Crimson King and In The Wake Of Poseidon peppered throughout (in fact "Flight of Ibis" contains many similarities to the King Crimson song "Cadence and Cascade"). If you enjoy early King Crimson then this album will certainly be up your alley. The centerpiece of the album is the epic, 21 minute "Birdman", broken up into 6 movements, which takes up the entire second side of the record. It is a astonishing piece of music that…

Since the 2022 Winter Olympics opening ceremony is today, it’s a fine time to listen to White Rock : Rick Wakeman’s soundtrack to the film of the same name showcasing the 1976 Winter Games in Austria. After Rick Wakemen left Yes in 1974, he was enjoying success with his high concept solo albums such as The Six Wives Of Henry VIII and Journey To The Centre Of The Earth . However, he was also hired to score movie soundtracks such as the absolutely bonkers Lisztomania in 1975 and White Rock in 1977. The film White Rock was narrated by James Coburn and directed by Tony Maylam. It depicts footage from the Winter Olympics focused on six of the events. Nowadays the film is hard to find, but there are some snippets of it on YouTube such as this one: Tony Maylam also directed a concert film of the band Genesis called Genesis: In Concert . In the U.K. it was released as a double feature with White Rock in theaters. That's a lot of entertainment! As far as the soundtrack, it is almost entirely performed solo by Rick Wakeman using basically a warehouse full of pianos and synthesizers. Along for the ride is a choir and Wakeman's long time drummer and buddy Tony Fernandez. It is uniformly excellent, especially if you're a fan of Rick Wakeman's other albums from the period. The album is also difficult to find (on Spotify it is part of the 3 disc compilation The Journey ) so I'll just include the White Rock songs here in a playlist by themselves. My well worn copy of the original vinyl is what I am enjoying today.

Don Wilson, a founding member of the instrumental surf rock band The Ventures, passed away this week. He was 88 years old. As an aside, I was fortunate enough to meet Don Wilson in 2003 backstage at the Ryman Auditorium. He was a super nice guy and his performance that night was amazing. The Ventures most famous song was probably "Walk, Don't Run". They originally recorded it in the late 50s, but during the height of the surf rock boom they re recorded it in 1964. This is the version that became an international hit. By "international" I mean they were HUGE in places like Japan. They are primarily known for playing Fender Guitars and amps. However, soon after "Walk, Don't Run ('64)" they signed a deal with Mosrite Guitars who made futuristic looking guitars for them. They ended up using these for the album The Ventures in Space , which is today's pick! Mostly ditching the surf sound that made them famous, ...in Space finds them playing an early version of space rock with sound effects and wild production effects. Sort of like a long lost soundtrack to a 1960s Star Trek episode! They also recruited the awesome steel guitar player Red Rhodes to play on the album as well, which adds an even more space age feel to the proceedings. Definitely an anomoly in The Ventures catalog, but one of my favorites. Soon afterwards, they switched back to their traditional Fender Guitars and sound.

Jason Narducy and Alison Chesley started out playing together as an acoustic duo under the name "Jason & Alison". Jason played guitar and Alison played cello. They wrote cool alternative rock songs with a lot of muscle, considering the instrumentation. I saw them a couple times playing coffee shops in Chicago and bought their Woodshed CD. Early fan. Eventually they became an electric quartet, adding a bass player and drummer. They called themselves Verbow. Verbow caught the eye of Bob Mould, who ended up producing their excellent first album Chronicles in 1997. Here they are during that time, performing the album's single "Holiday" at Park West: Sadly, Verbow only released one other album (The Brad Wood produced White Out in 2000) before breaking up. In the meantime, they played a lot of shows, especially in Chicago at Schubas Tavern. I attended a couple of those concerts, and the shows were fun and high energy. Thankfully, they released highlights from their shows on an album aptly called Live At Schubas , which is today's pick. While the studio albums are great, I think they were an even better live act and this record showcases why. After Verbow, Alison formed a new band called Helen Money. Jason formed a band called Rockets Over Sweden, but had greater success playing bass with Bob Mould (appearing on his last few studio albums), Liz Phair and Superchunk.

The underground rock scene lost a giant this week when guitarist Bruce Anderson passed away. He was a founding member of the seminal avant garde rock group MX 80. They were originally known as MX 80 Sound, but shortened their name pretty early on. I first discovered MX 80s truly unique sound when I lived in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago in the early 2000s. I lived just a few short blocks from Evil Clown Compact Discs. This was a fantastically curated music store that didn't stock much from the major labels and focused on smaller, independent labels. As a side note, while I lived in the neighborhood I had a monthly ritual (usually on a Saturday) where I walked from my apartment to the downtown Tower Records (a 5 6 mile journey!) hitting every record store along the way (probably close to a dozen stores). Evil Clown was always my first stop. I miss those days. Anyways, I digress. One label I was deep diving into at the time was Atavistic Records. They were mainly focused on free jazz, but they occasionally dabbled in weird rock bands. Evil Clown stocked a ton of their releases. One day I discovered Big Hits / Hard Attack by MX 80 sound in the Evil Clown rack. I was immediately intrigued by the wild cover. I bought it without knowing who MX 80 was, simply trusting Atavistic Records and Evil Clown in their choices. I'm glad I did! It was a completely over the top rock explosion with free jazz and no wave inspired saxophone, two drummers pounding their kits into oblivion, a singer yelping and the absolutely wild guitar playing and soloing of Bruce Anderson. MX 80 started in Bloomington, Indiana and originally released these two albums on an independent label. Afterwards they moved to San Francisco, hooked up with The Residents and signed to their Ralph Records. They continued to release a couple more albums and appear on Ralph Records compilations. In fact, soon after I bought Big Hits / Hard Attack I also bought the Subterranean Modern compilation because of The…

Another year is in the books! 2022 is here, which means it's time to wrangle up my favorite albums from the past year. Because I mostly stayed indoors again this year, there have been plenty of opportunities to continue to immerse myself in new music. This year, I have whittled my favorites down to a sixty song playlist (The "Super 60"), spanning a little over 5 hours. Much like the pandemic playlists from the past year, it whiplashes between styles...anything from the pure pop of St. Vincent to hardcore country from Mike And The Moonpies to the full metal assault of Stormkeep. They are not ranked, but sequenced in a way that I find pleasing to listen to. Additionally, for those whos ears perked up when I said "full metal assault", I also made a different playlist of only heavy metal music. This one is not for the weak of heart...it's another 56 songs (some repeats from the "Super 60" because they are so good). 4.5 hours with the pedal to the metal! I hope everyone has a good 2022 full of musical discoveries both old and new. It's gotta be better than 2021, right??

In April 2021, we were about a year into the COVID 19 pandemic that changed the world. I spent a majority of that time in my house, only occasionally venturing outside for food and supplies. I work from home, which made this possible. That period of extreme isolation definitely started affecting my mood. As a form of self care I decided to make a large playlist of tunes both topical and personal favorites. This ended up being my Pandemic Status: Isolated and Weird playlist. It runs the gamut from progressive rock to jazz fusion to 80s pop music to hip hop to death metal to country. A little bit of everything I love with the intent to cheer me up. It turns out it worked. I listened to this playlist dozens of times. Initially this playlist stopped at Frank Zappa's "Watermelon In Easter Hay". However, about a month later I fleshed it out with another 27 songs. I listened to it even more. I felt like I hit the sweet spot of size and scope. In June, I was inspired by a trip to visit family. Vaccines were available and the weather was nice. I thought the world was turning a corner. So, I made Pandemic Status 2: Are We Having Phun Yet? This one still covered a (perhaps too wide) range of music, but had a lot more positive songs and pop music on it. While a little shorter at 8 hours, I felt like it was the perfect scope for this particular effort. I started spreading these playlists to select friends and music fanatics and received some positive feedback. This inspired me to make Pandemic Status an ongoing series! August brought the rise in the Delta Variant of COVID 19 which inspired the darker Pandemic Status 3: Delta Disaster playlist. By the end of August my mood was really getting sullen so started extending Delta Disaster but ended up having so much material that it warranted a brand new playlist called Pandemic Status 4: No Hope In Sight . As fall set in during September, another playlist emerged: Pandemic Status 5: Feel Like Shit...Deja Vu , which was titled in an…

It's the holiday season again. My tradition of making Christmas music mixes continues for the 13th year! Like most recent mixes, it covers a wide range of songs including brand new holiday themed recordings along with some rediscovered classic chestnuts. Previous mixes are also listed below...including the now possibly overwhelming 16 hour megamix! Happy Holidays one and all! 16 HOUR MEGA MIX! COVID Christmas 2020 Modern Christmas 2019 It's Christmas Again? 2018 New Christmas Classics 2017 Merry Christmas 2016 Festive 2015 80s Christmas 2014 Jazzy Christmas 2013 Sounds of Christmas 2012 cRaZy ChRiStMaS 2011 Wacky Christmas 2010 Ultimate Christmas 2008

Zoogz Rift was a very fascinating and strange individual. I first heard of him back in the mid 90s. He would cross post advertisements for handmade compilation cassettes of his best songs on Usenet forums like alt.fan.frank zappa and alt.fan.captain beefheart that I would frequently read in my college dorm. There is still an archive of Usenet forum posts online, so you can still see excellent examples of the types of things I would see. He was constantly posting about how his music was inspired by Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa. Eventually I gave in and ordered the tapes. I was blown away by what I heard! It really was incredible stuff. Taking the weirdest and wildest elements of Zappa and putting them into a blender at high speed. He was signed to SST records during the 80s, but by the mid 90s was very obscure and pretty much forgotten about. I started collecting those records such as Water II: At Safe Distance and the compilation album Looser Than Clams . They were good but most of the weirder material wasn't on them. In the early 2000s, Zoogz started promoting a complete collection of material on Usenet. Since it was hard to find his albums, I jumped at that chance and ordered the mp3s as well. In this case, he was pretty ahead of his time. Selling mp3s on CD Rs in 2002! Through that I was able to discover that my favorite material was on his earlier, self released albums such as Idiots On The Miniature Golf Course , which is today's pick! There is lots of odd time signature rock and roll on here with absurd lyrics. There are also elaborate marimba and horn arrangements. Plus his guitar playing is raw and cool. Zoogz also semi famously was a promoter / announcer for Universal Wrestling Federation. Pretty wild stuff. Unfortunately, he passed away in obscurity in 2011 from complications with diabetes. Luckily, the bulk of his material is available on Spotify today, including Idiots On The Miniature Golf Course .

Phil's Phriday Picks is early this week, due to the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday. Tomahawk is a band that was formed when vocalist Mike Patton (Faith No More / Mr. Bungle / Fantomas) met guitarist Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard / Hank Williams III) in 2001. They recruited bassist Kevin Rutmanis (Melvins) and drummer John Stanier (Helmet / Battles). As you could surmise from the list of other bands the members played in, it was a supergroup of sorts that played mathy hard rock with an overall dark vibe. They put out a couple albums in 2001 and 2003 that were pretty solid, then went on an extended hiatus. During that time off, Duane Denison toured Native American reservations with Hank Williams III and became interested in the culture's traditional music. He researched the music and found transcriptions of the compositions. He decided to take those original tunes and expand them into a heavy rock trio format. His interpretations of the songs became the next Tomahawk record in 2007 called Anonymous (because the transcriptions he found did not credit the original songwriters). The album is definitely a left turn for the band. It sounds nothing like their others. In fact, it's pretty unique for rock bands in general to tackle material such as this. As part of my Thanksgiving celebrations every year since it's release I have always played this album. This is why it is this week's pick! Happy Thanksgiving.

Back in 1990, I was a big fan of the band Primus. The had just put out Frizzle Fry and were starting to gain notoriety in alternative rock circles. They were also fans of The Residents. I discovered this when I grabbed a free promotional CD from a local Tower Records around that time called On The Ninties Tip . It was a bunch of alternative rock bands doing cover songs. Examples included Bad Brains covering The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, White Zombie covering Kiss and Mind Over Four covering Queen. All pretty recognizable covers. The exception was Primus covering "Hello Skinny" and "Constantinople" by a band I never heard of called The Residents. You can hear their take on it over on YouTube: I really loved the track, but in the early 90s it was very hard to find Residents albums. They were mostly out of print and very obscure at the time. Primus teased their love of The Residents even more a couple of years later in 1992 when they released Miscellaneous Debris , which contained another song by The Residents called "Sinister Exaggerator". Now, I really needed to hear this band, but their records were still pretty much impossible to find. Thankfully in 1997 a Rykodisc subsidiary called East Side Digital did a huge reissue campaign of all the major albums by The Residents, including Duck Stab / Buster & Glen which is where all 3 of the songs Primus covered were originally released. I was finally able to snag a copy and hear the originals! What I was amazed to find was how much Les Claypool was influenced by their music and overall aesthetic. Everything from the vocals to the dark carnival vibe were all pretty much cribbed from this album. So who were these guys? Well, their identities have always been shrouded in mystery. They always wore costumes and masks in public and never revealed who they were. In more recent days, it's pretty well known who they are...but for the purposes of this post I'm going to keep that all a secret and an exercise for the reader who…

Fun fact: I have seen all 3 members of The Police in concert....but not actually together as The Police! The first was Andy Summers. He recently released his solo album Earth & Sky in 2002 and played a solo acoustic show at The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Small venue, intimate show. Good stuff. I saw Sting the next year, when he played a huge free concert in Grant Park. I was very excited to see this, because Vinnie Colaiuta was playing drums with him then and the dude is a beast. Sting played the (solo and The Police) hits. It was pretty good, but polar opposite of the Andy Summers show. You can actually hear a recording of the show that someone taped off the radio (remember doing that?) on YouTube. The only member left was Steward Copeland. It didn't seem likely I would catch one of his rare solo shows. Later in 2009, I was on a trip to Rome, Italy visiting family. While there I saw an advertisement on a billboard about Stewart Copeland playing a solo show at a festival that same week! I couldn't believe my luck! I went to the show, and he was playing original songs with a percussion heavy group. It was unlike anything I had ever heard. An absolutely stunning performance. Easily better than the Sting and Andy Summers shows. After the set ended, I went to the merchandise table hoping to find a similar recording to what I just witnessed. Unfortunately, it seemed like this group was a one off occasion. The helpful person selling merch recommended an Italy only album Stewart Copeland released called Orchestralli . I bought it. It was a live recording in Italy of Stewart Copeland with a different group back in 2004. As the name implied, it includes a small chamber orchestra and a percussion ensemble called Ensemble Bash along with Copeland on drums. It is a very crisp live recording of a pretty amazing group playing very cool, almost jazz fusion based music. There are elements of some of his solo / soundtrack works peppered throughout (longtime fans migh…

One thing that many people probably don't know about Bruce Hornsby: He was a part time member of The Grateful Dead. He appeared live with them sporadically during the early 90s, playing piano and accordion. Here's a brilliant rendition of "Eyes Of The World" from 1991 with Bruce Hornsby in the group: One thing that many people probably don't know about me: I'm a pretty big Deadhead. Unfortunately, I arrived a little late to that particular party. The only time I ever saw the original Grateful Dead live was the very last show with Jerry Garcia at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 8th, 1995. It was a pretty good show. I had terrible seats, but slowly sneaked my way up to the front section by the time they hit "Shakedown Street" in the 2nd set. When they played the final song of the night, "Box Of Rain", I managed to be just a few rows back from the stage. Those were the days. About a week later, Bruce Hornsby released the album Hot House . At this time, he was taking the influence from his time with the Grateful Dead and expanding his musical vision. He broke up his original backing band The Range and assembled a jazzier group that was able to go on some pretty lengthy instrumental excursions. The Hot House album artwork accurately paints a picture of the music contained within. It shows a cartoon of Bill Monroe jamming with Charlie Parker. Hot House featured musicians such as guitarist Pat Metheny and banjo player Bela Fleck on several songs. The album also includes what might be Jerry Garcia's last studio recording ("Cruise Control"). Bruce Hornsby has always been a pretty great piano player and songwriter, but I feel like Hot House is where he really started to show off his amazing skills. For example, the opening song "Spider Fingers" is pretty ridiculous. Check out this live version of it (also from 1995) to see the virtuoso in action: Soon after the tour for Hot House concluded, Bruce Hornsby joined many of the remaining members of The Grateful Dead in a band ca…

I'm a huge fan of all eras of the band Yes. Everything from the completely overblown progressive rock excess of Tales From Topographic Oceans to the 80s pop of 90125 . I love it all. However, if I were to pick a single album as a favorite I would choose 1974's Relayer without hesitation. The early 70s lineup of Yes is considered by many to be the "classic" lineup (Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, Bill Bruford). That lineup released Fragile and Close To The Edge which are both highlights of the lengthy Yes discography. However, by 1973 the group was splintering. Bruford left to join King Crimson. They hired Alan White (from The Plastic Ono Band) and recorded and toured behind Tales From Topographic Oceans . This album is famous for consisting of 4 25 minute long songs. The dictionary definition of prog rock excess!! Rick Wakeman was extremely dissatisfied with the material. He basically sleepwalked through the 1973 tour and quit after it was over. He went on to record and release Journey To The Centre Of The Earth and started a mostly successful solo career. So Yes embarked on a worldwide search for a new keyboard player to fill Wakeman's shoes. At one point they even auditioned Vangelis!! In fact, when Patrick Moraz auditioned, he ended up using Vengelis' keyboard rig because he left it behind in the studio. Moraz was chosen as the new keyboardist because of the fact he could play lots of the complicated material and brought a ton of newfound energy to the group. Scaling back ever so slightly from Tales From Topographic Oceans , Yes went back to the format that served them well with Close To The Edge . Opening with a side long epic ("The Gates Of Delirium"), followed by two slightly shorter pieces ("Sound Chaser" and "To Be Over"). "The Gates Of Delirium" is one of my favorite rock songs ever. It really showcases Moraz' almost punk rock intensity in his playing. Even Steve Howe plays some completely unhinged and deranged solos throughout (espec…

Fredrik Thordendal is a Swedish guitarist, who is most famous for being a member of Meshuggah. Meshuggah pinoneered a strange offshoot of heavy metal that came to be known as Djent. Djent is known for it's downtuned riffs (many times with 7 string guitars), mathy polyrhythms and lots of palm muting. Meshuggah really defined this sound starting with their 3rd album Chaosphere . Between their 2nd album ( Destroy, Erase, Improve ) and Chaosphere , Fredrik Thordendal put out a wild solo album called Sol Niger Within . Sol Niger Within is Latin for "Black Sun Within" and I think that is a pretty apt description of what this album sounds like. It's very dense and contains a lot of strange, virtuoso music. Fredrik Thordendal's guitar solos are definitely inspired by 70s jazz fusion. Some of it sounds like Steve Vai or Allan Holdsworth at their most experimental. Really awesome, inspired stuff! One of my favorite drummers, Morgan Agren plays on all the songs and he's as much of a star of the show as Fredrik. Some of the stuff he plays has to be seen to be believed. Luckily, Swedish television filmed the duo playing together that is available on YouTube for your jaw dropping pleasure. The entire album is one long composition. The CD I have has it split up into 28 tracks, but they all seamlessly segued into each other. The version on Spotify is just one long 43 minute track. Also appearing on the album, playing creepy church organ, is Mats Oberg. He is the blind keyboard player who is the other half of the duo of previous Phils' Phriday Pick Mats & Morgan. There is also some free jazz inspired saxophone peppered throughout. All the sums of these parts means this album is right up my alley. I hope is it up yours as well.

Henry Kaiser is a pretty unique individual. He is primarily known as a very skilled guitarist playing a wide range of styles with dozens of collaborators. He has recorded hundreds of albums, many under his own name, with musicians as wide ranging as Fred Frith, Richard Thompson, Nels Cline, John Medeski and Herbie Hancock. Not only that, but he is also a skilled photographer....and a research diver who has spent months living in Antarctica! If you want to see amazing footage of Henry Kaiser working in Antarctica (including him playing guitar outside in the arctic snow) I highly recommend Werner Herzog's documentary Encounters At The End Of The World Back to the music, one of my favorite Henry Kaiser recordings is with a band that was called Crazy Backwards Alphabet. Crazy Backwards Alphabet consisted of Henry Kaiser on guitar, along with John "Drumbo" French on drums (Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band), Andy West on bass (Dixie Dregs) and an additional drummer Michael Maksymenko. It is basically throwing Captain Beefheart, jazz fusion and pop music in a blender and turning it on the highest setting. Somewhat surprisingly, their self titled first album came out on SST Records, which was mostly known at this point for their allegiance to punk rock music such as Black Flag, The Minutemen and Husker Du. The album cover was also drawn by Matt Groening right before his success with The Tracey Ullman show and The Simpsons. The music is completely over the top. Lots of wild, crazed high speed instrumentals. Additionally, there are some unusual cover songs including ZZ Top's "La Grange" and Van Halen's "Bottom's Up"...with the lyrics sung in Russian! There is also a cool interpretation of Albert Ayler's "Ghosts". For those who want a deep dive, here is some amazing live footage of the band posted by Henry Kaiser himself. The studio album is not that far off from what they performed live...which is nothing short of amazing. Which is why it is today's pick!

Mick Barr is one of my favorite guitar players. No doubt about it. I can throw a dart at his discography (and it is a lengthy discography) and pick an incredible piece of music every time. He is probably most renown at this point for playing guitar in the modern American black metal band Krallice. Krallice is great, but I tend to gravitate towards Mick's earlier music in contexts including Crom Tech, Octis, Ocrilim, and especially Orthrelm. A couple of the aforementioned names are solo projects. Either Mick Barr playing solo guitar pieces (Ocrilim) or playing with a drum machine (Octis). Orthrelm was a duo of Mick Barr and drummer Josh Blair. For most of their short existence they played hyperspeed songs that consisted of short thorough composed non repeating parts played in unison. Mathy, progressive, and completely over the top. To add to the mystery and complexity, all their album titles and songs consisted of almost unpronounceable words and phrases. The album covers were super detailed line drawings that were also hand drawn by Barr. Octis is basically Orthrelm with a drum machine instead of the live drummer. It's pretty great, but It's hard to beat two humans pushing themselves to limit playing the songs. Orthrelm reached their peak of this concept with their 2002 album Asristr Vieldroix . It was 99 songs of 5 to 10 seconds each. The whole thing clocks in at about 10 minutes. The first time I heard this album, my mind was basically turned into dust. Asristr Vieldroix is not available on Spotify, but you can buy it directly from the band at Bandcamp. At this time, they were a formidable live act that had to be seen and heard to be believed. I was lucky enough to catch them a few times during this period and probably still have not recovered. Here is an example of what their live set sounded like in 2002. Amazing. Since they took this concept as far as it could go by this point, they decided to flip the script completely with 2005's Ov . For Ov they went in the…

September 24, 1991. 30 years ago today, Nirvana released Nevermind . It wasn't predicted to be a huge success (generous estimations were that it could sell 500,000 copies total). Of course, it ended up being one of the best selling albums of all time. 30 million copies sold and at one point even eclipsing Michael Jackson at the top of the charts and selling over 300,000 copies a week! It helped make the alternative rock explosion in the 90s what it was by no small measure. Tons of people with more inside information than me have written a lot of words about Nevermind before today. One of the best of the bunch is this amazing recent article by Michael Azerrad (who wrote the definitive Nirvana biography "Come As You Are: The Story Of Nirvana"). The closest I came to Nirvana was watching them perform at The Aragon in Chicago in 1993 (with Mudhoney opening!). Which is the inspiration for today's pick: Nirvana was also an exciting live band. Michael Azerrad spends some time in his article recounting when Nirvana headlined The Reading Festival in 1992. A lot of the retrospective focus on that day was about how Kurt Cobain was rumored to be so strung out on heroin that he could not perform. The band made light of that rumor by having Kurt appear on stage in a wheelchair which he promptly discarded before launching into the set. One thing that cannot be overstated was how huge Nirvana was at this point. They were so big that Kurt basically called the shots on who else would perform on the main stage of the festival that day. Looking at the lineup, it's obvious that Kurt hand selected the bands (Melvins, L7, Mudhoney, Teenage Fanclub all appeared that day). Thankfully, Nirvana's performance that day was recorded for prosperity. It really showcases how great a band they were at the height of their powers. The show was before they released their next album, In Utero . Nevertheless, they still peppered a few songs from that album throughout the set ("Tourettes", "All Apologies…

The Melvins were part of the Seattle grunge scene in the 1990s. However, they never received the popular success much of their brethren did. In fact, Melvins drummer Dale Crover was an early member of Nirvana (appearing on some circulated demo recordings). Their music is a very heavy, hard rock...more often than not with very sludgy and slow tempos. However, they also liked to defy expectations with strange lyrics, bizarre mood shifts and generally just being oddballs. During the height of the Seattle Grunge explosion the even signed with major label Atlantic. They released a few excellent albums during their tenure there, but definitely didn't achieve large mainstream success. Part of the reason why was, they put out really weird albums! The overtly experimental leanings of their 1996 album Stag was the final straw for Atlantic Records, who dropped them soon after. Around this same time, guitarist Buzz Osbourne had befriended Faith No More singer Mike Patton. They soon started a new experimental group called Fantomas along with Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. They were even weirder than any of their members other bands, so finding a label to put out their releases proved to be a challenge. To solve that issue, Mike Patton started his own record label Ipecac Recordings. The first release was the self titled Fantomas record, but The Melvins were the next band they signed. They were allowed to release whatever they wanted without any oversight. The Melvins took advantage of this newfound freedom and put out three albums in the span of a year, allegedly all recorded at the same time. Those albums were The Maggot , The Bootlicker and The Crybaby . After the fact they became known as "The Trilogy". All three of these albums are this week's pick! The Maggot is probably the most "traditional" Melvins album of the bunch. Slow, heavy, down tuned riffs with nonsensical lyrics. Oddly, the songs were broken down into separate tracks, seemingly…

September 11, 2001. We all remember where we were that day, and what we were doing. I was living in on the north side of Chicago, and working downtown. Let's just say it was a very stressful morning to be in a tall office building. I eventually walked home (to Lakeview! Not a short walk by any measure!), instead of cramming myself into the El with a bunch of other distressed commuters. Once there, I was glued to the footage on TV like everyone else. Obsessively watching to the point that by the next day I was completely at my wits end and needed some fresh air. Before the tragic events, I was looking forward to going to Schuba's Tavern on Wednesday to see a rock band called The Butcher Shop Quartet engaging in a complete performance of Stravinsky's "The Rite Of Spring". Steve Bernstein's wacky jazz rock ensemble Sex Mob was the opening act. Here is the write up of the event in the Chicago Reader from that week. I wasn't sure if the show was still on. Nevertheless, I needed to get out of my apartment. Instead of calling to confirm, I figured I would walk the 20 minutes or so to Schuba's as showtime neared. If there was no show, at least I got out for a bit to clear my head. Thankfully, there was a show that night. It was a very sparse crowd, maybe 10 15 people in attendance. The Butcher Shop Quartet's rendition of "The Rite of Spring" was spectacular. However, I want to focus on Sex Mob. They are based in New York City. All the members are fixtures in the NYC jazz scene. Obviously, being on the road at that moment (away from friends and family) must have been incredibly difficult for them. They still managed to blow the roof off the joint that night with their joyous music. Steve Bernstein started out by dedicating the night to everyone in New York and then proceeded to play with an unmistakable fire. I don't specifically remember what songs they played, but the energy that night of their playing is what sticks in my mind 20 years later. So, who are Sex Mob? They ar…

Vernon Reid is best known as the lead guitarist for Living Colour. However, he is so much more than your average player in a late 80s / early 90s alternative rock band. Before Living Colour, he was playing with drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson's band Decoding Society. Ronald Shannon Jackson was fresh from his stint with Ornette Coleman's free funk band Prime Time when he started the Decoding Society, and they are definitely cut from the same cloth. A wild hybrid of free jazz and funk rock. Vernon Reid fit in really well there with his sheets of sound and wild solos. Here is some killer footage of that band from 1983: Living Colour's biggest success was their debut album Vivid , especially the single "Cult Of Personality". While it is great, I think the band only got better and more daring afterwards. The subsequent albums Time's Up and Stain are a couple of my favorite rock albums of the 90s. Check out these two songs (That were released as singles!!) from those albums to see just how truly badass they were at that time. Living Colour broke up after Stain and Vernon Reid formed a new band (that later became known as Masque) including turntablist DJ Logic, Clarinetist Don Byron, Curtis Watts on drums and Hank Schroy playing bass. Their first album was Mistaken Identity , which is today's pick. It was produced by both Prince Paul (De La Soul) and Teo Macero (Miles Davis) which should give you a sense of the large range the album covers. It is an amazing album that really showcases Vernon Reid's fantastic guitar playing, along with the rest of the band. However, there are great songs to boot. They play everything from reggae to heavy metal to hip hop to funk to jazz fusion with equal proficiency. It's a fun record to crank up over a 3 day holiday weekend. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Obviously the biggest news in music this week was the sad passing of Charlie Watts, the drummer for The Rolling Stones. He was with the band from the very beginning and performed on every album. Obviously, he was one of the most famous drummers in the world...and for good reason. I could wax poetic about my favorite Stones albums or songs, but that has already been done ad nauseam. I could also brag about the one and only time I saw The Rolling Stones perform live. It was at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago in 2002 (capacity: 5000...a tiny crowd by their standards). It was a "secret" rehearsal show before their actual tour. Dr. John and U2's Bono performed with the band. It was awesome, but I said I wasn't going to talk about it. Instead, I'm going to pick an obscurity: The Charlie Watts Jim Kelter Project ! Jim Keltner is a famous drummer in his own right. He is a session musician who has recorded on literally hundreds of albums in his career. But he's most renown for his work with Bob Dylan, Ry Cooder, George Harrison, and The Traveling Wilburys all of whom he has longstanding professional relationships with. In 1996 / 1997 The Rolling Stones were working on Bridges To Babylon . There were a ton of outside collaborators who were part of the sessions and one of them was Jim Kelter, who played percussion on many of the songs. Charlie Watts and Jim hit it off and decided to work together on a separate album. It took several years, but was finally completed and released in 2000 on the very small CyberOctave label. In fact, probably the biggest artist they had on their roster before this was Buckethead! It turned up on my radar because a promo CD was sent to the office I worked at, and I was naturally very intrigued. I became pretty obsessed with it at the time. I still have the promo and dug it out this week after hearing the news of Watts' passing. I'm starting to get obsessed with it again. The Charlie Watts Jim Keltner Project is a collection of percussion heavy son…

Since Between The Buried And Me released their highly anticipated new album Colors II today, I decided to choose the original Colors for today's Pick. Between The Buried And Me started out as a pretty typical metalcore band of the early 2000s putting out a couple albums that didn't think too far outside the genre's box. That changed once they shuffled the lineup and included drummer Blake Richardson, guitarist Dustie Waring and Dan Briggs on bass in 2004 2005. The band went in a much more progressive rock direction going forward, starting with the release of Alaska in late 2005. It was still very much a metalcore album, but included more technical instrumental sections and longer songs. They completely turned into a progressive rock band with Colors in 2007 (albeit one who was still very influenced by metalcore and death metal). Colors is an incredible concept album that runs over an hour, but only has eight songs (a couple of the songs come close to the 15 minute mark!). Every song flows directly into each other, making it seem like the entire album is one giant 65 minute composition. The amount of stylistic ground they cover is mind boggling. Elements of death metal, jazz fusion, space rock...and even a bit of country are all part of the complex puzzle. My favorite song that encapsulates the whole album, is the final track "White Walls". Shortly after they released the album, Between The Buried and Me toured as part of Dream Theater's "Progressive Nation" show in 2008 along with Opeth. I was lucky enough to catch a show on this tour in Cleveland and Between The Buried And Me blew the other bands away that day (and I'm a big fan of the other bands too!). I think they only played 2 3 songs (all from Colors including "White Walls") but it was still a 45 minute set. Completely amazing. After that tour they played the entire Colors album for a few additional shows. They recorded one of the shows and released it as the excellent Colors Live DVD soon after. If you want…

Trout Mask Replica . This is a Phil's Phriday Pick that has been a long time coming. It is finally at the top of my queue because after being a long time digital music holdout, Ahmet Zappa recently announced it would finally be coming to streaming services! Of course, Trout Mask Replica is notorious for being an unlistenable mess. However, I retort that while it is very impenetrable to the first time listener (It doesn't help that the album opens with "Frownland" basically throwing you right into the lion's den...nor does it help that is is a double album, 80+ minute listening experience), it is actually a very complex work with tons of amazing lyrics and musicianship throughout. Much has been written about Trout Mask Replica over the years. A lot of it good, and a lot of it bad. It is well documented that Captain Beefheart (aka Don Van Vliet) was very much a cult leader / tyrant who ruled the Magic Band with an iron fist during the rehearsing and recording of this album. Drummer John French's (aka Drumbo) book Beefheart: Through the Eyes of Magic is a harrowing look at his entire time as a member of The Magic Band and specifically has a lot of gory details on the Trout Mask Replica period. It is worth taking the deep dive for the interested listener. Guitarist Bill Harkleroad (aka Zoot Horn Rollo) also wrote an interesting book on the period called Lunar Notes that is worth checking out. Of course, I own copies of both of these books and more and return to them often for inspiration and deep research. This is quite possibility my favorite album of all time. In fact, the entire Captain Beefheart catalog has been a decades long obsession of mine (my longtime personal email address actually references Captain Beefheart). How did my infatuation come to be? It all started back in high school in the early 90s, where my buddy Ben had a cassette called Captain Beefheart At His Best . He hated it and gave it away to me (Famous Quote: "If This is him at his best, I'd hate t…

Gong was always a weird band that had an ever shifting lineup. The early albums were very much in a progressive rock / space rock vein. Especially with their seminal Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy of albums in the early 70s. Guitarist Daevid Allen was the mastermind of the group. Which is what made it surprising when in 1975 he quit the group right before a concert because there was a "wall of force" that prevented him from taking the stage or continuing with the group! Steve Hillage, the other primary songwriter and guitarist in the group, soon left bolstered by the success of his recent solo album Fish Rising . This left Gong in even more disarray than normal. Drummer / Percussionist Pierre Moerlin ended up taking over control. He recruited jazz fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth from Soft Machine and bassist Francis Moze from Magma. Gong then turned into an entirely instrumental, percussion heavy jazz fusion group. They only released one album with this particular lineup (now re christened as "Pierre Moerlin's Gong") called Gazeuse! . For some reason the version released in the U.S. was called Expresso , but the music contained within is exactly the same. This album ranks as possibly my favorite of all the Gong albums (the much later New York Gong is a close second for different reasons). A highlight for me is the 10 minute long drum centric piece "Percolations (Part I and II)". However, the rest of the album is also top notch. It includes a new version of the title track from Allan Holdsworth's solo album Velvet Darkness (adding further confusion by being renamed "Shadows Of"). There is also an awesome composition by Francis Moze called "Mireille" that definitely has shades of Magma / Zeuhl in it. The lineup was short lived with Holdsworth leaving soon after, but Pierre Moerlin pressed on until it finally fizzled out sometime in the '80s. Daevid Allen created Gong offshoot bands in the meantime, including the already mentioned New York Gong and Planet Gong etc. G…

"Get Em Out By Friday! You don't get paid 'til the last one's well on his way." Earlier this week I stumbled across this recently restored footage of Genesis live in France from 1973: The video that captures this event is absolutely stunning. Genesis is touring behind their brand new album Foxtrot . This means we get a tantalizing clip of them playing part of "Supper's Ready" from that album, along with some other gems from the era like "The Musical Box" and "Return of The Giant Hogweed" from their previous album Nursery Cryme . The amount of technical effort that went into restoring this footage is incredible. The description in the above YouTube video goes into painstaking detail about it. There was also a recent feature in Rolling Stone that is worth checking out. When I was about 11 years old in 1985, I was big into the 80s variant of Genesis. The pop rock trio of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks. I absolutely adored Abacab as well as the 1983 self titled record. I also was heavily listening to Phil Collin's solo record Face Value ....yet, I still wanted more. I came across a Genesis album I had never heard of before in a bargain rack at Musicland called Foxtrot and convinced my parents to buy it for me. The album cover looked very different from anything I had seen before. It was an old looking cartoon with a bunch of strange characters on it. The song titles were very weird. Little did I realize I had unwittingly acquired my very first progressive rock album. It certainly would not be my last. My tiny mind was blown away by what was contained within. What is this thing? There are long stretches of instrumental features without vocals. In fact, the vocals are by someone besides Phil Collins! There was an additional guitarist who was playing a bunch of really amazing parts! Again, I thought, what is this thing? The lyrics are about topics besides love and relationships gone wrong. Most of it was way over my childish head. For example, "Get Em Out By…

Matt Chamberlain is a fine example of an amazing drummer you have probably heard, but didn't realize it. His first taste of mainstream success was his work as a member of Edie Brickell And The New Bohemians (post Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars ) He briefly was in Pearl Jam (toured with them in '91 but did not appear on a record) and toured with Soundgarden when Matt Cameron was not available. He was also the Saturday Night Live house band drummer in the early 90s when Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, David Spade etc were on the cast. Additionally, he was the drummer on every Tori Amos album from 1998's From The Choirgirl Hotel through 2009's Midwinter Graces . Needless to say, he got around. Eventually he involved himself in the Web of Mimicry scene with Trey Spruance (Faith No More / Secret Chiefs 3) and put out a solo album on Spruance's label in 2005. This is today's pick. He self described it as as "an imaginary soundtrack to an Asian Western Sci Fi Horror Movie". Sounds right to me. Some heavy hitter's appear with him on the album, including violinist Eyvind Kang, Warr Guitar player Trey Gunn (King Crimson) and Jon Brion (Aimee Man) just to name a few.

One of my all time favorite bands is The Flying Luttenbachers. Today, they dropped their new album Negative Infinity . It is not on Spotify, but you can listen to it over on Bandcamp. The Flying Luttenbachers are one of the many bands associated with Weasel Walter. While he's a multi instrumentalist, he has always played the drums in this particular band. Today, as part of the announcement of the new album, he shocked longtime fans that he does not play drums on the new album. He has switched to guitar! Drumming duties are now performed by Sam Ospovat (from the band Unnatural Ways among others). He definitely rises to the occasion. The rest of the band is similar to their last couple albums (Tim Dahl on bass, Matt Nelson on saxophones). However guitarist Brandon Seabrook has been replaced by Katie Battistoni. The album description hypes this as a return to their "Brutal Prog" sound of previous albums like Infection and Decline and Systems Emerge From Complete Disorder . This is definitely the case!! Many long, thorough composed compositions that have their trademark mix of progressive rock, death metal and free jazz. In fact the last song on the album ("On The Verge Of Destruction") is, according to the liner notes, "...a monolithic side long extrapolation off of Albert Ayler's bizarre '66/'67 'marching band on acid' musical suites." YES, PLEASE! I've only listened to it a couple of times so far, but I'm pretty confident this will be one of my favorite albums of 2021. Negative Infinity by The Flying Luttenbachers

Izzy Stradlin was one of the founding members of Guns N' Roses and was a huge part of the songwriting and overall sound on Appetite of Destruction , but was mostly playing 2nd fiddle to Slash and Axl Rose who were more of the face of the group. By the time the Use Your Illusion albums came out in 1991, he was adding more songs and even singing lead on some songs ("Dust N Bones", "You Ain't The First" etc). At this point he started butting heads with Axl. It also didn't help that he got sober when the rest of the band did not. He quit the band at the height of their success...and assembled an oddly named band called the Ju Ju Hounds. The Ju Ju Hounds consisted of guitarist Rick Richards (The Georgia Satellites), bassist Jimmy Ashhurst (later of Buckcherry), and Charlie Quintana (Social Distortion). Their sole self titled album also included contributions from Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones), Ian McLagen (The Faces), and Nicky Hopkins (The Kinks). Obviously, from that cast of characters you can suspect that they were a very blues rock focused ensemble. It definitely sounds like an lost Ronnie Wood or Keith Richards solo album. This is a good thing. Along with some great original material ("Somebody Knockin" and "Shuffle It All" were the singles and were written by Stradlin), it also includes some awesome covers. There's the hard rocking version of The Maytals reggae classic "Pressure Drop" and, appropriately enough, Ronnie Wood's "Take a Look At The Guy" which was originally released on I've Got My Own Album To Do . The Ju Ju Hounds didn't last after touring behind this album. Nevertheless, Izzy Stradlin continues to regularly release solo albums. Rick Richards is the only member of the Ju Ju Hounds who continues to record with Izzy. Most of his solo albums are excellent. If you're into the sound on the Ju Ju Hounds album, they follow a similar blueprint and are worth seeking out. Izzy also occasionally appears with Guns N' Roses but is not a current member.

Fu Manchu had been kicking around for many years as part of the Southern California "Desert Rock" scene (along with Kyuss). They put out their first brilliant album in 1997 with The Action Is Go . I think the reasons for it finally coming together for them center on the change in personnel. Right before the album original guitarist Eddie Glass and drummer Ruben Romano left to form the band Nebula (replaced by Bob Balch and Brant Bjork respectively). Brant Bjork is the secret sauce, as his previous experience playing in the recently dissolved Kyuss is key to this albums power and groove. Additionally, Jay Yuenger, who famously played guitar in White Zombie during their heyday, produced the album. His fingerprints are all over the sound of the record. The album is an excellent example of the Desert Rock scene. A heavy, Black Sabbath inspired metal with the fury of punk rock, with a heavy dose of psychedelic rock. "Evil Eye" comes out of the gate swinging, and the album basically doesn't let up until the extended space rock of "Saturn III". If you love this album as much as I do, Fu Manchu continued their winning ways on a trilogy of follow up records with the same lineup ( Eatin' Dust , King Of The Road , California Crossing ) until Brant Bjork eventually left the band in 2003.

Saxophone player Joe Henderson was already a living legend by the time he signed a record deal with Milestone Records in the late 60s. For starters, he released a series of highly acclaimed bop albums for Blue Note, including a set of excellent records with the same rhythm section that appeared with Miles Davis on Kind of Blue (Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb). He also appeared on many other seminal records for Blue Note as a sideman (appearing with Horace Silver, Kenny Dorham, Grant Green and Andrew Hill just to name a few). You would think he could rest on his laurels at this point. However, he decided to persue a completely different direction once joining Milestone. He assembled an electric fusion band which included the great George Gables on electric piano, trombone virtuoso Curtis Fuller, funky drummer Lenny White (before he joined Return To Forever) among many others. This lineup released what I consider one of his best albums In Pursuit Of Blackness in 1970. In Pursuit Of Blackness is a mix of studio and live recordings. The live recordings were from a performance at The Lighthouse Cafe near Los Angeles. Much like last week's pick ( Electric Byrd ) this record is bursting with a powerful blend of heavy funk and outsider jazz played by a red hot band of excellent musicians. The closing track "Mind Over Matter" is a 15 minute epic highlight showcasing all that this band was capable of. Fantasy Records (who bought Milestone Records later in the 70s) re released this album as a two fer with Black Is the Color , which is the version that appears on Spotify. Black Is The Color is in a similar vein, but with a completely different ensemble (Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette are the amazing rhythm section present here). It however also expands on the concepts, because at this point Joe Henderson started getting way into overdubbing. The result is a very dense sound where you can hear him playing multiple instruments simultaneously (tenor and soprano saxoph…

Donald Byrd was a trumpet player who first came to prominence playing with Art Blakey in the Jazz Messengers during the mid 1950s. He also appears on a bunch of John Coltrane's albums on the Prestige label. He was one heck of a hard bop player. He was also close friends with Herbie Hancock and encouraged him to pursue his solo career away from the shadow of Miles Davis. Late in his career he became known for a more smoothed out funk and soul style. However, the era in between the bop and soul successes is what I find the most fascinating. In the early 70s he put out a series of electric jazz fusion albums that were a pretty heady mix of space rock along with the jazz style pioneered by Miles Davis' Bitches Brew . The best of these albums is probably Electric Byrd . The group he assembled for this album was huge...11 pieces! There are two players I'd like to specifically point out: Airto Moreira plays latin based percussion before he became a member of Chick Corea's Return To Forever. Ron Carter, who was with Miles Davis' classic 60s quintet is all over this thing, laying down some pretty heavy funk. Most of the songs exceed 10 minutes. There is plenty of room for the players to stretch out and improvise. Estavanico is a pretty neat mixture of soothing tones that occasionally erupts into noisy bursts of an almost free jazz nature. The Dude is another one of the stronger songs, with its blend of electric bop and robotic funk. Don't sleep on this underappreciated gem in the Blue Note catalog!

Porcupine Tree was a british band formed by a guitarist / songwriter named Steven Wilson. He's perhaps best known nowadays as a top notch producer, specifically his 5.1 surround sound mixes. These include re releases of the classics in the Yes catalog, most of the King Crimson studio albums and other progressive rock albums by Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant to name a few. However, in 2007 he was still primary known for fronting Porcupine Tree...when they released what I believe to be their high water mark: Fear Of A Blank Planet . The title is a clever homage to Public Enemy's Fear Of A Black Planet , but the comparisons with the two groups doesn't really extend further than that. This is a concept album loosely based on Bret Easton Ellis' novel Lunar Park . The lyrics revolve around a teenager with bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder. The character also deals with social anxiety and drug addiction because of the disorders. It also ties in criticism of the internet, technology and mass media's ability to induce information overload or boredom. Musically, it is a pretty great slab of modern, heavy progressive rock with a hard rock edge. Basically, this is right up my alley. The title track is really catchy and sets the scene for the rest of the album. The centerpiece is obviously the 17+ minute Anesthetize...which even includes a killer guitar solo from Rush's Alex Lifeson. Even King Crimson's Robert Fripp gets to lay down some sweet guitar on Way Out Of Here. Porcupine Tree had so much good material from the recording sessions that soon after the release of Fear Of A Blank Planet they released an additional EP called Nil Recurring , which included even more playing from Fripp. I saw Porcupine Tree in concert during this era playing alongside Opeth. They played a lot of material from this album, and it was, of course, excellent. After Porcupine Tree disbanded, drummer Gavin Harrison became an integral part of the reformed King Crimson (which you need to ex…

Every time a new album by Australian crazies Portal comes out, it should be a day of celebration. Today is one of those days, as they just released their new album Avow . I've been a huge fan of Portal since they put out the excellent Swarth in 2009. A completely claustrophobic slab of heavy metal. It's an odd mix of death and black metal with crazed repeating riffs, blast beats and howling vocals all buried under a production of haze and grime. As you might expect, it is spectacular. I saw Portal play a show at Maryland Death Fest when they toured behind Swarth in 2010. This was back when their singer, "The Curator" had a giant grandfather clock for a head. I am not making this up. Check out this amazing footage from the show. Bonus points if you can find me in the swarming masses (You won't). By the time Portal put out their next album Vexovoid in 2013 the overall sound was still bonkers and suffocating, but the production was a little cleaner. They gained more notoriety...they were even covered by NPR and The New York Times! I saw them again at Maryland Death Fest in 2015 with a much larger crowd due to all the acclaim...here is more killer footage. 2018's Ion removed more of the dank and the murk from their approach...in fact some of it even resembled more straightahead death metal bands. This brings us to today's release of Avow . I've only given it one listen so far, but I can safely report that are back to full on dementia. The wild thing about the album is...not only do you think they are insane for playing and recording the music, you also feel like you are losing your mind by listening to it. Not an easy feat. Portal also put out an accompanying album called Hagbulbia today. It is a completely ambient and mellow album. It appears to be almost the same length. Perhaps you are supposed to play them both simultaneously like The Flaming Lips' Zareeka or something? I will likely be spending a good chunk of the long holiday weekend immersing myself in this madn…

Peter Frampton has come a long way since his days in the band Humble Pie. Obviously, his largest success was Frampton Comes Alive and the associated hits ("Baby I Love Your Way", "I'm In You", "Do You Feel Like We Do" etc). However, he has been quietly doing his thing pretty successfully in the decades since. In 2019 Frampton announced that he would no longer tour because he suffers from a rare inflammatory muscle disease called inclusion body myositis. This did not stop him from recording an instrumental album of songs originally by musicians that inspire him. The album was released a couple weeks ago with the witty title Frampton Forgets The Words . It's very similar to his other recent instrumental album (2006's Fingerprints ) but I think it is a much stronger work. Even though he isn't collaborating with heavyweights like members of Pearl Jam and The Rolling Stones like he did on Fingerprints , the band backing him up on Frampton Forgets The Words is great. In fact, Glenn Worf is the bassist who is best known as a long time member of Dire Straits mastermind Mark Knopfler's solo band. The selection of songs is really wide ranging: George Harrison's "Isn't It A Pity", Roxy Music's "Avalon", Stevie Wonder's "I Don't Know Why", Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way", and even Radiohead's "Reckoner" (Which has an amazing video). Talk about running the gamut! Hopefully Peter Frampton will continue to be healthy enough to release a few more recordings like this in the future.

It's difficult to believe now, but the band Foghat was huge in the mid 70s. They had a particularly muscular take on blues / boogie rock. Early on the had a hit with a Willie Dixon cover ("I Just Want To Make Love To You") but eventually started writing their own popular material, which reached a peak in 1975 with Fool For The City . At this point they were touring non stop and were a very popular attraction. So much so that when they released Foghat Live in 1977 it became (and I believe still is) their best selling album. 2 Million copies sold! The great thing about Foghat Live is, unlike other live albums of the era, it is a short all killer, no filler album. No double album, no deep album cuts. 6 songs. 40 minutes...ending with a powerful version of "Slow Ride". BOOM! Also, it captures only a single concert, so you know that particular night they were on fire. May 10th (the date of my birth!), 1977 (not the year of my birth!). In fact, through all these years it has never been re released in a "deluxe edition" with extra songs or outtakes. Why mess with perfection? Fun fact about this era of Foghat: Nick Jameson played percussion with them live during this era and also produced Foghat Live . He is now most famous for portraying Russian President Yuri Suvarov in the popular tv show 24 .

I was recently reminded that 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the pivotal Olympia, Washington based record label Kill Rock Stars. It is a fiercely independent label, and is mostly known for popularizing the "riot grrrl" movement of the early 90s (a feminist punk rock movement including great bands such as Bratmobile and Bikini Kill). It also released early recordings from bands that went on to greater fame such as Nirvana, The Melvins, Heavens to Betsy (fronted by Corin Tucker who went on to form Sleater Kinney which also released albums on KRS) and much more. The Guardian recently ran a comprehensive article about the label that does a much better job than myself describing the storied history of the label. Its worth checking out. Today's pick is the first compilation album the label put out showcasing a wide variety of independent bands from the Olympia area in 1991. The compilation was also called Kill Rock Stars . It's an awesome snapshot of the scene in that region of the country in 1991...and includes lots of great music from Heavens To Betsy, The Melvins, Nirvana ( Kill Rock Stars came out in August 1991...one month before Nevermind dropped), Courtney Love, Bratmobile, Unwound, Bikini Kill, Nation of Ulysses, Jad Fair and tons more. Oddly, the album on Spotify does not include the Nirvana song "Beeswax", but it was later included on the Incesticide compilation in 1992, so I'll also include that song in this post separately.

For the past year, King Crimson mastermind Robert Fripp has been a very busy man. During the pandemic he's probably had the most notoriety for his video series with his wife Toyah Wilcox. They've been putting out goofy / fun cover songs...this has been great, but he's also been serving up another regular series that has been flying under the radar. This series is called Music For Quiet Moments . Music For Quiet Moments focuses on solo "Soundscape" live recordings that Fripp has performed and perfected since 1994. "Soundscapes" are an extension of his concept of "Frippertronics" from the 1970s. Frippertronics used actual reel to real tapes to create looping textures for him to solo over. Soundscapes instead uses digital technology and has a much more modern / sleek sheen. Here's a really cool example of Frippertronics from 1979: Here's a very awesome example of Soundscapes from 2000 that Robert performed before a King Crimson show: As a fun aside, I saw King Crimson on that tour as well. When I entered the venue early, as I'm wont to do, I went to the bar and ordered a beer. I heard ambient guitar enveloping the club and thought it might be Fripp. I looked at the stage and sure enough, there he was playing....and nobody was really noticing he was there!! I ran up to the stage right by his feet and watched him with about 2 3 other fanatics. It was mindblowing. Anyways... Music For Quiet Moments released a song in this vein every Friday for the past year. It started exactly 52 weeks ago this week, and the final installment was posted today. I eagerly awaited each installment, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do next week. I compiled them all into a running Spotify playlist, so you can hear the entire 8.5 hour collection of peaceful soundscapes. King Crimson did a similar year long series when they celebrated their 50th anniversary a couple of years ago...a rare recording every week for 50 weeks. I collected those into a large playlist as well if people are interested…

Guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody first came into prominence by being recruited to take part in the late 80s reunion of The Allman Brothers Band. This is where they met and formed a musical bond. Eventually The Allman Brothers band imploded again due to differences in direction with founding member Dickey Betts. Gov't Mule was formed out of the ashes of this with Haynes and Woody joined by drummer Matt Abts, who also recently left Dickey Betts' side project solo band (Mr. Betts must be a real nice guy!) Gov't Mule is a power trio in every sense of the term...with an emphasis on the word power . They also expanded the usual template of what a power trio plays, including a lot of hard funk, progressive rock and (free) jazz influences. They put out a few great early albums with this lineup. I was lucky enough to see them perform on tours for the 2nd album ( Dose ) and their 3rd album ( Life Before Insanity ) and they were incredible experiences. Here's some amazing footage from 1999 performing the instrumental Thorozine Shuffle : Unfortunately, just as their popularity was starting to reach a peak, tragedy struck. Allen Woody was found dead in his hotel room as a result of a drug overdose. Most bands would probably pack up shop after such a thing occurred (especially a power trio). However, Gov't Mule decided to turn this tragedy into a celebration of Allen Woody and bass players in general. They came up with the concept of The Deep End . This would be an album of new and cover songs that would feature a different bass player on every selection. They ended up recruiting so many bass players and had so much great material that they turned it into two separate albums ( The Deep End Vol. 1 and The Deep End Vol. 2 ). Both are excellent, so they both are today's pick! The list of bass players is incredible. A small sampling includes Jack Bruce (Cream), John Entwistle (The Who), Mike Watt (The Minutemen), Bootsy Collins (P Funk), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers),…

Today's pick is one of the first albums my parents bought me that was not a Disney record or something like that: Herbie Hancock's Future Shock . Obviously, Future Shock was built around the hit song "Rockit". However, this was not originally a Herbie Hancock song! "Rockit" was written and performed by Bill Laswell's avant funk band Material. In fact, you can see footage of the band Material playing "Rockit" while on tour in 1983, before Herbie Hancock's involvement. This Daily Motion post captures the moment, starting at about the 21:30 mark. Material at this time comprised free jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock, but by the time the studio recordings were made, he was replaced by the equally awesome Pete Cosey, who played with Miles Davis' crazed funk bands of the early 1970s. Fair enough. The band also included turntablist Grandmixer DXT. This song was probably one of the earliest exposures of mainstream culture to this art form and was a huge part of "Rockit"'s success and novelty at the time. Bill Laswell showed off an early recording of Rockit to Herbie Hancock, and he was excited and wanted to get involved. Eventually he added tons of synthesizers (including the iconic melodic line) to the song. Near the end of the recordings they incorporated an Africa Bambaataa sample (from "Planet Rock") which brought the song its hook and inspired its final title. The song was promoted by a cutting edge music video, produced and directed by Godley & Creme (who used to be the masterminds of the band 10cc!). It blew up on MTV and won a bunch of awards. The pinnacle of "Rockit" mania was probably the 1984 Grammy awards. The song was performed by Herbie Hanock (on a keytar!) with a bunch of dancing mannequins! This is where I first saw and heard music like this and couldn't believe that music was made this way. I bugged my parents until they bought me the record. If you really want to go down a 80s synthesizer internet rabbit hole today, I also suggest this completely ridiculous…

The Minutemen's guitarist / vocalist D. Boon would have been 63 yesterday if he wasn't killed in a tragic car accident in 1985. My favorite album by The Minutemen (actually, one of my favorite albums in any genre...by any artist) is Double Nickels On The Dime. A rare double album without a single bad song. Even the cover songs are awesome! It is pretty much the crowning achievement of The Minutemen, SST Records, california punk rock, american music etc! Words don't do this album justice or explain the impact it has had in my life. So I'll just let it speak for itself. PS For some reason, when it was re released on CD 3 of the songs were removed (maybe due to CD length constraints?). Spotify didn't add them back in, so I'm going to include them separately below, so you have the full experience!

Gary Numan was massively successful in 1981. He had 3 huge singles with "Down In The Park", "Complex" and especially "Cars". He was selling out arenas. This is why it was so shocking that he announced at that time that he was retiring from performing and broke up his band The Tubeway Army. He ended this phase of his career by playing a sold out show at Wembley Area, with a huge stage show that cost over $150,000 (certainly not chump change in 1981!). Afterwards he assembled a new "studio band" comprising Roger Taylor (from Queen) on drums along with members of the band Japan...Rob Dean on guitar and Mick Karn on fretless bass (who's fingerprints are ALL OVER the album they ended up releasing). As an aside, I simply adore Mick Karn's playing. I think he is a vastly underrated player. Here is some killer footage of him doing what he does best in a live setting Anyways, the album they put out was the ironically titled Dance because compared to Gary Numan's previous albums it was not very easy to dance to. It was a collection of mostly subdued, jazz fusion inspired rock music. The first side of the original album is practically perfect. Bookended by two songs that are nearly 10 minutes apiece ("Slowcar to China" and "Cry, The Clock Said"), this is an emotional slow burn. They did release a single from the album, "She's Got Claws" which did decent on the charts but certainly didn't reach the sales of "Cars". Shortly after the album's release Gary Numan reneged on his claim that he would never tour again and hit the road. He still however stuck to this sound for a few more albums ( I, Assassin and Warriors ) but in my opinion this was the best album of this era (mainly because it was the only one that Mick Karn played on!) The deluxe album released later included some great b sides, the "title track" from Dance that actually didn't appear on the album, plus the excellent non album single "Stormtrooper In Drag". The deluxe album is the pick for the day!

I first experienced the band Estradasphere back in the year 2000. I went to see Trey Spruance's (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More) weirdo music ensemble Secret Chiefs 3. Estradasphere was the opening act. They were a large group (including 2 horn players, a violin player, guitar, bass, drums). Not only that, they had a bunch of additional performers with them (fire eaters, jugglers, the "death metal cheerleaders" etc). They played a wild mix of just about every kind of music you could think of...jazz, rock, metal, folk, dance, country etc. They only had one album out at the time (the excellent It's Understood ) and I promptly bought it and became a rabid fan that day. If you want to see some great footage of the band during this era, their old home video (literally a video...I bought it on VHS at one point) called These Are The Days is available on YouTube. The following year they put out what I think was their definitive musical statement: Buck Fever . Buck Fever upped the anti in every possible way. The entire album follows a loose concept about a group of deer hunters. The music is extremely diverse, but all excellently played. There's not a single dull moment on the entire 70+ minute running time. At the time they marketed themselves with strange new self invented genres such as "Bulgarian Surf", "Romanian Gypsy Metal", and "Spaghetti Eastern". I can't argue with those descriptions. They even put out a super cool music video about a full on black metal song on the album about an uprising of Elk! Estradasphere put out a few more albums and eventually disbanded. Some of the members went on to become Amanda Palmer's backing band for a little while. Others continued with other bands following similar directions. Most recently High Castle TeleOrkestra and Red Fiction are two examples. Buck Fever remains my favorite to this day. Buy Buck Fever at Amazon

Smokin& 39; At The Half Note is one of the greatest jazz guitar albums ever recorded. This is not up for debate in my mind. Wes Montgomery in the mid 1960s was already gaining popularity for his unique and proficient guitar style. For example: He didn't play with a pick, instead playing with his thumb. He was basically sweeping the jazz guitar awards in Downbeat magazine for many years in a row. He was touring across the United States playing large jazz festivals. One of his secret weapons was he used the Wynton Kelly Trio as his backing band. The Wynton Kelly Trio consisted of the rhythm section from Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue album (Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb). The fact that Smokin& 39; At The Half Note doesn't get the same universal acclaim as Kind Of Blue has always been a mystery to me. While it's presented as a live album, only a couple of the original 5 songs that appeared on the album were actually recorded at The Half Note Jazz Club in NYC. The rest were recorded by Rudy Van Gelder at his studio in NJ. It doesn't matter where these songs were recorded and how they were presented to the public...they rule anyways. I originally heard this album when I was 13 years old. My high school band director made me a copy of his album on cassette and insisted I listen to it for inspiration in the jazz ensemble. It was probably my favorite homework assignment I ever received. In 2005 the album was re released with 6 additional songs from the sessions! This is the version that is chosen as my pick for today. Buy Smokin& 39; At The Half Note at Amazon

Iceburn was originally a hardcore punk band that was formed in Utah by guitarist Gentry Densley in the early 90s. Their early albums like Fireon were pretty straightforward. They eventually started incorporating more progressive rock structures in their music with albums like Hephaestus and Poetry Of Fire . By the time the mid 90s rolled around, Iceburn had expanded their sound and lineup. They included saxophones and additional percussion and started playing very complex progressive punk rock. One of the highlights of this era of Iceburn to me was their untitled split EP they put out with the band Engine Kid on Revelation Records in 1994. For Iceburn's half of the EP, they played 2 versions of their interpretation of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky's controversial composition "The Rite of Spring". They called their interpretations "Danses 10/93" and "Danses 4/94" presumably to avoid attention from the Stravinsky estate. I really love the way they arranged and played the piece for a rock ensemble. You don't necessarily need to be familiar with the original to enjoy this, but it likely helps. Engine Kid was a band formed by Greg Anderson, who later went on to start the successful Southern Lord Records label and played in many other bands such as Goatsnake. Engine Kid played a unique blend of instrumental doom metal and math rock. Worth checking out, but I don't think they were as interesting as the Iceburn side of the EP. Eventually Iceburn went full on into free jazz. They added more woodwind instruments, stopped playing compositions and went in a completely improvised music direction. Polar Bear Suite and Power Of The Lion are fine examples of this era of the group. Those albums are ok, but I much prefer when they were heavily influenced by progressive rock and 20th century classical music like they were on the split EP. Buy Iceburn / Engine Kid Split from Amazon

More bacon than the pan can handle. Mike Doughty was originally pushed into the spotlight fronting the band Soul Coughing in the 90s. It was a unique blend of rock and rap music. The lyrics Doughty penned were very witty and clever and brought him quite a bit of mainstream fame. Eventually the fame became too much for him and he dissolved the band. He's put out a huge amount of solo records since then, most of them self released and in limited quantities / distribution....but he has kept up a large cult following. The solo albums drifted away from the jazz / hip hop / rock sound of Soul Coughing. I mostly fell out of touch with his solo work, even though I remain a huge fan of his work with Soul Coughing. So I was excited that I recently came across a video for his new project called Ghost of Vroom. Here Mike Doughty embraces his old sound with a new set of musicians. Ghost of Vroom is a collaboration between Doughty and bassist / cello player Andrew “Scrap” Livingston (The Panderers) along with drummer Gene Coye. This sounds great so far...but even more enticing is their new album was produced by Mario Caldato Jr (Beastie Boys). I was surprised to find they put out an EP last year that was completely missed by my radar. Their new album just came out last week, and it's been in heavy rotation for me. Buy Ghost Of Vroom at Amazon

Black Flag are most famously known for their beginnings as a DIY punk band. Masterminded by guitarist Greg Ginn they were definitely pioneers in everything from the musical style, to touring, to running a record label (Greg Ginn started SST Records as a way to distribute Black Flag records but eventually expanded out to other bands). The band went through a ton of lineup changes but eventually stabilized with a lineup of Ginn on guitar, Bill Stevenston on drums, Kira Roessler on bass and Henry Rollins on vocals. This band travelled pretty far away from the original punk rock sound and eventually became more of a sludgy hard rock / heavy metal band. Albeit a metal band with a crazy guitarist playing atonal jazz like solos over the top of the doomy riffs. This is explored on albums like Slip It In and Loose Nut . At the time, this did not go over well with their original punk fanbase. In 1985 they released what turned out to be the swan song of this lineup The Process Of Weeding Out . This EP took the sound even further out. Henry Rollins does not appear at all (My original pressing of the record has a giant "INSTRUMENTAL! $6.98 list" warning sticker affixed to the front). It starts of with the almost 9 minute long "Your Last Affront". Keri plays a repetitive circular bassline while Greg goes wild over top. Bill tries to hold down a groove but eventually gets carried away in the din. The rest of the album follows suit. A unique blend of instrumental rock / metal with a ton of influence from free jazz and hard funk. This album basically broke up the band. Ginn went on to form the band Gone which continued in a similar style. Unfortunately the two albums they recorded with this mindset ( Let's Get Real, Real Gone for a Change and Gone II – But Never Too Gone! ) are not currently available on Spotify. I wonder if the title of the album was meant as some sort of truth in advertising statement. This is how they weed out the true Black Flag fans from the bandwagoners. It c…

Mike Keneally and Steve Vai were both part of Frank Zappa's touring bands at one point, playing "stunt guitar" (basically meaning they perform the more virtuosic parts and solos). Vai played with Zappa from 1980 1983 and Keneally in 1988. Both went on to successful solo careers after being employed by Zappa. Renown not only for their guitar prowess, but also music composition and playing other instruments. So it was very interesting to me that in the early 2000s Steve Vai reached out to Mike Keneally with an idea to re record some of his songs on piano. Keneally loved the idea. He transcribed and learned a bunch of Vai's songs on solo Piano. The results are contained in Piano Reductions Vol. 1 , which was released in 2004. Vai's originally hard rock based songs are presented here in their sparsest form. This is not to say it is a quiet, cocktail jazz album. To the contrary, much of the playing is very powerful and forceful. It touches on many of the fan favorites that Vai released up to this point in his career. Some of these songs I prefer in this state as opposed to the originals! I can't be the only one that loves to hear "Kill The Guy With The Ball" played by Mike Keneally on solo piano, right??

French band Magma is a pretty unique group in the world of rock music. Magma is the brainchild of drummer Christian Vander and his powerful music and overall vision basically stands alone. They essentially invented a new subgenre of progressive rock called "Zeuhl" that was known for its driving / repetative drums, throbbing bass, operatic vocals and sci fi inspired backstories. Magma also invented their own fictional language called "Kobaïan" that all their songs are sung in. Needless to say this is really bizarre stuff. It is hard for me to pick a single album by Magma, because in the early to mid 70s pretty much every album is excellent. I decided to go with their 1975 Live / Hhai album because it gives a great overview and shows the band at the height of their powers in a live setting (It is a recording of their performance in Paris in June 1975). The album starts off with the complex two part title track from Kohntarkosz . No warming up, they just jump headfirst into things and expect the audience to keep up. Insane stuff. The closing of the album where they play Da Zeuhl Wortz Mekanïk and Mëkanïk Zaïn from Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh is another astounding highlight. Of course, between these songs and Kohntarkosz we're already talking about close to an hour of music right there! The rest of the live album is just gravy after all of this. I saw a reformed Magma perform in the early 2000s. While they were still great, they didn't reach the ecstatic heights of this album. I'm certainly glad this document exists.

The 90s were a very weird time for music, especially major record labels desire to put out strange compilation albums. This was an opportunity for producer Hal Willner to go all out and really shine. Hal Willner was already known for putting together wild concept albums (His Stay Awake album interpreting classic Disney songs already brought him notoriety). However, his 1992 Charles Mingus tribute Weird Nightmare was probably his craziest and wildest. It is probably also my favorite of his productions. Paying tribute to the legendary Charles Mingus is already a tall order (either his bass playing or music composition would be challenging on its own). So Hal really took it to an extreme with Weird Nightmare . The fact that this was released on major label Columbia Records still blows my mind. He enlisted a huge array of musicians from a wide spectrum of music from rock to jazz (Bill Frisell, Vernon Reid, Henry Rollins, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Don Byron, Henry Threadgill, Gary Lucas, Bobby Previte, Robert Quine, Leonard Cohen, Diamanda Galás, Chuck D, Francis Thumm, and Elvis Costello all appear). He also received permission from the estate of Henry Partch to use some of his custom made instruments tuned to unique scales to make the record sound even more "out" than it already is. Not only that, but Ray Davies from the band The Kinks also filmed all the recording sessions and made a completely bonkers movie about it. You can watch the movie on YouTube. For an extremely in depth look at Weird Nightmare I recommend you read this detailed piece about it that appeared in the Washington Post when the album was originally released. The fact this strange album got this much press is also pretty astonishing. Of course, what I'm really recommending is the bonkers album itself. It's hard for me to describe what it sounds like, so your best bet is to just dive in. Hal Willner passed away last year due to complications from COVID 19.

Dark Angel was part of the original 80s thrash metal scene in California (although they were from L.A. and not where the most active scene was up in San Francisco). They never reached the popularity of the "Big Four" thrash bands of the era (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax). However, they were definitely in the next tier (along with groups such as Exodus and Overkill). They were formed by one of my favorite metal drummers of all time: Gene "The Atomic Clock" Hogan. As his nickname implies, his drumming is very precise. Not only that it is also very complex and fast. The first few Dark Angel albums flew under my radar when they were first released, even though I was well into the "Big Four" bands at that point. This all changed with their final studio album Time Does Not Heal which came out 30 years ago in February 1991. It Still sounds amazing in 2021. I remember buying this at Camelot Music in Lakehurst Mall (Waukegan, Illinois!) solely because of the hype sticker: "Nine songs, 67 minutes, 246 riffs!" I took it home, and it blew my 16 year old brain straight out of my skull. Gene Hoglan’s acrobatic, speedy drumming alone was worth the price of admission. This was definitely the most complex thrash metal album released at the time (far exceeding Metallica's ...And Justice For All ). There was a lot of progressive rock influences involved in the song compositions. Along with the technical music, the lyrics also incorporate very serious topics (also written by Gene Hoglan!). Check out the highbrow lyrics to songs like Trauma and Catharsis for example. This album eventually broke up the band. Gene Hoglan went on to be an integral part of other bands and projects (Death's Individual Thought Patterns , Strapping Young Lad's Alien , and the Dethklok project just to name a few) and he insisted for a long while that Dark Angel would never reunite. Eventually though, they did! In 2014 I saw a reformed Dark Angel perform at Maryland Deathfest! While the set mostly consi…

Ornette Coleman would have celebrated his 91st birthday earlier this week if he didn't tragically pass away due to a heart attack in 2015. He is most renown for his groundbreaking work in the early 60s, pioneering the avant jazz and free jazz movements. However, my favorite music from Ornette comes from his 80s band Prime Time. Prime Time was originally formed in the mid 70s with the release of the excellent, yet embryonic, Dancing In Your Head . It featured rock instrumentation (electric guitars! An excellent duo of Bern Nix and Charlie Ellerbee), rock drumming (PPP favorite Ronald Shannon Jackson was in Prime Time at this point but soon left to play with Cecil Taylor and eventually start his own band Decoding Society with Vernon Reid who went on to form Living Colour...but I digress). Dancing In Your Head is a great album in its own right, but the lack of sales and any record company support left Ornette disillusioned for many years afterwards. Eventually he formed a new Prime Time band in the early 80s. He retained the two guitar players, but added young bass hotshot Jamaaladeen Tacuma and went with two drummers ("Grant" Calvin Weston along with Ornette's son Denardo). This band explored a concept they called "Harmolodics" which basically means every instrument and whatever they might be playing is equally important. Ornette described it as "harmony, melody, speed, rhythm, time and phrases all have equal position in the results that come from the placing and spacing of ideas". What this basically means is instead of playing free jazz, the band is playing an amazing free funk! There are melodic heads of the tunes, but most of the band is playing free and independent of that, while the drummers switch off between heavy funk beats and free form soloing. Prime Time was so into this concept that they started their own record label (Harmolodic Records) and opened their own studio / nightclub in Texas (The Caravan Of Dreams) in order to promote this music. The first st…

Did you know that 80s hard rock icon Billy Idol was an internet pioneer? I promise I am not making this up. He was initially intrigued by the concepts in the book Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson in 1992. Around the same time he started working with Trevor Rabin, the guitar player for Yes in the 1980s. Rabin introduced Idol to using a Macintosh computer to record music at home instead of using an expensive studio. These two things combined proved to a perfect storm. Soon after he was introduced to Gareth Branwyn who helped Idol set up an account on early internet community The Well. He became very active in that community...posting his own messages, sharing his email address and interacting with fans. Through The Well he became very inspired by the Cyberpunk culture and internet technology and decided to write a bonkers concept album also called Cyberpunk . He completely abandoned his trademark hard rock sound and wrote and recorded New Wave / Electronic music. He also crafted an elaborate backstory and recorded little skits that tied most of the songs together. The music incorporated a lot of synthesizers, drum machines as well...however future Living Colour bassist Doug Wimbish also took place in the recordings of the album. The album even included a wild cover of Heroin originally by The Velvet Underground. It was released as the first single and they made no less than 5(!!!) music videos for it. Mark Frauenfelder, who later went on to start the early blog Boing Boing was hired to create the computerized album artwork using Photoshop. Billy also created a multimedia presentation explaining the album's backstory and early pressings of the album included this on a floppy disk. All of this stuff was basically first of its kind stuff for rock music albums, especially for a very high profile major label artist. Basically Billy Idol went all in on these cutting edge technologies and concepts! I happen to like the album a lot...but his long time fans and rock critics were…

Ozric Tentacles are a pretty crazy band. They are essentially a modern day space rock band...but unlike many of their peers their jams are usually highly melodic and not very meandering. The musicians themselves (especially mastermind Ed Wynne) are highly accomplished and technical players. Their first few albums were cassette only, and distributed at makeshift parties / festivals in the U.K. that they would hold in the wilderness. Eventually the Ozric Tentacles garnered further fame, and their albums reached a wider audience. They first grabbed my attention with the release of Stangeitude in 1991. Their albums were distributed to the United States and were much easier to obtain by this point. To me, this is their peak period (also included in this period is Arboresence in 1993 and Jurassic Shift in 1994). Part of what makes this era their peak in my opinion was the personnel. Drummer Mervin Pepler had a really forceful attack, yet a smooth grooviness to his playing. Joie Hinton was otherworldly with his approach to playing the synthesizers. By 1995, they had left the band to form the dance / techno group Eat Static and while Ozric Tentacles remained good (in fact I saw them perform a couple of times in the early 2000s, and they were positively mind expanding experiences) they were never really the same since then. White Rhino Tea comes out of the gate swinging and sets the mood of the album. They follow it up with the inventive Sploosh! the album continues to grow and build to the spacy climax of Weirditude. Expand your horizons and take a visit to the Bizarre Bazaar with Ozric Tentacles' Strangitude !

Last week the jazz world lost a giant in Chick Corea. His career ran the gamut from electric jazz fusion, to funk to jazz standards. Starting out his professional career with Miles Davis certainly was a nice springboard, and he did some pioneering things on albums such as In A Silent Way , Bitches Brew and On The Corner . He also is renowned for his duet work with Gary Burton. However, this post is going to focus on his amazing fusion band Return to Forever and Romantic Warrior (which in my opinion is their commercial and artistic peak). Return to Forever started out as a much more subdued jazz rock band, but after a few albums and lineup changes they turned into a highly technical, jazz fusion group with progressive rock tendencies. Obviously this is right up my alley. The "classic" lineup that recorded Romantic Warrior was Chick Corea (on mountains of keyboards and pianos), Stanley Clarke (on bass), Al Di Meola (on guitar) and Lenny White (on drums). This is jazz that rocks hard, with synthesizers and distorted guitar with pummeling drumming. While there are some amazing solos throughout the songs from all the members, the melodic unison sections of the songs are tightly played and are amazing. The centerpiece of the album is the 12 minute "Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant (Parts I and II)" which has to be heard to believe. In fact, I first bought this album from a college radio station record sale (for just a few dollars). I had heard of Chick Corea, but not this band...but what really sold me was a college DJs single word review of this song ("UNREAL!") marked in pen and then circled several times. All these years later, I still completely agree with this assessment. This is documented on my Instagram profile (which you should follow!)

Drummer extraordinaire Vinnie Colaiuta turned 65 last week. Back in the early 90s, I was an avid reader of Modern Drummer magazine. I would eagerly await the new issues and would devour every page. In October 1993, Vinnie Colaiuta was on the cover, and my life was never the same. Today I discovered that particular cover story / interview with Vinnie Colaiuta is available in full online! The interview mainly focused on his work with Sting and the incredible drum performance on Ten Summoners Tales . However, it also put a huge emphasis on his time with Frank Zappa...specifically on Joe's Garage . I went out and bought Joe's Garage soon after and that started my decades long obsessive fandom with Frank Zappa...but avid readers and people who know me know all about that already. The next year, in 1994, Vinnie Colaiuta put out his first (and I believe only) solo album in which he is the leader. By the time that came out I was in the middle of a full blown Vinnie Colaiuta bender, so naturally I bought the CD the day it came out. This is today's pick. The album displays a wide range of styles within rock and jazz, and obviously the drumming is completely over the top. I'd have to say some songs on here and probably the best drum performances Vinnie ever recorded. Opener I'm Tweaked / Attack of the 20 Ft. Pizza comes out with guns blazing. A super heavy riff, with Vinnie playing with the time...skipping beats and basically making it sound like the CD is skipping while still keeping a locked in groove is ear candy to me. The massive drum solo near the end of the song is icing on the cake. There are only a couple other full on rockers on the album (notably Bruce Lee with another wild solo and the hard funk of Slink )....the rest is stuff that actually was pretty spacy and out there. Sting guests on the nightmarish Chauncy and if you want to hear him play some monsterous bass for a change, this is a great track. Other high profile guests include Herbie Hancock on techno ish M…

Today's pick is the debut album by avant rock duo Hella called "Hold Your Horse Is". At the beginning Hella comprised of guitar and drums, but they made a large enough racket to sound like a march larger group (they later expanded to a 5 piece band for "There's No 666 In Outer Space"...but I digress). "Hold Your Horse Is" is a very mathy, yet melodic and jazzy instrumental masterpiece. For me, drummer Zach Hill is obviously the focus, and he is ferocious here. He plays otherworldly beats with finesse, precision and power and adds to the melodic nature of the songs. Subsequent albums got much noisier and obtuse and are not for the faint of heart. "Hold Your Horse Is" is a good start before you dive deeper into their challenging catalog. I caught Hella several times during their duo era and the shows were mind bogglingly good. They eventually put out a DVD as one half of the "Concentration Face / Homeboy" release. It is well worth watching if you want to see them actually pull this stuff off in a live setting. Zach Hill later went on to greater success / notoriety as part of the experimental rap group Death Grips. While they have their moments, I don't think they ever reached the heights of Hella, especially this album.

I recently watched an incredible documentary on Netflix called "Sample This". It recounts the convoluted tale of a studio group called The Incredible Bongo Band. They are best known for their cover of a song by surf rock band The Shadows called "Apache". The movie itself kind of spins it into the more modern day sampling of "Apache" by early hip hop pioneers such as Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash...but it really is an all encompassing history of the band itself. If you are unfamiliar with the story of The Incredible Bongo Band it is well worth watching. To quickly recap: The Incredible Bongo Band was a studio only band idea by producer Michael Viner. He basically wanted to bring the most incredible studio musicians together from L.A. to make instrumental hit records. It was never intended to be a real band. Photographs of the group during that time were basically people who looked good and not people who actually played on the recordings. When the band rarely toured, they were also not the people who recorded the songs but hired guns for the tour. The movie even includes the side story about prolific drummer Jim Gordon (who played with Beach Boys, Derek and the Dominos, Frank Zappa, Joe Cocker etc etc etc) who allegedly was part of the "Apache" recording sessions who went on to notoriety for going into a schizophrenic rage and killing his parents. Watch the documentary if you haven't already! This brings us to today's pick. The original studio album by The Incredible Bongo Band called "Bongo Rock". It includes "Apache" as well as minor hits like "Let There Be Drums" and their cover of Iron Butterfly's "In A Gadda Da Vida". Its still a totally over the top, fun, catchy record even almost 50 years after it was originally released.

Terry Bozzio has always been one of my favorite drummers. He started his career with Frank Zappa in the 70s, eventually working his way to 80s one hit wonder success with The Missing Persons. In the mid 90s he was riding high as a member of Jeff Beck's group (He even played on the Arsenio Hall show with Jeff Beck at that time.) Around that time he teamed up with Mick Karn (who used to play fretless bass in the new romantic / new wave group Japan) and David Torn (who rose to prominence putting out wild guitar albums on the ECM label). They formed a band called Polytown and put out an eponymous album, which is today's pick. I came across this CD in the cut out bin at a local CD store (plainly called The Compact Disc Shoppe) in the mid 90s. I bought it thinking it would be a bombastic progressive rock epic, but was pleasantly surprised by what I ultimately heard. This is a highly creative album that is hard to classify. Bozzio was just starting to increase the size of his drumset and play a ton of melodic phrases instead of typical rock beats. Karn slinks around the drum parts with his smooth fretless (and plays some bass clarinet!). Torn layers his guitar in effects and solos over the top...sometimes ambient and sometimes forceful. This is best listened to with headphones for the full immersive experience.

2020 has been a pretty wild year. Since I've been in my home most of the year (working and otherwise) this has given me plenty of opportunities to listen to brand new music. I listened to a TON of it this year. According to my internal counting, I listened to almost 500 new albums that came out this year. Yowza! Distilling that down to my absolute favorites has been challenging. I ended up creating a few ways to present this wealth of information to you. The first is the TL;DR; version of the list. These are 25 songs from the albums I enjoyed the most this year. If you want to hear the best of the best then this is the place for you: If you want to dive into the inner workings of my brain...here are the top 200 songs(!!!) from new albums released this year. It runs the gamut of all genres....death metal to country to jazz. 15.5 hours...this is no holds barred, but still all killer, no filler in my opinion. For those who want to do the deep, schizophrenic dive, look no further: If you don't want the whiplash of hearing Testament flow into Thundercat, but still want the deep dive experience, I've also broken up these 200 songs into genre specific playlists. So if you want to hear 46 Jazz songs or 70 rock songs, your experience is somewhere over here: I hope you find something to enjoy, or new treasures to uncover in these playlists. Here's to a better, safer 2021!

Christmastime is here again! However, things are a little different this year with the raging pandemic outside. This doesn't stop my yearly tradition of making a new Christmas Music mix, as I have since I was burning CD Rs back in 2008. This year's mix is mostly songs from albums released in 2020 with a few modern classics sprinkled in for good measure. Previous mixes are also listed below...including the now bursting at the seams 14.5 hour megamix! Happy Holidays! Wear a mask! Happy Holiday's everyone! 14.5 HOUR MEGA MIX! Modern Christmas 2019 It's Christmas Again? 2018 New Christmas Classics 2017 Merry Christmas 2016 Festive 2015 80s Christmas 2014 Jazzy Christmas 2013 Sounds of Christmas 2012 cRaZy ChRiStMaS 2011 Wacky Christmas 2010 Ultimate Christmas 2008

Today marks 27 years since the death of Frank Zappa (December 4, 1993). Frank Zappa is obviously one of my favorite musicians and composers of all time, so this is always a day I try to spend time listening to his music. Luckily, there is new stuff to explore! There is a brand new documentary film called Zappa that explores his life. It was created by Alex Winter and is excellent and highly recommended! It is streaming online on a bunch of platforms. A soundtrack was also released with the film and its pretty comprehensive. It spans Zappa's entire career from the pre Mothers of Invention material up until the final orchestral performances he conducted before he passed away. It also includes music from some of his influences (Stravinsky, Varese) and bands that were on his label (The GTOs and Alice Cooper). There is also an original score from the movie included by John Frizzell. More information about what is on the soundtrack and what records the songs originally appeared on (along with opportunities to purchase CD and Vinyl editions) can be found on the official Zappa website. The soundtrack is excellent listening for both new and old fans alike (as is the film). I encourage you to immerse yourself in Zappa's music today, especially the new film soundtrack.

Special Thanksgiving reminder that should listen to / watch The Last Waltz this week (as it is a holiday tradition in Casa De Phil). The Last Waltz was the farewell concert by The Band, filmed on Thanksgiving in 1976. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and is considered (quite correctly) as one of the best concert films of all time. The concert features notable guests such as Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison. A few years ago it was re released with extended footage and songs on Blu Ray. If you have never watched or listened to this historical rock concert, what are you waiting for?? Happy Thanksgiving!

Special day for the pick this week, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Today I'd like to draw your attention to the excellent Chicago band called The Cell Phones. They are a drums / bass / vocals trio that plays a highly energetic mix of pop, punk and grindcore. The grindcore influence mainly comes from the drummer (Justin Purcell), as he peppers the songs with blast beats and other unconventional rhythms. The bassist (Ryan Szeszycki) utilizes an acoustic bass, but runs it through a bunch of effects pedals making it sound like there is a guitarist involved when there isn't. Vocalist Lindsey Charles sings, screams and yelps on top of it all. It is basically a recipe for awesome. While they have been around for decades, they have remained under the radar. Here's hoping their new album Battery Lower is what finally gives them some wider exposure. It is a quick burst of energy (15 songs in a crisp 25 minutes) that should help propel you into the long weekend.

Today's pick is the absolutely bonkers 2nd album by the instrumental technical death metal band Behold The Arctopus called Horrorscension . Behold The Arctopus play instrumental music inspired by both heavy metal and 20th century classical music. This technical and progressive style is executed on a regular electric guitar and drum kit but involves a 12 string Warr guitar, an instrument that covers the range of a bass and guitar and is generally played by tapping with either one or two hands. BTA's original drummer, Charlie Zeleny, recently left the group to be a full time session musician, so PPP favorite Weasel Walter (of the Flying Luttenbachers fame) became their new drummer. This album focused on a very hyper focused, extremely complex, convoluted style of death metal that I believe is a benchmark of all future metal albums. Blinding speed with thorough composed song structures that take many listens for your brain to wrap around and comprehend. This is not easy listening by any stretch of the imagination, but is well worth the time you put into it.

Today's pick is the 1982 album from Neil Young called Trans . Trans started out as a standard Crazy Horse album, but turned into something much weirder quickly. Neil's son, Ben, was born with cerebal palsy. Neil believed he could "speak" to Ben through a vocoder. He also recently discovered the Synclavier, which was a computer where you could compose music and have it played back to you in a very 80s synthesised way (Frank Zappa also discovered the Synclavier around this time and put out many albums soley using it.) Needless to say, the Crazy Horse band was pretty pissed about how the album eventually ended up turning out. If you only know Neil Young for his folk rock or his ragged classic rock sound, you are going to be pretty surprised by how Trans sounds! Songs like "Computer Age" and "We R In Control" almost sound like Kraftwerk. Neil took this wild sound even further by later teaming up with the band Devo and re recording "Hey Hey My My" for his completely bonkers movie Human Highway , which I also highly recommend. Eventually the record label ended up suing Neil soon for putting out records that were "deliberately uncommercial and unrepresentative work". Neil was undaunted at least for a little while and put out other bizarre albums like Everybody's Rockin (50s rock), Landing On Water (more synth rock but without the vocodor) and This Notes For You (Blues Brothers inspired jump blues) before finally level setting in the 90s. This is probably my favorite period of Neil Young music though. Anyways, here's were all that madness began....enjoy Trans .

Today's pick is the excellent 1996 studio album from The Scud Mountain Boys called Massachusetts . The Scud Mountain Boys were formed by Joe Pernice (who later went on to greater indie rock fame as part of The Pernice Brothers and a bunch of consistently great solo albums). Obviously, they are from the great state of Massachusetts and the songs on this album are set in that area. Massachusetts is where Joe's songwriting really came into focus. The earlier albums, Pine Box and Dance The Night Away , had their moments but this is where it all came into focus as a front to back masterpiece. Extremely detailed lyrics describing heartbroken, downtrodden characters....with an excellent backing band providing the perfect mood. I've been re obsessing over this record this week and it still holds up the same as it did since the first time I heard it almost 25 years ago.

Today's pick is the epic progressive rock release Dancing by Mike Keneally and the band Beer For Dolphins. Mike Keneally first became renown for playing guitar in Frank Zappa's final touring band in 1988. He also participated in previous PPP Zappa's Universe show. Nowadays besides the MKB, he also plays with Devin Townsend, Joe Satriani, Dethklok and Andy Patridge. Afterwards he started his own band called Beer For Dolphins (now just called The Mike Keneally Band) that played Zappa inspired progressive rock. Beer for Dolphins was originally a trio but by the time of 2000's Dancing it had expanded to an 8 piece band with horns and a marimba player! Nowadays besides the MKB, he also plays with Devin Townsend, Joe Satriani, Dethklok and XTC's Andy Patridge. Back to Dancing ...Clocking in at 80 minutes, this album has it all. Goofy pop songs, instrumental epics, short bursts of sound and plenty of humor and social commentary. The song "We'll Be Right Back" is probably the centerpiece of the album for me and is now more relevant than ever with the United States Presidential Election fast approaching. I was lucky enough to see this band when they toured behind the album at Martyr's in Chicago...it was an excellent Dancing heavy set with lots of other fan favorites thrown in.

This week I read an excellent article about a Twitter account called Good Steely Dan Takes, which lead to yet another one of my obessive listening jags of the Steely Dan catalog. This particular tweet struck me as really funny, because it basically describes the recording of Gaucho , which is today's pick. Gaucho was the last Steely Dan album before they went on an extended hiatus in the 1980s and 1990s. They took their studio perfectionism to the absolute extreme...creating one of the most stunning albums in all of rock. Aja usually gets all the kudos (and it is indeed excellent), but I prefer Gaucho more. To illustrate how insane they went to reach perfection, it is best to mention "Wendel", which is the nickname they gave to the music sampler they constructed specifically for the album to achieve the perfect drum parts Drum recording)....even though they used the best studio drummers money could by in the late 70s, they were not satisfied! For the drum / music nerds out there: Here is a cool site I found with pictures and original owners manuals for the Wendel machine! Enjoy the massive excess that is Steely Dan's Gaucho !

Did you know that Yes included members of The Buggles (after they had recorded "Video Killed The Radio Star"!) for a short period of time? After the Tormato tour in 1979 singer John Anderson and Keyboardist Rick Wakeman disagreed with the direction of the band and quit. The roles were filled by Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes by way of a mutual acquaintance, manager Brian Lane. Yes' new sound was a really wild mixture of progressive rock, punk and new wave...and resulted in the Drama album. They never really sounded like this since...and until 2011's Fly From Here it was the only Yes album in which Jon Anderson didn't sing. This video, really ecapsulates the sound and era of Yes. If you enjoy this, you'll likely enjoy the whole album: After touring behind Drama Trevor Horn questioned his singing ability compared to Jon Anderson and decided to strictly go into music production. Howe and Downes went on to form Asia, effectively ending the band. That is, until Jon Anderson met up with Trevor Rabin to form Cinema (which turned into Yes) and had a huge hit with "Owner of A Lonely Heart". But that's a topic for another day. Enjoy the unique slice of Yes / Progressive Rock history that is Drama !

This is an old David Lee Roth focused playlist I made a long time ago, but Eddie is ALL OVER the Van Halen tracks here, so its worth a (LOUD) listen. One of the first stadium rock concerts I ever saw was Van Halen OU812 tour. Gah.Phil PlencnerHatfield & The North - The Rotters Clubhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/the-rotters-club/2020-10-02T16:09:47.000Z2020-10-02T16:09:47.000Z

Today's pick is The Rotters Club by Hatfield And The North. Hatfield And The North were part of the "Canterbury Scene" offshoot of progressive rock in late 60s / early 70s England. The scene obviously revolved around the Canterbury area and consisted of bands like Soft Machine, Gong and Caravan. In fact, Hatfield and The North consisted of members who recently left Soft Machine. They perfected a mixture of ulta complex jazz rock instrumental prowess ("Mumps") and quirky, humorous lyrics and song titles ("Didn't Matter Anyway", "Fitter Stoke Has A Bath"). If I were to pick one album to hear from the Canterbury Scene it would likely be The Rotters Club (although Caravan's In The Land Of Grey and Pink comes close). Soon after they toured behind The Rotters Club the band broke up and some of them went on to form National Health which focused more on lengthy instrumentals. Coincidentally after I decided on this pick earlier this week, a brand new article with a nice overview of the overall Canterbury Scene posted online yesterday, for those who want to dig deeper: Features The Canterbury Scene: How A Bunch of Bookish Bohemians Became The Monty Pythons of Prog

The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex released a new album today! I'm very excited. Jimmy Chamberlin, of course, was the drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins during their 90s heyday. His "Complex" band is entirely different as it's an instrumental jazz rock band....with his trademark powerful drumming fully intact. The new album is more focused than some of their previous efforts and is actually pretty catchy and melodic. I saw them perform one of their rare shows back when they made their live debut at The Drum Pad's 20th Anniversary show back in my Chicago days and even caught a quick chat with Jimmy along with Jeff Hamilton as they took a smoke break in the alleyway next to The Vic during the day long event. Nice dude, awesome drummer.

Last week I stumbled across this amazing compilation of undeground dance music from Sao Paulo, Brazil! Some pretty crazy / trippy stuff on here and it has been in heavy rotation here at PPP headquarters this week! Dig in!Phil PlencnerThe Rising and Are You Passionatehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/the-rising-are-you-passionate/2020-09-11T14:35:53.000Z2020-09-11T14:35:53.000Z

Today is 9/11. It's usually too overwhelming me to turn on the TV much on this day and watch the tributes and remembrances roll in. Instead, I use this as a day to annually revisit Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" and Neil Young's "Are You Passionate?" both of which were influenced by the events of this day in 2001.Phil PlencnerPride And Glory - s/thttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/pride-and-glory/2020-09-04T14:44:20.000Z2020-09-04T14:44:20.000Z

Happy Friday! Today's pick is the only album by the Zakk Wylde fronted group "Pride & Glory". Zakk Wylde was a member of Ozzy Osbourne's band (he wrote the song "No More Tears" and was part of that album's overall monster success). Soon after the No More Tears tour in 1994, he quit Ozzy's band to start the more bluesy / laid back Pride & Glory and play clubs. The album is definitely a HUGE departure from his work with Ozzy and lead the way for the band he started next called Black Label Society that had more continued success for the next couple decades in metal circles (though obviously not Ozzy levels of fame). He occasionally rejoins and tours with Ozzy, but more as a sideman and not part of a functioning group. Funny aside, when Zakk was touring behind "1919 Eternal" in 2002 he played the House of Blues in Chicago. I ended up interviewing him for the startup I was working for. He kept up a persona of the tough biker / metal guy through the interview. When it was over and the cameras were shut off....he invited me to hang around and watch The Simpsons with him and drink beers! A total persona shift as he basically giggled like a little kid through the whole Simpsons episode and goofed around with everyone in the room. Anyways! Pride & Glory!

Programming note: I have switched the format of PPP back to its original intent. Friday's only! Today is Friday, so here comes the pick! Mac McAnally released a new album this month, which always gets my attention. For the uninitiated he is primarily a songwriter and writes songs for popular country stars ("Down The Road" by Kenny Chesney is probably the most well known example). He has also been a member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer band since the early 90s...and has been Buffett's songwriting partner during that whole time. His solo albums are few and far between but uniformly excellent. "Once In a Lifetime" is no exception.

Today's pick is a cool industrial / postrock band from Belarus called Molchat Doma! It totally sounds like something out of late 80s WaxTrax! Records with a mostly monotone vocalist singing in Russian on top of it. Totally awesome stuff!!!Phil PlencnerLocal H - Pack Up The Catshttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/pack-up-the-cats/2020-08-19T14:55:50.000Z2020-08-19T14:55:50.000Z

Went down a nostalgic 90s rock wormhole today and ended up listening to a bunch of Zion, Illinois' finest: Local H! I love this particular album a lot...but before this "success" they bummed around the Lake County Illinois local rock scene.Phil PlencnerSly And The Family Stone - The Woodstock Experiencehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/the-woodstock-experience/2020-08-18T14:58:02.000Z2020-08-18T14:58:02.000Z

On this date 51 years ago, the original Woodstock Festival ended. There are always the ol' standbys from that festival that are deemed the "best of the fest"....Hendrix, CSNY, Joe Cocker etc. However, I'd like to turn your attention to the full Sly And The Family Stone set from the fest which is pure fire!Phil PlencnerTanya Donelly And The Parkington Sisters - s/thttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/tanya-donelly-and-the-parkington-sisters/2020-08-17T15:00:49.000Z2020-08-17T15:00:49.000Z

PSA The new Tanya Donelly album is excellent. Includes a great cover of the Paul McCartney / Wings song "Let Me Roll It"

PSA The new Tanya Donelly album is excellent. Includes a great cover of the Paul McCartney / Wings song "Let Me Roll It"Phil PlencnerOrville Peck - Show Ponyhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/show-pony/2020-08-14T15:03:28.000Z2020-08-14T15:03:28.000Z

NEW ORVILLE PECK IS OUT TODAY. 'NUFF SAID!

NEW ORVILLE PECK IS OUT TODAY. 'NUFF SAID!Phil PlencnerNeptunian Maximalism - Eonshttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/eons/2020-08-13T15:05:14.000Z2020-08-13T15:05:14.000Z

Today's pick is the massive 123 minute epic "Eons" by Belgian musician collective Neptunian Maximalism. They mix doom metal (Think Sun O)))) with psychedelic rock (think Grateful Dead's spacey jams) and 60's outsider jazz (think Sun Ra or John Coltrane's Ascension ) into a very intoxicating blend. Broken into 3 parts (To The Earth, To The Moon, To The Sun) each section has a discreet mood and direction, but the album works as a whole. An absolutely stunning masterwork. Highest possible recommendation. Put out by the always amazing Italian record label I, Voidhanger...I recommend deep diving into their catalog if you're into this and want more StRaNgE stuff (although they typically release stuff with a much more death metal focus)

Classical Music Hour! Today I'm highlighting this excellent recording of Elliott Carter's "Double Concerto for Harpsichord & Piano" . Conducted by Gutstav Meier this is a pretty masterful performance. The melodic keyboards are set against a very busy and dissonant orchestra with a great percussion section that deserves to be played loud and rattle the windows. Igor Stravinsky called this composition a "masterpiece" so who am I to argue?

Today's pick is the latest album from Georgia Post Punk band Algiers. A funky/soulful/rockin' album that will likely be near the top of my "best of 2020" list.

Today's pick is the latest album from Georgia Post Punk band Algiers. A funky/soulful/rockin' album that will likely be near the top of my "best of 2020" list.Phil PlencnerBab L' Bluz - Nayda!https://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/nayda/2020-08-06T15:12:01.000Z2020-08-06T15:12:01.000Z

Today's pick is the the latest album released by Peter Gabriel's "Real World" label: "Nayda!" by Moroccan rock band Bab L' Bluz. The label's press release describes it better than I could... "...singing words of freedom in the Moroccan Arabic dialect of darija. Ancient and current, funky and rhythmic, buoyed by Arabic lyrics, soaring vocals and bass heavy grooves, Nayda! seems to pulse from the heart of the Maghreb." Definitely an inspiring album with great music.

Luke Schneider is the current pedal steel guitar player in Margo Price's band. As part of that newfound success, he released an amazing solo album on Jack White's Third Man Records imprint called "Altar Of Harmony" . It's played on a 1960s pedal steel guitar, but sounds all ambient and spacy. Like a Robert Fripp Soundscapes album or something! Totally awesome!!

Today's unusual Pick is today's free stream of The Metropolitan Opera's version of Wagner's "Die Walkure"...which is free until 6:30pm. The stage scenery is a huge machine that has all 24 sections on an axis that spins onto the stage at the appropriate scene. Absolutely insane Paybill Article about the streamPhil PlencnerMakaya McCraven - Universal Beings E And F Sideshttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/universal-beings-e-and-f-sides/2020-07-31T15:35:52.000Z2020-07-31T15:35:52.000Z

Previous PPP regular Makaya McCraven put out a new album today of "outtakes" from his excellent album "Universal Beings" . It's hard to believe they are leftovers, because the songs are really great. Hitting the sweet spot on this Friday afternoon.Phil PlencnerThe Roots - Do You Want More?!!!??!https://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/do-you-want-more/2020-07-30T15:38:19.000Z2020-07-30T15:38:19.000Z

Today's pick is in tribute to Malik B. from The Roots. I first heard The Roots by the suggestion of the owner of Dusty Groove in Chicago in 1996 (back when it was just a mail order business with occasional "store hours' in a loft). "Do You Want More?!!!?!" was recommended to me and I was intrigued so I bought it. What an amazing album!! At the time hip hop and jazz hybrids was a newly emerging and trendy thing...but this was at a whole other level. Malik B. was a big part of that. Overall it's amazing to see The Roots trajectory to becoming the House Band for The Tonight Show. They deserve all the praise and accolades. Respect.

Over the weekend I re obsessed over a long time favorite of mine: "Rock Bottom" by Robert Wyatt. Robert Wyatt was originally the drummer for English progressive rock bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole (where he also sang). After Matching Mole broke up he was attending a birthday party and accidentally fell out of a 4th floor window. He was consequently paralyzed from the waist down, effectively ending his drumming career. "Rock Bottom" was the music that came directly after this experience. A very sorrowful album full of long expressionist jazzy compositions. The album was produced by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, so it has a lot of their earlier spacey ambiance throughout. His singing style went on to influence previous PPP Cheer Accident. Overall, a pretty great album to listen to in our continued quarantine.

Remember in the mid 90s when there was a "Lounge Music" revival? Here is a fun compilation I re discovered over the weekend that had Lounge singers covering 90s hits and 90s bands covering Lounge hits! Lounge A Palooza!Phil PlencnerCaleb Dolister - Daily Thumbprint Collection 3, The Wanderinghttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/the-wandering/2020-07-24T15:46:18.000Z2020-07-24T15:46:18.000Z

Today's pick is the amazing new album by the drummer from the Kandinsky Effect, Caleb Dolister. It's called "Daily Thumbprint Collection 3, The Wandering" . It's a pretty awesome progressive rock epic that was recorded over a period of 10 years, with dozens of musicians...travelling across the country to record them all separately and piece everything together. A truly inspiring work of art. Caleb also wrote an essay about how he accomplished the writing and recording of the album over on Medium that is worth checking out to get the bigger picture.

Today's pick is a pretty amazing (yet pretty obscure) 70s jazz fusion record called "Flight Never Ending" by percussionist Mingo Lewis. Mingo came into prominence by appearing on Santana's "Caravanserai" album in 1972. This is when much of the original Santana band split because it was becoming too fusion focused (Neal Schon went on to form Journey soon after, for example). Mingo stuck around with Carlos Santana as he went further into wild jazz territory with "Love, Devotion, Surrender" (the John Coltrane tribute collaboration with guitarist John McLaughlin). After this more "mainstream" (lol) stint Mingo joined Al Di Meola's band (who had just quit Chick Corea's Return To Forever band..one of my all time favorites and potentially a future PPP). They put out several albums together, that are all fusion classics...but when Mingo quit THAT band (confused yet?) he quietly released "Flight Never Ending". A completely killer slice of 70s jazz rock that takes even the stuff Di Meola did futher out in to outer space (a couple songs Mingo composed that were played by Al Di Meola were re recorded here and are better versions imho). The other players on the album are kind of shrouded in mystery as they may have been aliases of more famous musicians who were locked into other record contracts. ANYWAYS, enough obscure jazz rock history for today...enjoy this slice of awesomeness!

How have I been doing PPP this long and I haven't picked a Captain Beefheart album yet?? That deficiency ends today!! Trout Mask Replica is his most notorious album...but it's not on Spotify and is pretty confounding to the uninitiated. So I'll pick the 1980 album Doc At The Radar Station . This wasn't the "classic" magic band (although original drummer John "Drumbo" French drops by to play slide guitar and drums on a couple tracks). However, this magic band is still pretty killer! It includes Eric Drew Feldman who was the touring keyboardist in The Pixies circa "Trompe Le Monde" (and later was a member of Frank Black's solo band along with Jeff Tepper who also appears here). Guitarist Gary Lucas also is part of this band (who played on Jeff Buckley's "Grace" and also toured with Chris Cornell). The tunes are scorchers. High energy rock music with enough twists and turns to know it's involving nobody else but Beefheart. The lyrics are surreal and overall the package is a pretty great catchy raw rock record. It's hard to believe this was released on a major label (and the band also appeared on Saturday Night Live!). This will forever be one of my desert island discs.

It's Friday, which means new music. The excellent new album by The Chicks is here!

It's Friday, which means new music. The excellent new album by The Chicks is here!Phil PlencnerNate Wood - Four X.ithttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/four-x-it/2020-07-16T16:13:54.000Z2020-07-16T16:13:54.000Z

Today's pick is the album Four X.it by phenomenal drummer Nate Wood. On this album, he actually plays multiple instruments simultaneously (bass, keyboards, drums). Everything is played live with no overdubs. Amazing! Visual ExamplePhil PlencnerEddie Gale - Ghetto Musichttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/ghetto-music/2020-07-14T16:16:09.000Z2020-07-14T16:16:09.000Z

This morning I read about the passing of free jazz trumpeter Eddie Gale, after a lengthy battle with cancer. I first heard his playing on the fantastic Cecil Taylor album "Unit Structures" back in high school. That got some heavy rotation from me during that time. Later, when my obsession with Sun Ra took flight I heard a lot more of him, as he was part of the Arkestra for decades. But today's pick is his relatively obscure first solo album (released on Blue Note!) called "Ghetto Music". This is an absolutely underrated classic, mixing elements of free jazz, blues, gospel and soul music that was way ahead of its time in 1968!

The new Margo Price album finally dropped today. It's a great mixture of late 70s Fleetwood Mac and Kasey Musgraves. An excellent way to kick off the weekend!

The new Margo Price album finally dropped today. It's a great mixture of late 70s Fleetwood Mac and Kasey Musgraves. An excellent way to kick off the weekend!Phil PlencnerNot Our First Goat Rodeohttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/not-our-first-goat-rodeo/2020-07-08T16:20:48.000Z2020-07-08T16:20:48.000Z

One of my favorite albums from the 2010's was 2011's The Goat Rodeo Sessions. Well, they got the band back together and put out a second album! Great work background music if you’re into bluegrass or classical.Amy DeschenesJohn Fogerty - Fogerty's Factoryhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/fogertys-factory/2020-07-07T21:38:47.000Z2020-07-07T21:38:47.000Z

"Fogerty's Factory" is the band name that John Fogerty (of Creedence Clearwater Revival fame) uses for his new project involving his kids (Tyler, Shane, and Kelsy)! He runs a very popular YouTube channel of their performances. They have also performed for Stephen Colbert, NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, XM/Sirius and more. They recently put out a compilation album on streaming services such as Spotify with highlights from all their online content. They also re create the CCR "Cosmos Factory" album cover. A totally fun album!

Early morning PPP today, as I just read on the internet that prolific Italian film composer Ennio Morricone has passed away. He's composed scores for over 300(!!!) films, most famously for Sergio Leone westerns in the 60s and 70s ( The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly , A Fistful of Dollars , Once Upon A Time In The West etcetc). Ipecac Records put out an amazing 2CD set overview of a bunch of his "overlooked" compositions that is worth diving into anytime, but especially today. A personal favorite of mine.

Oh man, it's late and most people are probably already starting their weekend...but I wanted to just throw out this PPP because I was reminded of it this morning when a co worker sent that website for helping him sleep. One of the options in it was to listen to Number Stations which were old short wave radio stations what countries used in wartime to transmit coded messages. Many of them are still running today. Many years ago someone compiled 4 CDs worth of recordings of Numbers Stations, called it The Conet Project and released it. I happen to have the box set (because yeah, I collect recordings of literally everything apprently!) and it's pretty fascinating to listen to. Anyways, it's also on Spotify so join in the fascination! Also, The Conet Project's pop culture moment.

Today's pick is Swedish rock group Mats & Morgan. The group is named after the two principal instrumentalists / composers: Mats Öberg (keyboards) and Morgan Ågren (drums). They met as children and have had a lifelong bond playing music. Their music is a wild mix of jazz, rock and classical that is pretty hard to classify. They first came under my radar when they were part of the all star band that Frank Zappa assembled for the Zappa's Universe shows in 1993 (right before Zappa passed away...he was originally supposed to participate in the tribute shows but was too ill). Most of Mats & Morgan albums are on small, independent labels (most recently awesome DC based Cuneiform Records) and are generally not on Spotify. However, their "best of" collection is! So I'll pick that for today, as it is a pretty great overview of their body of work. Bonus footage: The complete TV broadcast of the Zappa's Universe concerts are on Youtube.

Today's pick is one of the originators of Disco: Disco Tex and his Sex O Lettes! Formed by Monte Rock III (who originally got famous doing slapstick on the Merv Griffen show and The Tonight Show). This was probably the first band to score a "hit" playing disco music ( "I Wanna Dance Wit'choo" in 1974) but for some reason they are practically forgotten about today. Monte Rock's last gasp was probably his cameo in Saturday Night Fever . My personal favorite is the first song on the album "Jam Band" which sounds like some sort of demented variation on The Muppets Theme or something where all these casts of characters appear and sing a part. Hilarious and fun. Let's dance!

Today's pick is the completely over the top Rick Wakeman solo album "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and The Knights Of The Roundtable" ! Rick Wakeman had recently left the band Yes, because he thought they became too boring. So naturally he started creating completely bonkers thematic albums, of which this is his 3rd (following The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Journey to the Centre of The Earth ). Obviously, the album recounts the tales of King Arthur in all it's excessive 70's progressive rock splendor! If that weren't enough, Rick wanted to do a multiple night run with full orchestra of the album at Wembley Arena...however it was already booked with an Ice Skating show during the same time frame...so he decided to make it a show on ice as well!!!! Check out this live footage of knights riding horses (on ice!!) along with mountains of synthesizers, triple necked guitars and every other possible rock excess you can dream of!

Finally: I read online today that Opeth's 2nd album "Morningrise" was released 26 years ago today. Wow! I remember special ordering this album at Chicago shop "Metal Haven" back when I first heard about it. At that time it was an import and took a long time to arrive. Well worth the wait... It still might be my favorite Opeth album, especially because of the opening song "Advent". A few years later, while working for Guitar.com I caught their first ever North American show, at Milwaukee Metalfest 2000 (Yes, they played Advent!) We ended up interviewing Mikael after the gig. My co worker John (who called it "the greatest show ever on American soil") asked the questions and I manned the camera. Here's my press pass from the day ANYWAYS I DIGRESS, let's listen to Morningrise!

Next up: Did you know that in the mid 70s Phil Collins (yes, THAT Phil Collins) was in an instrumental jazz fusion band called Brand X? This was back when Genesis was still a progressive rock band (before the big 80s hits). Phil was also involved in other prog rock and avant rock circles around that time (playing on a bunch of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp records for example)....but let's talk Brand X! Percy Jones is probably the best bass player you never heard of. Coupled with Phil's phenomenal drumming this was a rhythm section to be reckoned with. Their first album "Unorthodox Behavior" is their best, but the next few (before Phil departed the group) are also pretty good, but not reaching the heights of UB.

PPP Triple Feature today, since I'll be out the rest of the week! First up...awesome alternative rock band Hum just secret released their first album in 22 years yesterday!!! Their big radio hit was "Stars" from 1995, but their whole catalog is great. The new album does not disappoint!!!Phil PlencnerYacht Rock Etchttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/yacht-rock-etc/2020-06-22T22:08:36.000Z2020-06-22T22:08:36.000Z

Over the weekend I came across a MentalFloss article about Yacht Rock. This is always a fun topic for me, especially since we are now in the summer season. Yacht Rock is a pseudo genre of music that's basically 70s/80s smooth rock. More about it here, but the TL;DR about this is we're talking stuff like Hall & Oates, Steely Dan, Toto, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins...you get the gist. This is a total guilty pleasure of mine. Back in 2014 I created what I considered the definitive Yacht Rock playlist on Spotify. Rhino Records was running a contest at that time for "best playlist" and I submitted mine and won! They sent me a bunch of CDs, records and Rhino Records swag. Way cool! So here is the "award winning" playlist in all its glory!

I'm continuing my ongoing series of "debut albums that sound nothing like what they eventually became popular for" with Alice Cooper's "Pretties For You" . This is a psychedelic rock classic that shows none of the hard rock Alice Cooper eventually became famous for (even though the band is exactly the same as classics such as "Killer" and "Schools Out" etc.) It was also produced by Frank Zappa and released on his Straight Records imprint. Lots of weird time signatures, sound effects and a huge musical range. I wonder what would have happened if they continued on this direction?

Speaking of rock band debut albums that sound nothing like what they eventually became popular for: Let's talk about the first Journey album! Journey first formed as an instrumental prog rock / jazz fusion band with ex members of Santana's backing band (Neal Schon of course plus Gregg Rolle on vocals(!) before he got downgraded to just the keyboardist once Steve Perry arrived for "Infinity" ). The band also originally included Aynsley Dunbar on drums, fresh from his stint in Frank Zappa's Mothers. Like I mentioned, the first album is mostly prog rock based, and doesn't really reach for pop hits like the Steve Perry fronted group ended up doing. The first song "Of A Lifetime" is a 7 minute epic that sets the tone right out of the gate. There's even two instrumentals ("Kohoutek" and "Topaz") that veer into Pink Floyd esque space rock. In fact, they recorded a few more instrumentals in this vein that weren't included on the album (worth seeking out). Overall a pretty solid overlooked catalog album.

Today's pick the the awesome debut of Blue Oyster Cult! A prime slab of classic boogie rock. This is well before their fame with "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" and "Godzilla", but there are still hits that they still play in concert, like "Cities On Flame With Rock and Roll" and "Then Came The Last Days Of Mary". The album is overall a little more psych rock than the hard rock they became famous for, which is a plus. I also highly recommend the other two albums of their "Black & White Era": "Tyranny And Mutation" and "Secret Treaties" (So named, because the album covers were all in black & white)....but lets focus on their debut. Besides where else can you hear a song called "She's as Beautiful as a Foot"?

Jazz keyboardist Keith Tippett passed away over the weekend. While he had a lengthy career playing in all manner of wild avant / free jazz ensembles, he's best known to me as the keyboardist in King Crimson from "In The Wake Of Poseidon" through "Islands" During that stint, KC recorded 'Cat Food' and released it as a single. This is a pretty bizarre thing for rock band to release as a "hit single" even in 1970! The b side "Groon" is even nuttier. They recently re released the single including a live rendition by the current Crimson band as well as a remixed original single. Worth revisting.

I've been spending a few weeks sketching and crafting today's Pick and I feel like it's finally ready to start sharing with humanity...a massive, epic, inspiring playlist called Jazz For Our Times. 80 songs. Over 14 hours. These recordings showcase Black jazz artists focusing on the era of the late 60s and early 70s. Many of the tunes are focused on topics like Civil Rights, Black Power, Black Heritage and other relevant subjects. No "standards" or smooth jazz here! This music is as challenging as the subject matter: Avant Garde, Free Jazz, Afrobeat, World Fusion and even a touch of Hard Funk. Evan at 14 hours, it really still only scratches at the surface of this truly American art form. I've been fanatically collecting the albums featured here for close to 30 years, ever since I first stumbled upon 'The Major Works Of John Coltrane' back in 1992 ....and its amazing to me how it is all easily available on Spotify now as opposed to digging through bargain bins, record fairs, garage sales, dusty basements, tape trading networks etc to find many of these previously hard to find albums. I hope you are able to enjoy the entire collection....and I hope it inspires you to delve deeper into the artists, recordings and topics contained within.

Today's pick is a fascinating album of cultural fusion called Alo by Japanse band Ajate. Ajate blends African dance music with traditional Japanese music ("Ohayashi"). They are a large scale band (10 members) who's percussionists use hand made bamboo instruments as well as traditional Japanese percussion. Way cool!Phil PlencnerPeter Gabriel - Melthttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/peter-gabriel-3/2020-06-10T22:24:47.000Z2020-06-10T22:24:47.000Z

Last night I was revisiting the 3rd self titled Peter Gabriel solo album (later referred to as Peter Gabriel 3 or "Melt" ...Peter Gabriel ended up naming his first 4 solo albums "Peter Gabriel" and they were unofficially subtitled later to avoid the purposeful confusion). This album rules for a number of reasons, but part of it for me is the dark nature of the lyrics...Intruder and No Self Control especially so. This album's biggest hit was "Games Without Frontiers" with Kate Bush on background vocals, which would be enough to cement it in rock lore. However, it also marks the first instance of Phil Collin's 80's "Gated Drum" sound, as heard on Intruder. It was an accidental discovery while in the studio and came to define drum production on Phil's first solo album Face Value as well as other popular albums for most of the 80s. Another overall drum centric thing to note about this album is the complete lack of any cymbals on the entire album, at insistence of Peter Gabriel. This makes the overall sound really unique and brooding. I Don't Remember is also excellent as he came to refine this sound on stuff like Sledgehammer later in his career. (It helps that Tony Levin and Robert Fripp appear there as well...King Crimson alert!) Also: wow this album turned 40 years old last month!

Today's pick is No One Can Do It Better by The D.O.C. The D.O.C. is the unsung hero of early west coast hip hop. He was associated with NWA (co writing some of the biggest songs on Straight Outta Compton and Eazy Duz It). He put out this solo album soon after NWA's success...but his career was stalled by a near fatal car accident. After recovering he still co wrote huge hits that were included on Dr. Dre's The Chronic and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle , so he's doing alright. But back to the matter at hand: No One Can Do It Better is excellent. He doesn't talk about typical gangster rap topics...more brainy stuff. The beats are supplied by Dr. Dre (except for a few tracks where MC Ren plays live drums!!) so you know the music is on point as well. A complete classic!! As a side note I regretfully loaned my OG vinyl copy to an ex coworker about 10 years ago and never saw it again.

Over the weekend a friend of mine reminded me of this very obscure free jazz record by drummer Smiley Winters called "Smiley etc" . The first 3 songs are total free jazz onslaught with the drums at the forefront. A total barn burning session!! The rest are more straightahead blues and jazz that's closer aligned to what was typically put out on the Arhoolie Record label that this was released on. It also ends with a pretty nice little drum / bass duet. Super obscure and super cool (both of which are what Phil's Phriday Picks as all about!)

arlier this week, I did a "virtual shopping session" with my buddy Jack who runs El Supremo Records in Baltimore During that time, we went into long winded discussions on Frank Zappa (of course!) but we also went in depth on freaky jazz pianist / composer Sun Ra...which lead to a couple records being added to my "shopping bag". For the uninitiated, Sun Ra was supposedly an interstellar being from Saturn, and his Arkestra would play music from outer space. Sun Ra's discography is lengthy, and is convoluted as many of it was released on tiny independent labels, including Ra's own "Saturn Records" imprint (although he did have a brief stint on Impulse Records). So unless you're a hardcore collector, how do you even begin to dive into his works? Luckily for you longtime Arkestra saxophonist Marshall Allen (who still takes a version of the Arkestra on tour at the young age of 96!) put out a pretty comprehensive compilation a few years ago that is great for new and old fans alike. In the Orbit of Ra!

I neglected yesterdays pick, so short and (un)sweet: Slayer's "Decade of Aggression" the completely raw and awesome live album from their 1990 1991 shows, which coincides with the first time I saw Slayer in concert. The show for me was life altering. Aragon Ballroom, Chicago (affectionately known among local metal fans as the Aragon "Brawlroom"). The people organizing the show decided it was a good idea to set up folding chairs near the stage for people to quietly sit and enjoy their Slayer concert. By the time Motorhead finished their set and Slayer hit the stage the chairs had all become weapons / projectiles! I watched from a safe ish distance, which is why I am still here today! SLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Today's pick is the seventh album by the rock group Chicago. At this point in Chicago's career they were wildly successful (they already had huge hits like "25 or 6 to 4", "Make Me Smile", "Saturday In The Park" etc) , but had not crossed over into the strictly syrupy ballads that became their bread n' butter in the 80s. They recently bought a secluded ranch out in Colorado and did most of their recording there. They decided to write a ton of instrumental jazz fusion songs, with the intent to have that be the whole album! This was a pretty crazy move for a popular band on a major label in 1974. Some band members argued against it, and they eventually relented by making it a double album, with more pop oriented material sprinkled in. They stuck the bulk of the awesome instrumental fusion at the beginning of the album (in fact there are no vocals until halfway through the 2nd side of the first record, and there are 2 drum solos!!). The pop material was also great, especially since it included the huge hit "Wishing You Were Here" that included background vocals by 3 of The Beach Boys (which lead to the amazing "Beachago" tour in 1975). It also included their Pointer Sisters collaboration "Skinny Boy" (which was also the name of keyboardist Robert Lamm's solo album that soon followed after this album as well). This is an amazing time capsule of a time when basically anything goes for the band Chicago, and is one of my favorite albums in their catalog.

If I were to pinpoint my favorite saxophone player, Pharoah Sanders would probably be near the top of the list. He reached prominence as a member of John Coltrane's gnarly final quartet. His playing was very dissonant and free until around 1970 1971 when he started incorporating more groove based music / African rhythms. This leads us to Black Unity which I think was the first full realization of the sound he would continue to refine for the next decade. It features a very young Stanley Clarke on bass and a dynamic drum duo of Norman Connors and Billy Hart. The album is also a very apt message for the past week.

Today's pick is the new album by monster jazz fusion drummer Gergo Borlai. Each song is named after a famous drummer that inspired him (Billy Cobham, Gary Husband, Dennis Chambers, Keith Karlock, Steve Gadd, Kirk Covington, Peter Erskine, Terry Bozzio, Vinnie Colaiuta) and he plays the song in the style of that drummer pretending to "be" that drummer on the song. It's pretty amazing how he channels their styles and without knowning the concept and just playing the songs, you might believe the original drummers were actually the ones playing! Cool stuff...amazing drumming. Guest musicians are no slouches either.

Today the mood calls for epic doomy metal, and the new album by The Huntsmen fill this void quite well. I'm going to let this music speak for itself.

Today the mood calls for epic doomy metal, and the new album by The Huntsmen fill this void quite well. I'm going to let this music speak for itself.Phil PlencnerThe Creatures - A Bestiary Ofhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/a-bestiary-of/2020-05-28T14:30:17.000Z2020-05-28T14:30:17.000Z

A co worker enlightened me that Siouxsie Sioux is celebrating a birthday this week. Rather than trotting out old Banshees chestnuts today, I'll pick her side project The Creatures! This compilation combines their first EP ( Wild Things ) and first full length album ( Feast ). A strange mix of art rock and exotica music with Siouxie's unmistakable vocals.

Today's pick is the absolutely wild and hyper Blue Meanies. Chicago's strangest punk/ska band, they blew the roof off of venues there and across the country with their manic style. If you've never heard them before, I don't think you're ready for the sonic onslaught after just reading the words "punk / ska". My favorite Blue Meanies album is Full Throttle, but their whole discography is pretty solid.

Today's pick is the "Wazoo" live album by Frank Zappa. Recorded in 1972 and the Music Hall in Boston (now known as the Wang Theatre) it showcases the large scale, mostly instrumental band Zappa assembled in the early 70s after the breakup of The Mothers (Smoke on the Water etc....look it up). Eventually Zappa determined it wasn't economically feasible to continue to tours such a large band (20 members) and scaled it down to the 10 piece "Petite Wazoo" band. This recording is the full Wazoo band in fine form, playing probably some of Zappa's most complex and sophisticated jazz rock music he composed.

I got a PPP 2 fer for today, since I apparently missed yesterdays pick! Free jazz icon Archie Shepp just put out a new improv album with with rapper nephew Raw Poetic and vibraphonist Damu The Fudgemunk (I am not making this name up). The album is really hitting the spot today. Further reading about the project [here].(https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/how jazz legend archie shepp his nephew raw poetic and a cast of dc musicians teamed up for an experimental improvised album/) And as part of my 2 fer here is a playlist I made a while back (originally on 8tracks.com! with America themed songs! Happy Memorial Day everyone.

Glam rock / New Wave pioneers Sparks have a new album out, and it lives up as another excellent missive in their overall high quality body of work. For those not familiar with Sparks, I'm also going to include an old playlist I made (newly updated with songs from this album!) to today's posting as well. Sparks allegedly was an early inspiration for Queen (!!), they had a minor hit early on with "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both of Us". Their biggest brush with fame was 1983's collaboration with The Go Go's Jane Wiedlin "Cool Places" which was in heavy rotation on MTV. As I mentioned their whole back catalog is awesome, and hopefully the playlist is a nice overview for the uninitiated.

fter Herbie Hancock left Miles Davis' Quartet and before he formed the Headhunters, he had a relatively obscure band called Mwandishi. Their 2nd album "Crossings" was a way ahead of its time fusion of electronic and acoustic instruments. Even though they had cutting edge synthesizers involved, and Hancock duets with Patrick Gleeson on Moog(!!!) it retains a pretty organic sound overall. Of course, he later went all in on the funk and completely digitized his sound...and this likely was the launching pad of all of that.

Over the weekend one of my favorite jazz rock drummers Billy Cobham celebrated his 76th birthday. He first came into national prominence appearing in Miles Davis' awesome fusion bands in 1970 ( Get Up With It , Tribute to Jack Johnson ) but really blew the roof off when he joined the Mahavishnu Orchestra. (maybe a future PPP!) Soon after he left MO, he assembled amazing bands and released solo records. His first album, Spectrum , remains the high water mark and is one of my all time favorite jazz rock albums. However, during the course of my celebrating his recorded works this weekend I revisited Inner Conflicts for the first time in years and it blew my mind!! The first track is a weird out of character space rock odyssey with drums and crazy synths that he played / programmed solo. Worth the price of admission right there! But the other tracks are burning fusion tracks featuring all star lineups including Zappa band member Ruth Underwood, guitarist extraordinaire John Scofield (a previous PPP!) and pre Prince Shelia E!!! Don't sleep on this one. It's a banger.

Did anyone else catch the Prince & The Revolution concert stream last night?! Live in Minneapolis 1985. It'll be up on the Prince YouTube channel through the weekend, and then will be gone....so don't sleep on this! There is also a soundtrack on Spotify as well. Let's Go Crazy!Phil PlencnerScreaming Trees - Sweet Oblivionhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/sweet-oblivion/2020-05-14T14:58:35.000Z2020-05-14T14:58:35.000Z

The new Mark Lanegan autobiography ( "Sing Backwards and Weep" ) flopped through my letterbox yesterday, accompanied by his new studio album. While I haven't fully absorbed those yet, it did get me to revisit Screaming Trees "Sweet Oblivion" for the first time in a while...and it really holds up! It is their first album with drummer Barrett Martin, and I think that's when they really started to gell as a band. FYI Barrett when on to start his own bands (including the excellent Tuatara and the semi popular Mad Season).

Stevie Wonder is 70 today! Let's celebrate by listening to his bonkers double album based on the book "The Secret Life of Plants" . It was an ahead of its time album...one of the first recorded completely digitally and containing a lot of brand new synthesizers. It's unlike anything Stevie did before or since.

Here's a fun obscurity. In 2006, probably due to the success of the KidzBop series of albums Disney decided it would be a good idea to have a Devo cover band consisting of kids! They called it Dev 2.0. They released an album and a series of music videos at the same time. For the album, Devo actually re recorded the songs themselves and the kids sang the lyrics (some of which were changed to be "less offensive"). The whole project was pretty short lived, since the album didn't sell very well. One of the band members happened to be Jacqueline Emerson who went on to later success as Foxface in Hunger Games! Anyways, the album is actually pretty good!

Yesterday at the end of the work day, a PPP co worker and I lamented the fact that we were having a "case of the Mondays". We determined the best way to solve this problem was to Slack each other music videos from YouTube in an attempt to vanquish the malaise. I compiled the shared videos and put them into a Spotify Playlist for group enjoyment. It's probably pretty easy (?) to determine who chose what songs in the playlist. Enjoy.

Ex Paramore singer Hayley Williams new album is finally fully out today. She has been putting it out piecemeal throughout 2020...but this is the complete album. Pretty different than what you might think of for "solo album from that singer from Paramore" and that's definitely a good thing. Happy Friday.Phil PlencnerCupcakes - s/thttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/cupcakes/2020-05-07T15:11:36.000Z2020-05-07T15:11:36.000Z

Cupcakes were an excellent alt rock band from Chicago from the late 90s. Their drummer (Matt Walker) previously toured with Filter and then joined the Smashing Pumpkins after they kicked out Jimmy Chamberlin. Cupcakes got signed to a major label and he ended up quitting SP (which I wonder if he thinks is a mistake in retrospect as the band ultimately went nowhere). They released this one album in 2000 and its still something I listen to pretty regularly. I caught them a couple times in concert and they were even better live (One time they all dressed up in Teletubby costumes for their set! :D)

Here's a fun new album. You probably didn't think you needed to hear a jazz band performing Black Sabbath covers...but you actually do need to hear a jazz band performing Black Sabbath covers. Jazz Sabbath is the brainchild of keyboardist Adam Wakeman, who is actually the son of famous Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman. Adam is currently in Ozzy's live band and has played live with recent Black Sabbath reunions as well, so this is about as legit a tribute as you can get. They even made a funny "documentary" trying to make it sound like Jazz Sabbath came first and Black Sabbath stole their ideas!

I'm thinking of having some sort of recurring category of PPP called "unusual side projects" or something to that effect. With this in mind, here's a potential first installment! Back in the mid 90s, when Rush went on a hiatus, guitarist Alex Lifeson released an album by his heavy alternative rock alter ego "Victor". There are definitely shades of Rush in it, but there are no progressive rock epics...and its definitely inspired by popular mid 90s heavy rock. There's even some Nine Inch Nails influence throughout.

German band Bohren & Der Club of Gore started out as a doom metal band, and eventually morphed into an extremely slow, doomy minimalist jazz band. They first came across my radar in 2002 when Mike Patton's Ipecac label released "Black Earth" which was in very heavy rotation in Casa De Plencner that year (Sadly, not on Spotify!). They put out a new album earlier this year called "Patchouli Blue" that is worthy of more heavy rotation here...and is a fine compliment to our current world situation. Dim the lights, and put this on.

Afrobeat drumming legend Tony Allen passed away this week. He was famous of being part of Fela Kuti's Africa '70 band, and eventually teamed up with Damon Albarn in The Good, The Bad and The Queen. He also put out a bunch of excellent solo albums...his latest which only came out a month ago. This is today's pick!Phil PlencnerThe Moog Cookbook - Ye Olde Space Bandhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/ye-olde-space-band/2020-04-30T15:33:51.000Z2020-04-30T15:33:51.000Z

The Moog Cookbook is a fun "band" that was formed by the Keyboardist of power pop band Jellyfish after their breakup. He teamed up with another keyboard playing buddy (who later ended up playing live in a reformed version of The Who, but I digress!). The concept was to play cover songs of popular hits entirely on Moog synthesizers. The first album is my favorite, as they cover alternative rock hits from the 90s (sadly, not on Spotify!) but the follow up in which they perform Classic Rock gems is still pretty great.

I recently bought some records from a local small business (Celebrated Summer Records), and they arrived yesterday. One of them is the new Grimes album. This slab of dark, apocalyptic electro pop is a fitting soundtrack for our times.Phil PlencnerJim Hall - Conceirtohttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/conceirto/2020-04-28T15:39:00.000Z2020-04-28T15:39:00.000Z

Back in the early/mid 90s there was an excellent (yet plainly and aptly named) music store next to my local Best Buy called The Compact Disc Shop. I spent many Saturdays digging through the giant room they had in the back devoted to jazz and blues CDs....especially their ridiculously abundant cut out bin (does anyone remember cut out bins?! Oh how I miss cut out bins!). I would consult by trusty All Music Guide (book! Before the website!) during the week and go into there with names of musicians and albums floating in my head that I wanted to check out. Jim Hall's "Concierto" was one such album I found in the bin, but I hadn't yet read about it (or Jim Hall for that matter). I was struck by the rest of the lineup which were big time names in my brain at the time: Steve Gadd, Paul Desmond, Chet Baker, Ron Carter! I snatched it up pretty quickly (I doubt I paid more than $3 for it...thanks again The Compact Disc Shop's cut out bin!) I'm glad I did because I still listen to it pretty regularly. A mostly great 70s guitar jazz session...with the exception of the beyond amazing 20 minute rendition of Joaquín Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez". If you haven't heard this one before, you're in for a treat!

Today I'm setting my sights on Dengue Fever, an american cover band who mostly plays covers of 60s era psychedelic rock from Cambodia!! They achieved some greater success eventually, but I always preferred their first album, which best encapsulates their modus operandi.Phil PlencnerDanzig - Sings Elvis and Lullaby Wu Tanghttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/sings-elvis/2020-04-24T15:43:55.000Z2020-04-24T15:43:55.000Z

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY! Today is a 2 fer....I think the titles are pretty self explanatory.

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY! Today is a 2 fer....I think the titles are pretty self explanatory.Phil PlencnerPink Floyd - Live At Pompeiihttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/live-at-pompeii/2020-04-23T15:47:06.000Z2020-04-23T15:47:06.000Z

Right before Pink Floyd started recording Dark Side Of The Moon (and becoming mega mega mega rock stars), they were a really wild space rock band. It culminated with their live performance in the ruins of Pompeii in 1971. The documentary / concert film is one of my favorite documents of a live band in action in their prime. About 12 years ago I had the opportunity to visit Pompeii and made a point to spend time just sitting in the old amplitheatre there and just imaging what is was like there when Pink Floyd filled the air with their music. (I guess other historic stuff happened in Pompeii too). It's worth tracking down the concert film, but Pink Floyd also had a massive rarities boxed set release series a few years ago and one of the sets had the complete audio recording of Live In Pompeii. This is today's pick (Disc 2 of the set). Disc 1 is also great because it contains studio sessions from the excellent Obscured By Clouds movie soundtrack.

Who here is into hyper speed Romanian Brass bands? :raised hand:Today's pick is Radio Pascani by Fanfare Ciocarlia! Fanfare Ciocarlia was a local dance band from a remote town in Romainia, who was discovered by a documentary film maker. They eventually toured Europe and the United States putting out albums along the way. I first heard about them around 1998 1999 when Radio Pascani came out because Trey Spruance (of Faith No More / Mr. Bungle / Secret Chiefs 3 fame) wrote a review about the album saying they were hyper complex music and "faster than Napalm Death". Obviously, I was very intrigued! (And Trey was very much correct). I eventually had the pleasure of seeing them perform at a free festival at Grant Park in Chicago in 2003 and it was awesome! (Especially watching people attempt to dance to their more zippy numbers). Their more recent albums are still good, but they've kind of smoothed out the rough edges and toned down their sound over time. I'll stick to this one

Did you know that Carlos Santana put out a free jazz record with Alice Coltrane, Dave Holland and Jack Dejohnette? In the mid 70s Santana broke up his band and went into wild excursions like this. There are other albums from this era that are well worth checking out...but this one is awesome, and it's right here.Phil PlencnerThomas Dolby - The Flat Earthhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/the-flat-earth/2020-04-20T15:57:16.000Z2020-04-20T15:57:16.000Z

One of the perks / things I miss about working for Johns Hopkins was the ability to interact with Thomas Dolby. The man behind the novelty hit "She Blinded Me With Science" had a very interesting post hit career....balancing a unique blend of music and technology. He eventually ended up as a professor at Johns Hopkins and spearheading their new Digital Media school. Even though I wasn't a student in any of his classes, I still dropped by his office hours and if he wasn't busy he would love to talk about his experiences and where he sees digital music going in the future. Fascinating person. Anyways, in the early years of his band his bass player was Matthew Seligman...who later became a pretty world renown session musician in his own right. He passed away over the weekend due to COVID 19, which is what brings me back to today's pick. The excellent 2nd album by Thomas Dolby "The Flat Earth" where Matthrew is featured predominately thoughout. I'll also highlight one of my favorite Thomas Dolby songs that was originally on an EP that contained "She Blinded Me With Science" called "One Of Our Submarines". It eventually got tacked onto re issues of "Golden Age Of Wireless" once SBMWS became a huge hit.

The new Fiona Apple album dropped today, so I know what I'm listening to. Happy Friday! Further reading

The new Fiona Apple album dropped today, so I know what I'm listening to. Happy Friday! Further readingPhil PlencnerLee Konitz - Satorihttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/satori/2020-04-16T16:02:32.000Z2020-04-16T16:02:32.000Z

Alto Saxophone legend Lee Konitz passed away yesterday, due to pneumonia / COVID 19 complications. His contribution to jazz is impossible to quantify at this point....but this particular album from the 70s is one of my personal favorites. It's hard to go wrong when your backing band consists of Martial Solal, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette.

If there is one band I have probably listened to and enjoyed the longest in my life, it has to be Iron Maiden. Ever since a classmate smuggled me a cassette of Powerslave back in '85 I've been hooked! One of the great things about Iron Maiden is the level of quality in everything they do, from their songs and albums to their elaborate concerts. Even their latest studio album Book of Souls was amazingly good (It was also a triple album, over 90 minutes long!) Observant team members might also remember me sneaking away from the group during our team building outing last summer to play an Iron Maiden pinball machine that happened to be at the barcade.....boy, I can talk about Iron Maiden all day! Phil! What is the meaning of all this?! The point is that the very first Iron Maiden studio album came out 40 years ago yesterday! Wow! While the first album didn't have the "classic" lineup in place yet (Bruce Dickenson and Nicko McBrain were still a few years away from joining) it still has the Steve Harris / Dave Murray combo which is one of the best guitar / bass duos in all of rock. It also contains songs that are still concert staples today ("Running Free", "Phantom Of The Opera", "Sanctuary", "Iron Maiden"). Enough, Phil! Stop talking about Iron Maiden! Just give us the pick! (UP THE IRONS!!!!!)

Today's pick is the debut EP from Luscious Jackson. This was the first release on the Beastie Boy's Grand Royale label. LJ drummer Kate Schellenbach was an early member of the Beastie Boys during their punk rock days (you can here her bash away on the Pollywog Stew EP!) Definitely a little more hip hop influenced than some of their later albums. Still holds up pretty well today 28 years later!

When people generally think back to 80s traditionalist country music, George Strait is probably the first, biggest star that comes to mind. Coming up at the same time was John Anderson. He had a string of huge chart toppers in the early 80s (I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Someday), Swingin') and even had a decent resurgence in the pop country boom of the early 90s (Straight Tequila Night, Seminole Wind, Money In The Bank). Last week he released his first album in 11 years(!!!) and it is really good. I hope this will lead to more frequent missives from his studio:

I suspect what you didn't think was missing in your life (but most definitely is missing in your life!) is a 1970s progressive rock band with flamenco influences! Carmen is the answer to your prayers! The beyond bonkers album "Fandangos in Space" is today's pick! Check out the carefully recorded dancing on several of the songs as well!Phil PlencnerGrand Funk Railroad - Good Singin' Good Playin'https://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/good-singin-good-playin/2020-04-09T14:57:21.000Z2020-04-09T14:57:21.000Z

If there was an award for Truth In Advertising for Album Titles, the 1976 record by Grand Funk Railroad called "Good Singin' Good Playin'" would win hands down. This was the final album before their initial breakup, and it is quite a doozy. It was actually produced by PPP favorite Frank Zappa...and alert listeners might hear him rip out a gnarly guitar solo on "Out To Get You" as well. This album didn't contain any of Grank Funk's big hits, but in a perfect world every song here would be huge. Extra credit

Today's pick is the almighty 1995 release by Mike Watt called "Ball Hog Or Tugboat?" . Mike Watt, of course, is the bass player from seminal punk rock band The Minutemen (and later of fIREHOSE). If you want to choose one album as an amazing mid 90s alternative rock time capsule, this is it! Czech out the Wikipedia page to see the looooooong list of collaborators on the album that basically scream "90s alt rock!". Stylistically it runs the gamut too...including a pretty rad cover to Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain". I first saw Mike Watt's band perform these songs opening for Primus in the summer of 1995 and was completely blown away. Soon afterwards, I ended up buying the limited edition, long box version of the album, which is still a prized possession. Later that fall, I saw Watt perform again at the much smaller Metro club in Chicago, with an all star band...which was recently released as a live album if you'd like to dig into that for extra credit.

You might know of bass virtuoso Thundercat without realizing it. He has played and been a major contributor to other artists outside of his solo work that have reached large acclaim (Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, Kamasai Washington, Suicidal Tendencies, Mac Miller etcetcetc). His new album is pretty great...not as wide reaching as his previous album, Drunk, but it nevertheless is still an excellent example of modern day soulful jazz funk fusion.

Today's pick is the mysterious Von LMO. He was originally part of the early NYC No Wave scene as a member of Red Transistor. Eventually he built up a persona that he was from outer space and formed a space rock / hard rock band that is truly out of this world! The album was aptly called Future Language . Spotify has a re release of the album that also includes the not quite as strong 2nd album Tranceformer as well as a few tracks from Red Transistor . If you wanna dive even deeper Von LMO formed a new band about 10 years ago called Avant Duel that is a lot more dance / techno oriented but still pretty wild and psychedelic. Further reading

Today, I'm trying something a little different. I made a few mixes of songs from my personal music library that are (mostly) not available on Spotify. Here is the first episode, I have 3 more that are ready to upload to my profile (hopefully later this afternoon & evening). Enjoy the weird tunes!Phil PlencnerCristina - Ze Debut Redux Albumhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/ze-debut-redux-album/2020-04-02T15:10:45.000Z2020-04-02T15:10:45.000Z

The news lit up yesterday about the passing of Fountain of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger. A terrible loss for the rock world. I had the pleasure of hanging out with him (and the rest of FoW) right after Welcome Interstate Manager's came out. They were all super nice guys. A lot of talent and fun. However, lost in the shuffle of that news was the passing of seminal No Wave / Disco singer Cristina...who also passed away from complications from COVID 19. She was married to the founder of Ze records, which was a pretty huge piece of the puzzle of the early NYC No Wave / Disco / Funk scene in the early 80s...Was (Not Was), Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Material etc etc. ANYWAYS, Christina's debut album for that label is an excellent timepiece of 80s NYC...Spotify has the reissue with bonus tracks from the same era including her swanky cover of Drive My Car. Blame It On Disco!

Today's pick is an awesome space rock epic by French obscurity Heldon. "Stand By" is part of their latter triology of albums, that opens with the Epic 20+ minute "Bolero". If you like this, I'd also recommend "Interface" from the same era.Phil PlencnerChicago Underground Quartet - Good Dayshttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/good-days/2020-03-31T15:55:31.000Z2020-03-31T15:55:31.000Z

At the risk of tumbling down a Chicago fringe jazz / post rock rabbit hole today, I'm picking the new album from The Chicago Underground Quartet...perhaps aptly / optimistically called "Good Days". The Chicago Underground moniker is utilized by Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor. They are both veterans of the aforementioned local Chicago music scene (Tortoise, Isotope 217, Exploding Star Orchestra etc). This new album maintains their high level of quality and has my seal of approval.

A friend of mine recently challenged me to create a playlist of 20 songs that only contains awesome songs that appear as the first track on an album. This is my answer to this challenge.

A friend of mine recently challenged me to create a playlist of 20 songs that only contains awesome songs that appear as the first track on an album. This is my answer to this challenge.Phil PlencnerJohnny Falstaff - Lost In The City Lightshttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/lost-in-the-city-lights/2020-03-27T15:59:44.000Z2020-03-27T15:59:44.000Z

How about some old school traditional sounding country music for a Friday? Texas country music lifer Johnny Falstaff recently put out a new album that is excellent. I look forward to the days where I too can become Lost In The City Lights again. Happy Friday everyone.Phil PlencnerHank Mobley - No Room For Squareshttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/no-room-for-squares/2020-03-26T16:01:44.000Z2020-03-26T16:01:44.000Z

I was reading a new career overview of Hank Mobley over my morning coffee today and it reminded me of how excellent "No Room For Squares" is. Lots of jazz heavyweights in his band at the time (Herbie Hancock, Philly Jo Jones, Andrew Hill, Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan), some in early stages of their careers (1963). A total classic hard bop record!Phil PlencnerMinistry - Live Necronomiconhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/live-necronomicon/2020-03-25T16:04:51.000Z2020-03-25T16:04:51.000Z

It was announced late yesterday that Bill Reiflin, another major drumming influence of mine, passed away after a long battle with cancer. He had quite a lengthy and wide encompassing career. Playing in Ministry, R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, and most recently King Crimson. As a rebellious youth, I was slack jawed watching the Ministry home video "In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up" which documented their 1989 tour. I couldn't believe the power and precision from the two drummers, including Reiflin. A year or so later, I went to see a Ministry side project (let's just call them RevCo) which also featured him and it was a life altering experience! The last time I saw him perform was in 2014 during his last U.S. tour with King Crimson. Today's pick is the fairly recently released live album by Ministry, which includes the full set of the 1989 Chicago show originally released in truncated form on "In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up" .

Phil's Phriday Picks Video Edition!! Does anyone here remember the punk rock concert film Urgh! A Music War ? It was a staple on the USA Network in the late 80s/early 90s (especially during their late night programs). I taped it off of the TV back then and was delighted to find a semi official DVD release several years ago which I also purchased. I was listening to the 2LP soundtrack last night and was disappointed to find that it is not on Spotify!! However, someone has created a playlist of the studio tracks that coincide with the live versions from the movie...they are not as good in many cases, so luckily there someone also made a YouTube playlist of the concert film (that is MOSTLY there). The Police! Oingo Boingo! Devo! XTC! Klaus Nomi! etcetcetc!!!

Do you want to hear a jazz rock band playing with the energy and intensity of a punk band? Of course you do! Bill Bruford's band in the late 70s (after he quit UK and before he re joined King Crimson) fits that description. Especially so on their live album "The Bruford Tapes" which was originally a radio broadcast of a New York show in 1979.

Dun was an amazing French band who only put out one album in the early 80s. They played a style of music called Zeuhl which is a pretty obscure offshoot of jazz rock that incorporates trance like driving drums, throbbing basslines and (usually) choral vocals. Magma was the originator of this style of music and is still the band from which all others are measured (don't get me started on a long Zeuhl tangent!!!). Anyways, the album Eros was recently re released with bonus tracks of their rehearsal tapes and it's awesome. PM me for more Zeuhl recommendations.

My friend Neil’s pop punk band recently put out a new album aptly called “just calm down”. Worth a spin or two...

My friend Neil’s pop punk band recently put out a new album aptly called “just calm down”. Worth a spin or two...Phil PlencnerFrank Zappa - The Roxy Performanceshttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/the-roxy-performances/2020-03-18T16:16:23.000Z2020-03-18T16:16:23.000Z

Popping in to remind everyone that Frank Zappa's 1973 touring band was awesome, and their performance at The Roxy is a creative peak of all of rock n' roll. ...and if you REALLY want to go all in, here is the complete run of shows there, totaling 8 hours for your self isolating needs.Phil PlencnerShooby Taylor - The Human Hornhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/the-human-horn/2020-03-17T16:19:01.000Z2020-03-17T16:19:01.000Z

Warning: Ancient Internet History Rabbit Hole... Way back in the year 2000 (which seems like a lifetime ago!) I was reading the online message board of NJ Radio Station WFMU, who was known for their vast spectrum of strange music programs. I can't remember completely but they may have also been streaming shows via RealAudio(!!!!) back at that time...and if they were I was listening to those too. There was a bunch of hype about DJ Irwin Chusid putting out a new book of "outsider" music that I quickly bought called "Songs In The Key Of Z" . It also had a companion CD of the same name, which I bought at the same time as the book. This was mainly due to my interest in Captain Beefheart and Wesley Willis who were included in the aforementioned media. While the whole compilation CD was pretty eye opening, I was pretty floored by an artist named Shooby "The Human Horn" Taylor! He apparently was a person who went into "pay by the hour" recording booths and did really WACKY scat singing over jazz and easy listening records. Completely crazy. I ended up spending months searching Napster / AudioGalaxy etc for any other random recordings I could find by him. I accumulated a large set of songs, each wilder than the next. Nowadays, music discovery is completely different....and the complete recorded works of Shooby is on Spotify in a single collection...So you guys have it easy! Dig into this, because I can't even describe how fun and awesome it is. Further reading on Shooby "The Human Horn" Taylor Bonus: "Songs In The Key of Z" is also on Spotify!

The new album from jazz drummer / DJ / MC Kassa Overall is excellent. You should listen to it.

The new album from jazz drummer / DJ / MC Kassa Overall is excellent. You should listen to it.Phil PlencnerRodrigo y Gabriela - Mettal EPhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/mettal-ep/2020-02-28T16:24:25.000Z2020-02-28T16:24:25.000Z

Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela put out new music for the first time in several years today. If you want to hear acoustic instrumental versions of 3 thrash metal classics, look no further!!!Phil PlencnerDeep Purple - Fireballhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/fireball/2020-02-21T11:56:45.000Z2020-02-21T11:56:45.000Z

Over the past 3 day weekend I was succumbed to a classic rock station and heard an old standby Deep Purple song. This lead me to re examine their early catalog. Deep Purple's most popular albums are defined by the "hits"..... Deep Purple In Rock ("Speed King", "Child in Time") and of course the gargantuan Machine Head ("Highway Star", "Maybe I'm a Leo", "Space Truckin", "Smoke On The Water"). However, sandwiched in between those albums is the seemingly forgotten album Fireball . The title track alone is worth the price of admission with its crazed organ solo and hard driving drumming....most of the rest of the album follows suit, bringing THE ROCK & ROLL! Crank it up.

Valentines Day means 80s Hard Rock Power Ballads!!!

Valentines Day means 80s Hard Rock Power Ballads!!!Phil PlencnerMakaya McCraven - We're New Againhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/were-new-again/2020-02-07T12:02:03.000Z2020-02-07T12:02:03.000Z

Today's Phil's Phriday Pick is the latest release by Chicago based drummer Makaya McCraven. A "reimagining" of Gil Scott Heron's last studio album "I'm New Here" called "We're New Again". Using the original vocals, he puts new jazzy instrumentals underneath. Very cool and inspiring!Phil PlencnerSquarepusher - Be Up A Hellohttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/be-up-a-hello/2020-01-31T12:03:58.000Z2020-01-31T12:03:58.000Z

Today marks the release of a new album from Squarepusher! The jazz / edm maestro returns with a heady album that's going to keep me grooving this weekend.

Today marks the release of a new album from Squarepusher! The jazz / edm maestro returns with a heady album that's going to keep me grooving this weekend.Phil PlencnerCynic - Focushttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/focus/2020-01-27T12:05:33.000Z2020-01-27T12:05:33.000Z

Another special Monday morning edition of Phil's Phriday Picks....because another huge drumming influence of mine passed away over the weekend. Sean Reinert, best known for 2 albums that changed the game for heavy metal drumming. Death's pioneering "Human" album is probably the one that gets the most attention, but Cynic's "Focus" is the complete game changer. 27 years after its release, there is still nothing that sounds quite like it. A perfect mix of death metal and jazz fusion....including a mixture of vocal styles (vocoder!) The drumming still boggles the mind today. For those that don't know, now you know. Also Hank Shteamer explains why its important better than me over at Rolling Stone, much like he did for Neil Peart.

Happy Friday! There is a new Pet Shop Boys album, which is always a cause for celebration!

Happy Friday! There is a new Pet Shop Boys album, which is always a cause for celebration!Phil PlencnerNeil Pearthttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/neil-peart/2020-01-13T12:10:17.000Z2020-01-13T12:10:17.000Z

SPECIAL MONDAY EDITION OF PHIL'S PHRIDAY PICKS As you likely heard over the weekend...Neil Peart, the drummer of the rock band Rush passed away from a 3 year battle with brain cancer at the age of 68. This hit me particularly hard as he was practically a life long musical inspiration for me. It started when soon after I started learning to play drums at the age of 10. My cousin heard of my new found hobby and made me a mix tape that contained the Working Man drum solo from All The World's A Stage ("Ladies and Gentlemen, The Professor on the drum kit!"). Needless to say, I was hooked from that point on. A couple years later, after saving money from birthday cards I received for a couple years I bought the 2LP All The World's A Stage album pictured here and away we go! Counting ticket stubs, I saw Rush in concert no less than 8 times, plus I even went to see a tour of his DRUM SET at one point along the way . I also read all his books about motorcycle riding and life all of which were pretty inspiring and inspirational, but a special shout out goes to "Ghost Rider" if you only can read one. You could say I was a pretty huge fan. Also, my friend Hank wrote an excellent piece in Rolling Stone in tribute to Neil Peart that is worth reading. Anyways, here is a playlist I made several years ago that collected all of the instrumental songs by Rush (tracks 1 12) plus chronicled all of Neil's recorded drum solos (starting with aforementioned Working Man solo on track 13). Let's crank it up!

Welcome to the 1st episode of Phil's Phriday Picks of 2020! Several months ago, I believe one of my Picks was an album from the excellent band Estradasphere, which unfortunately no longer exists. Back in their early 2000's prime their drummer (Dave Murray not to be confused with Iron Maiden's guitar player) put out a side project called the Deserts of Traun. It supposedly told a story within the music, but being an instrumental album it was not readily apparent. Over the Winter Recess I was reorganizing some of the music collection at Casa De Plencner and came across the old Deserts of Traun CD. I went to Spotify to see if it existed there (it does), but I also discovered he has continued the project (shortening the name to just Traun) and put out 3(!!!!) albums continuing the storyline in 2017! This was amazing news to me, so I'm going to share the first of the new albums here as well as the amazing accompanying website that fully documents the history of the project.

Happy Friday everyone! The end of 2019 is near, so it's time for "best of" lists aplenty. I'm no different in that regard. Here is a playlist of my favorite stuff from the year! If you want to distill my entire year down to a little shy of 5 hours, this would be a good way to do it...Running the gamut from pop rock to jazz to country to hip hop to death metal, it might be schizophrenic but it's how I roll! One of my favorite bands of all time, The Flying Luttenbachers, also reunited this year and put out two vastly different albums....but they chose not to put them on Spotify. So I'll include BandCamp links to those albums as well (as if the original playlist wasn't enough!!) . The Flying Luttenbachers Shattered Dimension The Flying Luttenbachers Imminent Death

It's December! With everyone's Holiday schedules starting to ramp up, I thought it would be a great time to drop my Christmas Playlist for 2019 here. Every year since 2008 (except for 2009 when I didn't think it was going to be an annual thing and only a one off) I have made holiday mix CDs / playlists for friends and family and the tradition continues this year in it's 11th edition! I hope you enjoy this year's focus on modern holiday hits. I will also include in a thread every previous year's playlist along with a massive 13 hour megamix of all the playlists combined! Put that one on shuffle and Christmas will be here before you know it. Happy Holiday's everyone! 13 HOUR MEGA MIX! It's Christmas Again? 2018 New Christmas Classics 2017 Merry Christmas 2016 Festive 2015 80s Christmas 2014 Jazzy Christmas 2013 Sounds of Christmas 2012 cRaZy ChRiStMaS 2011 Wacky Christmas 2010 Ultimate Christmas 2008

Today's holiday week pick is the glorious new Tom Waits tribute album. You don't have to be a Waits fan to appreciate the beauty of these interpretations.

Today's holiday week pick is the glorious new Tom Waits tribute album. You don't have to be a Waits fan to appreciate the beauty of these interpretations.Phil PlencnerChristian Scott - Ancestral Recallhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/ancestral-recall/2019-11-22T13:58:33.000Z2019-11-22T13:58:33.000Z

The Grammy's listed their 2020 nominees earlier this week, and one of the more exciting nominees for me was the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album nod for trumpet player Christian Scott's amazingly awesome album Ancestral Recall . If you haven't had the pleasure of immersing yourself with this album, I suggest you do. The album was self described as "a map to decolonize sound; to challenge previously held misconceptions about some cultures of music; to codify a new folkloric tradition and begin the work of creating a national set of rhythms". YES.

Happy Friday! Juliana Hatfield's excellent new album of covers by The Police is out today!

Happy Friday! Juliana Hatfield's excellent new album of covers by The Police is out today!Phil PlencnerFranklin County Trucking Company - The Further Adventures Ofhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/the-further-adventures-of/2019-11-08T14:03:21.000Z2019-11-08T14:03:21.000Z

Today's pick is a fun country rock supergroup; Franklin County Trucking Company. Includes members of the Legendary Shack Shakers and the Supersuckers! As the group name implies, the album consists of trucking songs. Let's drive off into the 3 day weekend!Phil PlencnerJeff Lynne's ELO - From Out Of Nowherehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/from-out-of-nowhere/2019-11-01T14:05:37.000Z2019-11-01T14:05:37.000Z

Literally out of nowhere this morning, Jeff Lynne has resurrected the ELO name and sound with a new album. I don't even have to listen to the whole thing to know this is epic and it is this week's official Phriday Pick!!Phil PlencnerTrick Or Treathttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/trick-or-treat/2019-10-25T14:07:40.000Z2019-10-25T14:07:40.000Z

Cherry Red / Rightous records recently released an excellent compilation of vintage / novelty records based around Halloween (Werewolves, Dracula, Zombies, Frankenstein's Monster etc) , curated by Lux Interior and Poison Ivy from the always excellent psychobilly band The Cramps. It flopped into my letter box earlier this month and has been a great (trick) or treat, getting plenty of repeated spins in Casa De Plencner. Sadly, it doesn't appear to be on Spotify, but I was able to piece together almost all the songs into a playlist for your enjoyment!! Happy Halloween!!

Before Kim Shattuck succumbed to ALS, she worked hard with the rest of the Muffs to record one more album. It's out today, and on first listen its another inspiring slab of rock that will surely get a lot of repeat listens at Casa De Plencner. There is also a recent great LA Times article that goes into the nitty gritty.Phil PlencnerJaimie Branch - Fly Or Die II Bird Dogs Of Paradisehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/fly-or-die-ii/2019-10-11T14:12:04.000Z2019-10-11T14:12:04.000Z

It's FRIDAY. Let's Fly Or Die into the weekend!!

It's FRIDAY. Let's Fly Or Die into the weekend!!Phil PlencnerBill Frisell - Harmonyhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/harmony/2019-10-04T14:13:52.000Z2019-10-04T14:13:52.000Z

A new album from Bill Frisell, one of my all time favorite jazz guitarists, is always reason for celebration. The fact that the album also features the amazing Petra Haden on vocals is icing on an already delicious cake.Phil PlencnerWillie Nelson - Modern Williehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/modern-willie/2019-09-27T14:15:45.000Z2019-09-27T14:15:45.000Z

Did you know that Willie Nelson put out an a new album ( "Ride Me Back Home" ) in June? Did you also know that it's awesome? Did you also know that he's been quietly releasing amazing albums like this consistently for the last decade (16 albums since 2009!) as well as throughout his whole career (RMBH is is 69th overall album!!!). If you answered "No", I'm here to catch you up with my "Modern Willie" playlist. 2 hours of my favorite Willie Nelson songs from 2009 Present.

Last night, I saw my all time favorite band in DC: King Crimson! Here is something close to what they sounded like last night.

Last night, I saw my all time favorite band in DC: King Crimson! Here is something close to what they sounded like last night.Phil PlencnerKid Creole And The Coconuts - Wise Guyhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/wise-guy/2019-09-06T14:19:30.000Z2019-09-06T14:19:30.000Z

It's Friday! I refuse to believe summer is over, so let's jam to this classic Kid Creole and the Coconuts album. Originally called "Tropical Gangsters" this is probably my favorite album in their (mostly great) catalog. "Hot cha cha cha!"Phil PlencnerTool - Fear Inoculumhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/fear-inoculum/2019-08-30T15:30:20.000Z2019-08-30T15:30:20.000Z

It's August 30th 2019. The first new Tool album in 13 years is out today. That is all.

It's August 30th 2019. The first new Tool album in 13 years is out today. That is all.Phil PlencnerMidland - Let It Rollhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/let-it-roll/2019-08-23T15:32:14.000Z2019-08-23T15:32:14.000Z

Happy Friday! Most people associate my musical tastes with the outer fringes of rock and jazz, but the fact of the matter is I was raised in a house that played almost exclusively country music. So I have an affinity for the more traditionalist 70s/80s country sound. The Texas band Midland, who put out their new album today, is a modern band that is cut from the George Strait / Dwight Yoakam cloth...so it is right up my alley! Maybe yours as well? Bonus: their excellent cover of the Jerry Reed tune East Bound And Down that they released last year.

This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, when more than 400,000 fans convened at Max Yasgur’s farm near Bethel, New York, for a music festival that would come to define not only the era, but the entire ethos of music festivals to come. A mammoth 38 CD/1 Blu ray “Definitive Archive” called Back to the Garden was released recently to considerable acclaim, but until you can get your hands ears on that, here's a Spotify playlist of the proceedings.

Today is the last day working with the UM interns, so I feel it would be apt to share my "Goodbye" playlist. I made this for my team when I left Johns Hopkins Medicine to work for Harvard Library last summer. The director of the Marketing and Communications team there noted that I included "Dirty Work" by Steely Dan on the playlist, but I wouldn't read too much into that. Anyways, farewell to the interns!

In 1975 76, during a break from touring with the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart assembled the percussion group Diga Rhythm Band. Here is there only album, which is pretty awesome. You can hear Jerry Garcia's guitar within the heady rhythms. Tabla player Zakir Hussain ended up continuing to collaborate with Mickey Hart through the decades as part of Planet Drum. Alert Deadheads will also note that the song "Happiness is Drumming" was later given lyrics by Robert Hunter and became the live favorite Fire On The Mountain.

It's Friday! Let's party to the loudest dance band I ever witnessed....Lightning Bolt!!

It's Friday! Let's party to the loudest dance band I ever witnessed....Lightning Bolt!!Phil PlencnerBrian Eno - Apollo Atmospheres And Soundtrackshttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/apollo-atmospheres-and-soundtracks/2019-07-19T15:42:24.000Z2019-07-19T15:42:24.000Z

Since everyone (including the Houghton Library!) is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing this week, its only proper that I highlight Brian Eno's excellent "Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks" album from 1983 (which not coincidentally was also released today in an expanded edition!).Phil PlencnerCheer-Accident - Introducing Lemonhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/introducing-lemon/2019-07-12T15:44:16.000Z2019-07-12T15:44:16.000Z

Cheer Accident is one of my favorite bands. Hailing from Chicago, they are part of an underground Avant/Progressive rock scene that's been having relative levels of success since the 90s. They are putting out a new album and going on tour next month...Boston date! August 12th at some place called 'Once' in Somerville Introducing Lemon is my favorite album from the band. Released in 2003, back when I was part of the aforementioned avant/prog scene in Chicago. I probably saw them in concert dozens of times in that era. I also remember right before this album was released, drummer Thymme Jones played the thing for me on his car stereo after a show at maximum volume. After sitting silently for an hour plus being blown away he asked "What'd you think?" I was speechless. Enough babbling! Cheer Accident's masterpiece: Introducing Lemon!!

I'm in rome.

I'm in rome.Phil PlencnerMike Patton - Mondo Canehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/mondo-cane/2019-06-14T15:49:24.000Z2019-06-14T15:49:24.000Z

Since I'm heading to Italy next week, it feels appropriate to revisit the Mike Patton (Faith No More / Mr. Bungle / Fantomas etc) record Mondo Cane today. Amazing covers of '50s & '60s Italian pop songs with a 40 piece orchestra! Bellissimo! BONUS: Mr. Bungle's excellent album California turns 20 years old, so let's revisit that masterpiece as well BONUS 2 (Since I there will be no Phil's Phriday Picks for the next two weeks!): I'm celebrating the fact that my all time favorite band, King Crimson, has finally been releasing their albums on Spotify! So, I'd like to highlight their excellent 2003 album The Power To Believe, which features the "double duo" lineup of Fripp / Gunn / Mastelotto / Belew. Mathy and aggressive progressive rock, just how I like it. Newly remastered for maximum impact!

Flashback to the early 90s. A young Phil Plencner is playing in school jazz ensembles and has enjoyed listening to early Miles Davis albums. He owns Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain and wants more. At the mall record store he sees a Miles album he's never heard of before called "Agharta" . It has a wild, fantasy / space age looking cover and there are only a 5 songs on it spread out over two discs. Hmm. It's only $3, so he takes the plunge. Soon after he gets home and presses play, he's like what the HELL is this?! Crazy free form funk. Blasting electric guitar. Electric organ as basically a feedback machine. TONS of drums. Occassionally Miles peaks through the din heavily covered in wah wah pedal! This is AWESOME!!!! I want more of this! And so starts my obsession with early 70s Miles live records. Agharta still remains my favorite, but Dark Magus is a close second (mainly because of Dominique Gaumont's absolutely crazed guitar solos)...but Agharta has James Mtume beating the snot out of his congas. If you wanna continue the deep dive, "In Concert" is also great, but "Pangaea" is kind of a snooze. Also the studio album with members of these ensembles called "Get Up With It" is amazing but less unhinged. Anyways, I digress! AGHARTA!!!

Woah is it Friday already?? We should all listen to the new J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines etc) album because it's killer!

Woah is it Friday already?? We should all listen to the new J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines etc) album because it's killer!Phil PlencnerFlying Luttenbachers - Infection And Declinehttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/infection-and-decline/2019-05-24T15:58:05.000Z2019-05-24T15:58:05.000Z

Today's pick: One of my all time favorite Chicago bands: The Flying Luttenbachers!! Masterminded by drummer/composer Weasel Walter (of whom I became friends with over the years), this album ( "Infection and Decline" ) is the start of their "Brutal Prog" phase. 2 bass players (1 tuned high, 1 tuned low and fretless) combined with frantic death metal inspired drumming. I probably saw this band perform 20 times during this era. Killer cover of Magma's "De Futura" as well (Perhaps Magma should be a future Phil's Phiday Pick?? Hmmmmm!)

Today's pick is the awesome new album from mysterious cowboy Orville Peck! Do you want to hear an amazing blend of old school country and shoegaze? Look no further...

Today's pick is the awesome new album from mysterious cowboy Orville Peck! Do you want to hear an amazing blend of old school country and shoegaze? Look no further...Phil PlencnerJohn Scofield - A Go Gohttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/a-go-go/2019-05-03T16:02:19.000Z2019-05-03T16:02:19.000Z

Today’s selection is inspired by a cool jazz group I watched at Les Zygomates in Boston earlier this week! John Scofield’s first collaboration with organ trio Medeski, Martín & Wood.

Today’s selection is inspired by a cool jazz group I watched at Les Zygomates in Boston earlier this week! John Scofield’s first collaboration with organ trio Medeski, Martín & Wood.Phil PlencnerFrank Zappa Fridayhttps://philsphridaypicks.plencnerlabs.com/blog/frank-zappa-friday/2019-04-26T16:04:10.000Z2019-04-26T16:04:10.000Z

I declare today Frank Zappa Friday . Presenting a trifecta of personally compiled Zappa playlists! First up is a re creation of an all vinyl DJ set I performed last winter. 30 minutes, all killer, no filler: The 2nd playlist is a re creation of a compilation CD I used to burn and distribute to friends who were curious about what all the fuss about Zappa was about in the late 90s/early 2000s! A good mix of his instrumental excursions along with his (perhaps politically incorrect) vocal selections: And finally, a completely bonkers, massive playlist thats over 6 hours of THE HARD STUFF. Crazy prog rock and jazzy instrumentals, long guitar solos, 20th century classical homages! Not for the faint of heart and for true fans only:

Today we're setting the Wayback Machine for 1972...for tenor saxophonist Stan Getz's excellent album Captain Marvel . On this particular session he went outside of his traditional cool jazz sound for full on jazz fusion. This is mostly because the backing band was Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Airto Moreira (who all formed fusion band Return to Forever around the same time) and drummer extraordinaire Tony Williams. Return to Forever's debut album also contains the song La Fiesta, but this I think is the better take. Five Hundred Miles High is another Chick Corea composition on this album that went on to be one of his standards he continually revisited throughout his career. Enjoy!

Today's selection is an awesome new rock compilation from the always reliable Skin Graft Records label, based in Chicago. Some of my favorite bands are featured, and its a fun way to roll into the weekend!