DAVID DAY
AVALANCHE EXPRESS
2011 – SELF RELEASED
Produced By FLITZ ALAN & MICAH LUNDY
1. Graveyard Dash
2. Spirit Of Time
3. Burnin’ Down The Fire
4. Avalanche Express
5. One More Day
6. Can’t Stop Now
7. Thunder In My Heart
8. Much Betta
9. Faraway Troubles
10. Last Man Standing
11. Spirit Of Time (Reprise)
A local project. This album is credited to David Day, but it’s actually a collaboration between Day and the local duo Zebra Junction, which consists of Shawn Phillips and my friend, Micah Lundy. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Micah on a few occasions, with him playing either mandolin or bass. Avalanche Express is the name of the project now, and they released an album in 2024, which can be found on Bandcamp.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
SERGE GAINSBOURG
HISTOIRE DE MELODY NELSON
1971 – PHILLIPS
Produced By JEAN-CLAUDE DESMARTY
1. Melody
2. Ballade De Melody Nelson
3. Valse De Melody
4. Ah! Melody
5. L’Hotel Particulier
6. En Melody
7. Cargo Culte
In 1971, Serge Gainsbourg, who had been making records since the late 1950’s, was coming off of a collaboration album with his partner, Jane Birkin. That record included his biggest hit, “Je T’aime…Moi Non Plus”. But instead of trying for another popular release, Gainsbourg made a hard left turn and came out with the stunning Histoire De Melody Nelson. It’s very short…running just 28 minutes and seven songs. But it’s what Gainsbourg was able to pack into those 28 minutes that’s important. The far-reaching influence of this French language disc is massive. It was 1971, and Gainsbourg had recorded the blueprint for not only the future of French rock, but also for trip hop. His mark was left on artists like Portishead, Beck and Stereolab.
The album is the story of a middle aged narrator who accidentally hits a young girl on her bicycle with his car. Her name is Melody, and she is 14 years old. He falls completely in love with her, takes her to a hotel and makes love to her. She takes a plane home, but it crashes and she is killed. The narrator is grief stricken. (Yes…the fact that she is so young would be shocking today. In 1971, it was not so much.) The narrator does just that…he narrates mostly in spoken word. The story is framed with excellent guitar work and funk beats, and it comes across as a stunning audio painting. It’s an almost masterpiece of an album. Gainsbourg continued his long career until his death twenty years later in 1991. To the end, he smoked five packs of cigarettes a day. He died at age 62.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
DIZZY GILLESPIE
AT NEWPORT
1957 – VERVE
Produced By NORMAN GRANZ
1. Dizzy’s Blues
2. School Days
3. Doodlin’
4. Manteca
5. I Remember Clifford
6. Cool Breeze
7. Zodiac Suite: Virgo / Libra / Aries
8. Carioca
9. A Night In Tunisia
In a world of jazz trumpeters that includes Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Louis Armstrong, it’s easy to lose sight of Dizzy Gillespie. Don’t let that happen. Gillespie was an innovator, a huge influence on most of the jazz greats, and an amazing player. His career began in the 1930’s, as a hired gun for many great bands. Between 1946 and 1990, he released well over 200 albums. Probably the greatest of those is At Newport, his eighth live album. Recorded at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, this is all the proof you will ever need as to what a giant Dizzy really was. Featuring his big band (17 pieces), this is easily one of the greatest albums of the fifties. And, it’s unfortunately one of the most underrated as well. That’s okay. It’s still pretty easily found these days, nearly 70 years later.
The original album consists of the first six tracks. The CD age has allowed it to be expanded by a glorious 24 minutes, three bonus tracks. That makes this well over an hour long set, and it’s worth every minute. Gillespie was a character, always entertaining on his own…he’s even better with this excellent band. “School Days” dates back to 1907. “Manteca” was co-written by Gillespie, and is one of the great jazz pieces of its time. “I Remember Clifford” was written by sax player Benny Golson (part of this band), in memory of trumpeter Clifford Brown, who died at age 25. “Zodiac Suite” is by Mary Lou Williams, who joins the band onstage here for this and the “Carioca” bonus tracks. This is a gem of an album, a high point of jazz in the 1950’s, and an underrated treasure.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
DIZZY GILLESPIE
AT NEWPORT
1957 – VERVE
Produced By NORMAN GRANZ
1. Dizzy’s Blues
2. School Days
3. Doodlin’
4. Manteca
5. I Remember Clifford
6. Cool Breeze
7. Zodiac Suite: Virgo / Libra / Aries
8. Carioca
9. A Night In Tunisia
In a world of jazz trumpeters that includes Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Louis Armstrong, it’s easy to lose sight of Dizzy Gillespie. Don’t let that happen. Gillespie was an innovator, a huge influence on most of the jazz greats, and an amazing player. His career began in the 1930’s, as a hired gun for many great bands. Between 1946 and 1990, he released well over 200 albums. Probably the greatest of those is At Newport, his eighth live album. Recorded at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, this is all the proof you will ever need as to what a giant Dizzy really was. Featuring his big band (17 pieces), this is easily one of the greatest albums of the fifties. And, it’s unfortunately one of the most underrated as well. That’s okay. It’s still pretty easily found these days, nearly 70 years later.
The original album consists of the first six tracks. The CD age has allowed it to be expanded by a glorious 24 minutes, three bonus tracks. That makes this well over an hour long set, and it’s worth every minute. Gillespie was a character, always entertaining on his own…he’s even better with this excellent band. “School Days” dates back to 1907. “Manteca” was co-written by Gillespie, and is one of the great jazz pieces of its time. “I Remember Clifford” was written by sax player Benny Golson (part of this band), in memory of trumpeter Clifford Brown, who died at age 25. “Zodiac Suite” is by Mary Lou Williams, who joins the band onstage here for this and the “Carioca” bonus tracks. This is a gem of an album, a high point of jazz in the 1950’s, and an underrated treasure.
Dizzy was definitely a force! This is probably my favorite recording of his.
I'm guessing you had someone else in mind for your list and had a brain slip: Charlie Parker plays sax.
Yeah. Good catch! I have no idea what I'm thinking about half the time.
I love this one as well. A really great record. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
SERGE GAINSBOURG
HISTOIRE DE MELODY NELSON
1971 – PHILLIPS
Produced By JEAN-CLAUDE DESMARTY
1. Melody
2. Ballade De Melody Nelson
3. Valse De Melody
4. Ah! Melody
5. L’Hotel Particulier
6. En Melody
7. Cargo Culte
In 1971, Serge Gainsbourg, who had been making records since the late 1950’s, was coming off of a collaboration album with his partner, Jane Birkin. That record included his biggest hit, “Je T’aime…Moi Non Plus”. But instead of trying for another popular release, Gainsbourg made a hard left turn and came out with the stunning Histoire De Melody Nelson. It’s very short…running just 28 minutes and seven songs. But it’s what Gainsbourg was able to pack into those 28 minutes that’s important. The far-reaching influence of this French language disc is massive. It was 1971, and Gainsbourg had recorded the blueprint for not only the future of French rock, but also for trip hop. His mark was left on artists like Portishead, Beck and Stereolab.
The album is the story of a middle aged narrator who accidentally hits a young girl on her bicycle with his car. Her name is Melody, and she is 14 years old. He falls completely in love with her, takes her to a hotel and makes love to her. She takes a plane home, but it crashes and she is killed. The narrator is grief stricken. (Yes…the fact that she is so young would be shocking today. In 1971, it was not so much.) The narrator does just that…he narrates mostly in spoken word. The story is framed with excellent guitar work and funk beats, and it comes across as a stunning audio painting. It’s an almost masterpiece of an album. Gainsbourg continued his long career until his death twenty years later in 1991. To the end, he smoked five packs of cigarettes a day. He died at age 62.
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
STRAWBERRY JAM
2007 – DOMINO
Produced By ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
1. Peacebone
2. Unsolved Mysteries
3. Chores
4. For Reverend Green
5. Fireworks
6. #1
7. Winter Wonder Land
8. Cuckoo Cuckoo
9. Derek
My first exposure to Animal Collective was their 2009 album, Merriweather Post Pavillion. It was not the best experience. The best way I can describe that album is that it sounds like the vocals and instruments are performing two completely different songs at the same time. So I was a bit hesitant about the album that came before it, 2007’s Strawberry Jam. The opening seconds of “Peacebone” suggest the same experience, but things actually fall into place rather quickly. The difference here is simply that they seem to be singing and playing the same song, and it works really well. This is the album where Animal Collective makes sense to me. It has wild, weird, and loud psychedelic moments, with cool melodies and strange instrumentation. A recipe for success? Why not?
The best things about Strawberry Jam are that it seems to barely stand on a tightrope between making total sense and absolute chaos. That, and there are some really good songs here. “Peacebone” and “Fireworks” are the best of the lot, but there are also “For Reverend Green”, “Derek”, and “Unsolved Mysteries”. There are moments when they fall a bit over that edge, but the difference here is that they always recover just in time. And the songs that are spot on are really great. This has always been an experimental group. On Strawberry Jam, the experiments, for the most part, are successful. This and Merriweather Post Pavillion are where they peaked…they have continued to record, but without a lot of the magic that you’ll here on this record. Well worth checking out…you might love this.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
GOMEZ
A NEW TIDE
2009 – ATO RECORDS
Produced By GOMEZ & BRIAN DECK
1. Mix
2. Little Pieces
3. If I Ask You Nicely
4. Lost Track
5. Win Park Slope
6. Bone Tired
7. Airstream Driver
8. Natural Reaction
9. Very Strange
10. Other Plans
11. Sunset Gates
Having been a big fan of the growth of Gomez, and especially their 2006 album How We Operate, I was very much looking forward to their next effort, 2009’s A New Tide. What I discovered here was that Gomez, on their sixth album, had promptly and completely run out of songs…quite a feat for a band with three songwriters. How We Operate had been loaded with gems like “Girlshapedlovedrug”, “See The World” and the magnificent title track. A New Tide was supposed to have been the band returning to their more experimental roots, a move that did not produce good results. Instead of building on their increasing success, they stumbled, they fell, and they have simply never gotten back up. Too bad, because Gomez was once an exciting band to watch.
There’s not much to recommend on A New Tide. “Airstream Driver” is, by far, the best song here. “Little Pieces” is pretty good, but after that, it’s a pretty straight downhill run. This band, which had always sounded inspired and like they were having the best time in the studio, sound old, tired, and un-motivated. Part of it may have been that the band was split between members living in the US and others in the UK. It may have also been in part because Gomez and producer Brian Deck were not the best fit. Ultimately, A New Tide is a pretty major disappointment from a band that, up to this point, was on an upward trajectory. Their next album, 2011’s Whatever’s On Your Mind (also produced by Deck), was just as flat as this one. Not surprisingly, there hasn’t been a new Gomez disk in 15 years.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
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