In your CD player
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I See You - Gong Latest Gong album released 2014. Daevid Allen who was 77 died in March this year. It's musically potent and virtuoso, I guess Gong never had the kind of catchy pop-sensibility that got them mainstream popularity. It's been an underground movement since their formation in the 60s for progressive rock enthusiasts and bandleader Daevid Allen who enjoyed respect as a kind of musician's musician, noticed by Paul McCartney and David Bowie among famous artists. R.I.P.
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It came on my shuffle and it was so beautiful... Flute Enchantee Quartet, Liverpool Oratorio Suite III a Leaf - Distractions
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Walk Right In - The Rooftop Singers
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You're Under Arrest - Miles Davis LP. My introduction to jazz in 1985. Well, I'd heard jazz before but "You're Under Arrest" appealed to me in a way that jazz hadn't earlier. I was mainly a pop, rock listener. I can now hear why, it's funky Miles, a new direction in jazz-pop. I love the cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time". It's beautiful. It's still a nice sounding album to my ears. Maybe not the best of Miles for the jazz purist but the musicianship is excellent.
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Miles Davis Quintet 1965-'68 - Miles Davis 6CD box set. Remastered. 1998. Miles Davis was a musical genius. He had a characteristic trumpet sound that you easily recognise but he was also a talent scout of finding musicians for his groups, like this quintet featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. It's very intense recordings with explorative jazz. It's fun to listen through the whole box set from start to finish. You can really hear that this band takes off and was on the road to creating new directions in jazz. It's the 60s, it was an amazing decade on so many levels. I was never there, but I'm fond of it anyway, as an idea. Box set include chronologically the original albums E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, Filles de Kilimanjaro, Water Babies, Circle in the Round, Directions
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Let's Dance - Chris Montez
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Different Every Time - Robert Wyatt Disc two with guest appearances and collaborations, from the Norwegian Anja Garbarek to Bjørk and John Cage, Hot Chip and ... You name it. Overall, it is perhaps a kind of jazzy art-pop.
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Press to Play - Paul McCartney LP. 1986. In the inner sleeve I have written 2. 9. 86. in a corner. I used to note the day I bought the record back then. It is probably the day it was released in Norway, September 2, 1986. Also, I have the orignal CD because it came with bonus tracks and the 1993 reissue. I still think the LP is 'the album' with ten songs from "Stranglehold" to "However Absurd" and hope that all bonus tracks are on a CD 2 if it is re-released with the archive serie.
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Where I Stand - Jay Sekulow Band with a few friends
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Parade - Prince & The Revolution 1986 may not be the most revolutionary year in music history, but it includes some records that I'm very fond of, both records i discovered the year, like "Press to Play", "Parade", "Life's Rich Pageant" by R.E.M., and records I found later like "Old Rottenhat" by Robert Wyatt. "Parade" is Prince at a creative peak, surrealistic and innovative. I don't think anyone has made a record quite like it before or after, not even Prince.
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Grand Prix - Teenage Fanclub 1995. One of my favorite guitar albums of all time. Lots of up front jangly guitars. You can hear traces of The Byrds and The Beatles. A continuation of the 60s guitar bands. I'm very fond of Teenage Fanclub, they have three wonderful songwriters but also a collective sound that sends shivers up and down my spine.
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Skylarking - XTC LP. 1986. I've never truly gotten into XTC like a favorite band or anything but I have a couple of LP's and I liked their 60s influences when I first heard them in the 80s. I've talked to people who consider "Skylarking" one of the best albums of the 80's. I think it is too much but it is a good record that I hadn't played in years.
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Wild Life - Wings LP. 1971. I also have the remastered CD reissue from 1993 but it does not sound half as good as the LP. Bip bop, bip bip bop, bip bop, bip bip band.
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Sukierae - Tweedy 2014. I've been a fan of Jeff Tweedy since Uncle Tupelo's "Anodyne" (1993). Well, I didn't know yet that I was a fan back then. I only loved the album that proved to be their last. Jeff Tweedy formed Wilco on the ashes of Uncle Tupelo and their debut "A.M." (1995) was a nice enough alt. country album. Not sensational but with fine songs. Then they rocked out on "Being There" (1996), and "Summerteeth" (1999) had more of a pop touch. Tweedy established himself as one of the songwriters of his generation to be reckoned with, but I don't think anyone expected an 'arty' album like "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" (2002) to appear. Now Wilco was not just a good band but an innovative one and they had out of the blue created a "Sgt.Pepper" or "Dark Side of the Moon" for the 2000's. I've followed Wilco since and they took a break in 2011 for Tweedy to release a double solo album with his son on drums. A type of personal album that brings to mind "McCartney" and "McCartney II".
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Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014 - Wilco 2014. 4CD box set collection of rare tracks and non-LP recordings. This is a kind of release I'd had from McCartney, preferably while I'm still here and can to listen to it.
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Camembert Electrique - Gong 2015 remastered audiophile edition of a 1971 progressive space rock classic. At times - out there - but also earthly conected by jamming and playfulness. I love the whole period of late 60's - early 70's. It's my favorite period in music ever. Gong was a freewheelin' hippie band, to the last... with bandleader Daevid Allen's particular sense of humor. The remaster is good. Nowadays, with technology, you don't need a big budget to make a good sounding record but back in the hippie era there are plenty of great music/bad sound recordings. "Camembert Electrique" is to a certain degree one of them. But better here than ever, including a booklet with liner notes and a wonderful gatefold picture of the hippies.
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Aftermath - The Rolling Stones 1966. I love this era Stones. Well, I love this era, the mid-60s, it's "Pet Sounds", "Revolver", "Blonde on Blonde"... Some of my favorite albums ever were made in 1965-67. It's also the only period where you can listen to the Stones featuring a tuba ("Between the Buttons"). I think the whole era in not just pop but music in general smells like curiosity and possibility. A desire to stretch out. I don't think The Rolling Stones had the same grip on making albums as The Beatles but with "Aftermath" they came close. 1968-1972 is considered perhaps as their classic rock band period, but they were never more playful with music than in the mid-60s with Brian Jones in the band and his broader sense of non-rock arrangements and instrumenation.
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Rubber Soul - The Beatles 2014 remastered "The U.S. Albums" box set version. 1965 original stereo and mono release. The US version of "Rubber Soul" deleted "Drive My Car" and "What Goes On" and added "I've Just Seen a Face" and "It's Only love" from "Help!" instead. It is often made a point of how "Rubber Soul" was a major milestone for The Beatles but the interesting thing is that the two songs from "Help!" does not sound out of place but rather gives the album a stronger folk feel. I love both albums although "Rubber Soul" is perhaps even more of a coherent album and "Help!" a collection of songs.
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Funk #49 (cover) don't think it's been released on cd, yet ... I'd even go for a dvd purchase
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That band is really good! ^ Wish there was a DVD of this tour, especially the pre show. I'm just able to catch small bits like on this one. I think this must have been the best pre show!! I didn't even know about this tour... 2002 Paul in the Tokyo Dome