Just made my first CD purchases since Asher was born. Amazon should be shipping the following today:
Wilco - Kicking Television: Live in Chicago
Just released yesterday, Kicking Television is a perfect example of a solid, latter-day Wilco set - meandering and melodic, giving life to the recent staid tunes and dotting the landscape with some old faves. These guys are the personification of mercurial on stage - either they completely suck, or it's an utterly transcendent experience. Thankfully, Tweedy & Co. picked off one of the better shows for distribution.
Miles Davis - E.S.P.
ESP is the first recording of Miles' second classic quartet, with Wayne Shorter rounding out the band. This is one of those records I'm ashamed to have never owned. It's been constant on my Rhapsody playlist since 2001. Classic hard bop.
Andrew Bird - And The Mysterious Production of Eggs
As my friend Kristen noted in the comments section a couple of posts back, this is hands-down one of the best records of the year. Don't get me wrong - there's not a single to be had here, but Mysterious Production works better as a whole than anything else out there in '05. Andrew has a tenor voice slightly more angular than Jeff Buckley's, and a sense of irony that matches Mark Eitzel's. But that's where comparisons must end. The songwriting and arrangements on this CD are simultaneously complex and accessible, bitter and earnest. And somehow, he manages to integrate whistling and violin without making them sound cheesy.
Wilco - Kicking Television: Live in Chicago
Just released yesterday, Kicking Television is a perfect example of a solid, latter-day Wilco set - meandering and melodic, giving life to the recent staid tunes and dotting the landscape with some old faves. These guys are the personification of mercurial on stage - either they completely suck, or it's an utterly transcendent experience. Thankfully, Tweedy & Co. picked off one of the better shows for distribution.
Miles Davis - E.S.P.
ESP is the first recording of Miles' second classic quartet, with Wayne Shorter rounding out the band. This is one of those records I'm ashamed to have never owned. It's been constant on my Rhapsody playlist since 2001. Classic hard bop.
Andrew Bird - And The Mysterious Production of Eggs
As my friend Kristen noted in the comments section a couple of posts back, this is hands-down one of the best records of the year. Don't get me wrong - there's not a single to be had here, but Mysterious Production works better as a whole than anything else out there in '05. Andrew has a tenor voice slightly more angular than Jeff Buckley's, and a sense of irony that matches Mark Eitzel's. But that's where comparisons must end. The songwriting and arrangements on this CD are simultaneously complex and accessible, bitter and earnest. And somehow, he manages to integrate whistling and violin without making them sound cheesy.
posted by isaacjosephson at 9:27 AM
3 Comments:
wow...the Andrew Bird album is fantastic.
Its predecessor - Weather Systems - is equally beautiful.
Dude, I saw Mr. Bird do a show at the Middle East a few nights ago--a sight to behold. The way he loops and plays like about a million instruments and sings and whistles is, in a word, overwhelming. The place was jampacked and spellbound. Awesome. KSP
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