What's Playing?

Things have been more than a little chaotic lately and it continues to be interesting...I've been temporarily cut off from the Intertubes at home so even Blooging is difficult. Bad news following bad news...it's a trying time, but I'm still here and am OK. To those of you who have been with me, listening and sending kindnesses, I thank you all. It does help. It really does.

Despite all the bad news, there are some good things that remain constant, and music is one of those. Here's my much belated playlist from Sunday AM:


Gong (w/ Alan Holdsworth)- Espresso
After Daevid Allen and Steve Hillage quit, Gong continued under drummer Pierre Moerlen's leadership. He recruited Alan Holdsworth and release a couple of percussive jazz fusion records.
I don't like jazz fusion very much, but I do like this album-(Gazeuse). The best thing I can say about Holdsworth's solo albums is that he isn't Al DiMeola. Faint praise.

Funkadelic- Into You
"I can't get into a drug addict principle...I can't get into the neutron bomb"
But I can get into you. If you want me to.

Focus- Sylvia
Let's go Dutch.

Gong- Heaven's Gate
From Gong's 25th anniversary LP...1996? I saw them in Baltimore and was ready to be disappointed by my tired old heroes...such was not the case. Those old fuckers tore the house down. One of the best shows I have ever seen, and I've seen a few. Original Gong drummer Pip Pyle died late last year, but he lived long enough for me to see him play. This show is for Pip!

Loreena McKinnett- Hearts in Space
I want to be a roadie in her band...no...I want to be a groupie. McKinnett just makes it work, ya know? Love at first listen.

New York Gong- Jungle Windo
Daevid Allen's 1979 all-star proto-punk album, one of the most influential records you have never heard. Features Fred Maher, Chris Cutler, Bill Laswell and, of course, saxamaphonist extraordinaire Gary Windo.

Pretty Things- Goodbye/Goin' Downhill
If there was ever an 'under-rated' rock band, it was the Pretty Things. They've been playing on and off for over thirty years- unlike their moss-gathering peers, these guys can still rock hard without a bevy of supporting musicians and an exploding SuperBowl backdrop.

Alan Parsons Project- Breakdown
"When I breakdown just a little and lose my thread, no one can understand the words that I said"
Emerson, Lake and Palmer- New Orleans
The best ELP tracks are the ones you never hear. This instrumental is one of them. It's under three minutes long... a real prog-rock oddity. Carl Palmer is so awesome on this that I forgive him for Asia. Really, Carl, it's alright. We all make mistakes.

Danielle Dax- Tomorrow Never Knows
I have had a burning crush on Danielle Dax since 1985. I still do. She plays with explosives and does really trippy Beatles covers. Dax plays many, many instruments and she has one of those love or hate voices. I love it. Her world turns me on.

Mott The Hoople- Death May Be Your Santa Claus
Another great underrated but influential band. I need to update my Hoople collection.

XTC- Life is Good in The Greenhouse
Despite it all, the song is correct.

Daevid Allen- Time of Your Life
From Banana Moon, this UK single highlights Pip Pyle's manic drumming. RIP.

Brian Eno - Mother Whale Eyeless
I love Eno. I'll buy anything I see his name on, but Taking Tiger Mountain... is a hard act to follow. You can hear his production evolve on this album- listen to this record and then listen to Talking Heads' Fear of Music. Hear that? Dude, that is some good sound.

Gong- Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
To Flower Heaven, where they decorate Pip's drumkit.

Lou Reed- What's Good?
My mother gave me a copy of Magic and Loss while she was dying of cancer. This album may very well be the most profound record that I own. I can't listen to it without risking tears.

Tom Waits- Walkin' Spanish
Tom needs a show of his own. Stay tuned!

Capt. Beefheart- Ashtray Heart
I feel like a glass shrimp...case of the punks, right from the start.

Soft Machine (w/ Daevid Allen)- Memories
From a 1967 demo tape recorded in France...Allen left to form Gong, after which the Soft Machine toured with Hendrix; later, Robert Wyatt drank, fell down and crippled himself. Wyatt's drumming is driven and intense but his voice is beautiful and haunting...the stuff of memories and dreams.

Gong- Tried So Hard
Don't give up. Never surrender.

Steve Hillage - Sea Nature
Steve is THE Gong guitarist. Not bad stringsmanship for a hippy, eh?

Grace Slick/Paul Kantner- Sketches of China
Speaking of hippies, that's the unmistakable sound of Jerry Garcia playing. I actually got a phone call on this song, a listener couldn't believe they were hearing it- "great song" they said. I love it.

Be Bop Deluxe- Japan
Equal time, ya know?
Oh , I'm so in love with my Japan...not. But I do love Bill Nelson.

Golden Palominos- Heaven
Everyone I see is missing something...