Omnium-gatherum
Matt Hanson’s Brain Archive
September 9, 2005
“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without” *
It had been a while since I was a BMG member or bought many CD’s so I thought it was time to do so again. My order of 10 CD’s came in last week and I’ve now had a week to listen through most of them.
I’ve been getting more interested in Reggae over the last several years so got the essential Toots and the Maytals - Time Tough: The Anthology, a two disc set with all the neccessary Toots songs.. Bunny Wailer’s first album after leaving The Wailers, Blackheart Man, is not surprisingly very similar to Bob Marley in tone and is one of his best. One of the most popular UK reggae bands, Aswad, introduced a new era of reggae to the UK with their acclaimed third album, New Chapter, definitely worth owning for such classics as “African Children” and “Natural Progression”.
I ventured into new territory with Whiskeytown - Pneumonia, an alt-country band, and Groove Armada - Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub), which satisfied my electronica/trip-hop craving. It’s very good.
I didn’t own any of The Red Hot Chili Peppers older albums when they were playing pure funk so I got Freaky Styley, which I have yet to listen to much but so far I like what I’ve heard.
Beck, whose last name is none other then Hansen, again showcased his amazing and varied ability with Mutations. While not as good as Odelay or Mellow Gold, it is still a great album.
Chet Baker is at his finest in Sextet, a classic Baker album with saxophonist Jerry Mulligan.
I also picked up two soundstracks, O’ Brother Where art thou? (movie), and A Mighty Wind (movie). Movies worth seeing and albums worth a listen.
July 1, 2005
The super most greatest band, ever!
The closest thing I have to a favorite band is Pink Floyd. Tommorow are the Live 8 concerts being held across the world and Pink Floyd is reuniting for this event. And I don’t mean A Momentary Lapse of Reason type of reuniting either (when Pink Floyd reformed without Roger Waters). This will be Roger Waters and David Gilmour, two musical geniuses who have been feuding for over a decade, together on stage again. It will be interesting to see what they decide to play.
