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Physical Formats Death Watch (Part 36)

Physical Formats Death Watch (2011)

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard and/or read about the imminent demise of the CD these past years. Just recently, once again, a news item (that has never really been substantiated) made the rounds again, stating that EMI, Universal and Sony had plans up their sleeves in regard to giving the CD the chop in 2012.

Do I care?
Well, uhm, yes and no.

Besides the fact that I don’t think any label (greedy bastards), will annul any one format that is still making it more than 10 cents of income, I do think that even if labels were to start dropping physical formats altogether in favor of digital download solutions, those formats would survive for quite some time. Continue Reading →

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Recent Acquisitions (October 2011)

Recent Acquisitions (October 2011)

Back from my much-needed extended holiday way down south, as close to the Sahara as one can get short of floating in the water just a few miles offshore. Twenty-five to thirty-something degrees Celsius each and every day, nary a cloud. Great places to see, a breathtaking landscape and lots of insiders’ tips in my back pocket.

Recent Acquisitions

Recent Acquisitions” has been something I’ve had around for quite a while on this site, in one form or another. And looking back on past posts or drafts that never came to fruition, there’s one single aspect that stands out immediately. The shopping sprees of the past are long gone. It could be that I have reached a saturation point somewhat, although I do doubt that. It’s just that I have so much to listen to that whenever I stumble over more “Want-Need-Will Have” items, I’m reluctant to shell out the dough, mostly because my bad conscience (left shoulder, far right) parades those CDs in front of my inner eye that I haven’t really listened to intensively yet. Continue Reading →

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The Perfect Dinner CD: “For You” by Frank Chastenier

Frank Chastenier: "For You (Universal Jazz Germany, 2004)

I know that from the few regular readers I have around here, I might get some severe flack. And from all others who have probably written this site off as another one of those useless and uniformed vanity projects, I’ll probably get a “told you so”. Still, I’m not going to back down.

I don’t know about you, but if you have a larger collection of music, you might well have an imaginary section or two entitled “Perfect Dinner Music” or “Soft as Soft Can”. I do.

And I’m about to tell you a few things about a CD that has been so severely criticized by just about every mainstream and dedicated critic that it’s almost become a point to ridicule said effort. It is certainly in the vain of the kind of criticism that I abhor; you know, the kind that simply can’t get off its high horse, the one that aims the most poisonous of arrows at someone who might have had simple passion driving him- or herself, even with commercial interest at heart. Continue Reading →

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Ed Thigpen: Live at Tivoli / Master of Time, Rhythm and Taste

Ed Thigpen: Live at Glassalen Tivoli, Copenhagen Denmark (2002).

Everyone who has ever met me – or read more than just a small snippet on this site – knows that I was and am also a huge fan of the late Ed Thigpen, drummer extraordinaire and somone who graced more than 1500 albums with his tasty style and impeccable work. He was also someone I had the fortune of meeting many times in the late 70s and then several times again throughout the 80s and 90s.

Still, somehow, the following release completely passed me by.
It wasn’t until I checked edthigpen.com that I became aware of it. Continue Reading →

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Daiquiri: My Sound of Venezuela

Daiquiri - La Casa del Ritmo (1984)

When my parents moved to Caracas, Venezuela, in the early 1980s, I tried to visit as often as my time and our traveling budget allowed. It was the time of the Sony Walkman and, soon thereafter, the Sony Discman, and I usually had more than enough music along for the many trips to last me several weeks. Still, in the long run, I would run out and simply tune into any of the many radio stations available.

Besides the usual US fare being played up and down the airwaves, Venezuelan radio was infused with salsa, from right to left, from top to bottom, and 24/7. For someone unacquainted with it, most of the tunes played sounded all alike, but it didn’t take me long to get with the program. So, when my second or third visit rolled along, I found myself automatically tuning into a salsa station to accompany the soothing night sounds of frogs and chicadas and whatever else came creepy crawling out at night. By the way, whenever I returned to Europe, I immediately missed that soundtrack I had then enjoyed for anywhere from 4 weeks to nearly three months. Actually, Europe was, if you didn’t live downtown, sonically dead as a door nail.

One day, a single tune made me prick up my ears, run over to the radio and turn it up as loud as possible without gliding into distortion territory. It had an incredibly modern rhythm, a polished 80s production sound, and one hell of a catchy hook, including a wonderful finale. It was a fascinating fusion of traditional dance music with modern instruments and production values.

That song was “Chamito Candela“. Continue Reading →

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Judas Priest: Single Cuts – The Complete CBS / Columbia UK Singles Collection

Judas Priest: Single Cuts – The Complete CBS / Columbia UK Singles Collection

Around August 25, 20011, Judas Priest and Sony will release their complete UK CBS / Columbia singles, for the first time ever. The “Single Cuts” box set holds 20 CDs in all and contains 52 tracks spanning their entire CBS/Columbia career, from “Diamonds and Rust” (1977) to “Night Crawler” (1992). “Presented in a deluxe, numbered box, Single Cuts boasts a massive 52 tracks across 20 CDs, featuring original singles artwork, vinyl replica discs plus booklet including sleeve notes and photos.” Continue Reading →

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Oscar Peterson Plays Porgy & Bess

Oscar Peterson Plays Porgy & Bess (1959)

Epitomizing.

You know it when you see it (to quote the infamous Justice Potter) and you get a lot of it around here. If I like something, I tell you so, and I don’t hold back on the verbiage to get my point across. So, should we give it another go?

Oscar Peterson, who in his lifetime had all too often been shunned by jazz critics and fans alike because of his supposed technical showmanship and supposed repetitive use of “set pieces” or clichés (take your pick), has an impressive oeuvre to his name. I have been known to strongly disagree with his detractors time and again and I’ve written the Internet thin, under various monikers, up in arms against this groundswell that has so far proven to be insurmountable in certain circles, and I don’t really care if I was successful. I just think it is important to raise my voice here and there to at least make my point of view known. Continue Reading →