jon abbey

oh, hi, blake! I didn't make that connection before... What are you favorite ones, Jon? for whatever reason, a lot of my favorite Bailey is from 1978-1980. Aida and New Sights, Old Sounds (both solo) Duo and Trio Improvisation (on DIW, with five different Japanese musicians) Music and Dance (with dancer Min Tanaka, you can also hear the rain outside, great environmental improv) I also like Playing (duos with John Stevens), Playbacks (not really improv, different collaborators on each track working with Bailey material), the triple disc on Emanem from Iskra 1903 (trio with Barry Guy and Paul Rutherford), Quintessence 1 and 2 (SME, also on Emanem), and Incus Taps (solo from 1973, on Organ of Corti, probably hard to find now).

I can't stand Ballads for exactly this reason, it seems intentionally watered down. plus (and maybe Nate can correct me here) it doesn't seem as if he really addresses the songs, he plays heads on both ends, then just does his normal thing in between. there are about 30 other Bailey discs I'd rather own before this own.

HEY!

I haven't heard all of them either, but Elf Bagatellen and Physics are my two faves.

I'll have to check that one out when it is released. I've reallly enjoyed all of Efzeg's discs (Wurm, Grain and Boogie) so far. Each of them is worth exploring for fans of this music. Efzeg fans also might want to check out the new Burkhard Stangl-Venusmond release, parts III-V of his opera. part IV is a 26 minute piece by Efzeg, from June 2002 (no vocals). it's a nice CD, I heard it for the first time tonight...

Gokhan, the Efzeg Hat Art release will be "new material we recorded in summer 2003 at the SWR/SWF broadcasting studio in Baden-Baden/Germany".

I thought you'd have the answer to this lingering question I had. do you mean whether that's a new record or a reissue? I could find out, I'll ask Martin Siewert next time I write to him.

nice to see them continuing to keep a small toe in electroacoustic waters with Efzeg, presumably a new record and not a reissue of an older one.

we have Invisible Ear for $15, plus tons of other Butcher titles. http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/inventory/list.asp FYI, because we trade with many other labels (we buy from some), we almost always have the lowest prices in the US on what we stock (if we can't get the lowest prices or at least match them, we usually don't stock things).

yes, Doppelmoppel was one of the best few shows I saw in the four years I went to Victo, great band! great to hear they're still playing also, they must be closing in on 25 years or so together by now...

great, feel free to recommend other CDs, I haven't been able to find almost any info on the web.

yeah, I listened to it again the other day, it's a great one. I wish he had other discs this good, but I don't think he does... I love to praise HIS HOLY NAME! HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!

did you pick that up on my recommendation, John?

we did just start stocking the three Henry Flynt titles on Recorded, of which "I'm Your Everlovin'" is the acknowledged classic.

we don't distribute VHF because they're pretty well distributed in the US, and neither Chris nor I is an especially big fan of the label, although I used to be, and have heard quite a bit of what they've released. I'd recommend Skullflower-This Is..., Pelt-Empty Bell Ringing In The Sky, and L-Holy Letters. with Sun Ra, I prefer the 1965-1975 period (approximate dates off the top of my head), his farthest out. I'm not a fan of the later Leo releases that I've heard. the Evidence ones are all at least solid, you really can't go too wrong with any of them, except maybe The Singles, which I never liked.

nice, thanks for the kind words. the other two I've done in the unofficial "Vienna/Christoph Amann (recording engineer)" subseries besides Wrapped Islands and Too Beautiful To Burn are 008: Burkhard Stangl/Christof Kurzmann-Schnee and 025: Burkhard Stangl/dieb13-eh, both of which are arguably closer to Wrapped Islands simply because of the Stangl overlap. there's also an amazing live recording of Stangl/Kurzmann from May, which closed the last of ten nights of shows in my AMPLIFY festival in Cologne/Berlin, which should be out in the new ErstLive series in the next couple of months. I can't wait until people hear that one...

you didn't ask me, but I'd say pick and choose, there's too much great music out there to listen to. you don't really need 38 Jandek records, 10 or 15 would do just fine. the ones to definitely avoid, though, are the acapella ones which these guys haven't gotten to yet, or at least you only "need" one of the three.

sure, from all reports from serious fans who have seen it, it's worthless. I have zero interest in anything more than listening to his music. he clearly doesn't want people forming any sort of cult of personality around him, unfortunately that's eventually led to exactly what he was trying to avoid. I think he's an interesting musician, I enjoy listening to his discs, and I'll keep buying them until I don't enjoy them anymore. all the other baggage that listeners like to bring in, I don't care about. just let the guy make music, listen, and enjoy (or don't, either way).

I'm never watching that movie. and in an unrelated note, that Dusted review is awful.

wow, are those ugly. wow. I'd be willing to bet that the designer's never heard one minute of this music...

I didn't listen to it actually, not really my taste, although I do like Doneda in some contexts. some of the upcoming releases on that label are more to my taste, a solo Sean Meehan record and an undetermined as of yet Tim Barnes project specifically. it's funny that the DATA website leaves my man Cor off the personnel listing on the Buis release.

clem: yeah, Willeford rocks, even if I'm more of a Jim Thompson/Chester Himes guy. we actually just had a brief discussion about this over at I Hate Music: http://ihatemusic.bagatellen.com/viewtopic.php?t=1395 you should come over, you'd fit in well there, just from the posts of yours I've read today. it's not exactly that, my background is as a fan, and I think even if I hadn't become a producer, I'd be hesitant to analyze Jandek and his work. for me, he just is what he is, he's an American original, and I don't think that closer analysis would help me enjoy him more, like it does with so much of the rest of the music I listen to/work on.

Clem, I looked it up. I see what you mean, but Mansfield only plays guitar, he doesn't sing. I guess my problem is everyone wants to pigeonhole Jandek into something else, just let Jandek be Jandek.

I'm here, but like I said, I don't really have any interest in analyzing Jandek's music in this way. I spend quite a bit of my life with this kind of microscopic musical analysis, not just as a listener, but much more as a producer. Jandek I just enjoy listening to, I don't give it too much in-depth thought, and don't intend to.

Clem, FWIW, I like Willeford a lot and have read The Cockfighter along with a lot of his other books, but wouldn't compare it to Jandek, although I think I hadn't heard any Jandek when I read it, so who knows. my gut says this is a personal comparison/connection that works for you, though, not necessarily fully based in the works themselves.