Something Else!

Vinyl

The Friday Morning Listen: Bill Frisell – Gone, Just Like A Train (1998)

By Mark Saleski When writing on or near the Thanksgiving Day holiday, it has become the custom to either enumerate the things we’re thankful for or to go the consumerist route and talk about Black Friday. Black Friday? C’mon, when me and TheWife™ got up this morning, the temperatures wereRead More

Vinyl

One Track Mind: The Jazz Crusaders, "Thank You Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Again" (1970)

Today is a day for giving thanks for something or another, and everyone knows what Sly Stone is grateful for. And believe me, I was intent on making this One Track Mind about a 1969 hit for the Family Stone that pretty much set the template for ’70’s funk, butRead More

Vinyl

The Orb featuring David Gilmour – Metallic Spheres (2010)

by Nick DeRiso The Orb’s signature sound — gorgeous but not quite ambient, hypnotic but typically not much more rhythmic than a chill-out room — always seemed to cry out for the guitar stylings of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. The band copped to the underlying influence on its debut album,Read More

Vinyl

Kevin Eubanks – Zen Food (2010)

Photo: Raj Naik by Pico Millions of people know him as an affable, guitar-wielding long-time bandleader of the most popular late night show in television history. Now that Kevin Eubanks has left his eighteen year stint as Jay Leno’s  musician sidekick on The Tonight Show, it’s time to become acquaintedRead More

Vinyl

Murray Flint – The Journey (2010)

by Nick DeRiso An album about dreams reclaimed, Murray Flint’s The Journey traces his own road back from painfully debilitating tendonitis. After nearly a decade away from the guitar, the Olympia, Wash., resident discovered a finger-style approach long associated with Merle Travis. This technique simultaneously sounds more complex, since theRead More

Vinyl

Half Notes: Jeff King – Catalyst (2010)

by S. Victor Aaron “Catalyst” is not just the name of the album, it’s also the name of the band sax/flute player King leads, and this is their debut album. This band which features King, Luis Deniz (saxes), David Braid (piano and keyboards), Rich Brown (bass), Joel Haynes (drums), haveRead More

Vinyl

Billy Preston, “Outa-Space” (1972): One Track Mind

A massive reissue project from Apple Records had me digging back through the old Billy Preston sides. None is more titanically funky, and lastingly influential, than “Outa-Space,” with its grease-fire groove and afro-shaking new clavinet sound. “Outa-Space” is not to be confused with his similarly named No. 4 hit ofRead More

Vinyl

From The Stacks: Pico's 2010 Stacks, Volume 6

by S. Victor Aaron Here we are at Volume 6, and while there’s still a few dozen CD’s that are worthy of mention sitting on my shelves or lying somewhere on the floor, this is likely going to be the last installment of “Pico’s 2010 Stacks.” A post-Thanksgiving version coveringRead More

Vinyl

The Friday Morning Listen: Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)

By Mark Saleski Clearly I have been spending an awful lot of time with Darkness on the Edge of Town this week. Too much time maybe? What does that mean? It’s an interesting question and, as it turns out, it doesn’t have meaning…at least not for me. Last weekend, meRead More

Vinyl

Movies: Bruce Springsteen – The Promise: Houston '78 Bootleg (2010)

by Mark Saleski The Darkness on the Edge of Town tour has taken on a sort of mythic quality, mostly because there has been scant video evidence. This “bootleg” tape unearthed by Camp Springsteen confirms what fans lucky enough to have seen one of the shows have known all along:Read More