The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread

[Rudy]

The Nightfly was my gateway drug into Fagen and Steely Dan, and it sort of grew from there. I will say, though, I still cannot get into Sunken Condos at all, and the Dan album Everything Must Go similarly doesn't do much for me anymore. (It's almost too perfect, clean, etc.) I did see the Dan in 2000, 2003 and 2006, and I'd have to say the 2000 show was the best of the three. The 2006 had poor sound, and it was like a rehash of the 2003 set list, minus the Everything Must Go tunes; the one highlight was the opener, Michael McDonald, joining them on stage at his keyboard for half of their set, and also singing backing on some of the tunes.

Becker's albums...well, I guess to some they are an acquired taste (along with his singing ). Don't know if you have this in your collection, but if you have Michael Franks' Blue Pacific, Becker produced three tracks on that one. Flaunt The Imperfection is my favorite of the China Crisis albums.

I need to get those Eye To Eye recordings. Their first two albums were produced by Katz, and I found that they are available as FLAC downloads from Tidal for just over $12 each. The CD versions would cost probably $70-$80 to get both, as they are out of print (as is the two-fer release on Wounded Bird). That is, if I can't find clean vinyl copies first.

 

[jfiedler17]

Agreed about Everything Must Go and Sunken Condos. The former isn't bad, but it's still the weakest of the Steely Dan albums, I think, and I agree that it seems a little too clean and labored over. It never feels quite as warm as any of the three albums before it. And Sunken Condos I have a hard time ever remembering any of the songs from; nothing on it is nearly as catchy as any of the best songs from The Nightfly.

I've never actually heard any of Michael Franks' albums (I'm only familiar with one or two songs of his), so I'll have to check that album out. I've tended to really enjoy most of Becker's productions outside Steely Dan (though I've never heard his own solo discs), so I would imagine I'd enjoy it.

I'm not sure I even realized that the Eye to Eye discs existed on CD! My own copy of the self-titled debut is on vinyl, and I love the sound of it - like most of the Steely Dan albums, it's a fun disc for audiophiles to enjoy, especially through headphones - so a vinyl copy is worth the hunt. "Nice Girls" is a really underrated single, too.

 

[Rudy]

Michael Franks has some great albums IMHO, and some that haven't aged too well. Blue Pacific and Dragonfly Summer are probably the two albums of his that are more recent that I like. His first two, The Art of Tea and Sleeping Gypsy are also favorites--the latter has the Brazilian influence he became known for, as he had made a friend in Antonio Carlos Jobim around that time. Otherwise it is a very sparse, laid-back type of sound that was found on The Art of Tea (which was his major-label debut with a lot of heavyweight talent like Joe Sample and Wilton Felder, Michael Brecker, David Sanborn, Larry Carlton, Larry Bunker, Nick DeCaro, and Tommy LiPuma producing).

My overall favorite has to be Passionfruit, especially the track "Rainy Night in Tokyo" which is actually about his wedding day. There is a good amount of the Brazilian/lush/steamy/Amazon rain forest type of sound on about half of the tracks here. And others like "When Sly Calls (Don't Touch That Phone)" and "Now That Your Joystick's Broke" are clever.

One that was very popular in our area was the album Skin Dive, which had three radio-friendly tracks in "Let Me Count The Ways," "Your Secret's Safe with Me" and "Now I Know Why (They Call It Falling)" locally; it's probably also the most removed from jazz, having more of a pop sound to it. I still like it (and its follow-up The Camera Never Lies) but I don't listen to these as much as I used to.

 

[Rudy]

I've been playing a few tracks from Toto XX:

It was a rarities album to celebrate 20 years together. So it has some tracks that are mainly of interest to longtime fans.

A few tracks I found interesting. David Paich's pre-Toto demo of "Miss Sun" (which they apparently used to secure their record deal with Columbia), later covered by Boz Scaggs in a nearly identical arrangement, including the female vocalist. "On The Run" was a live cut from the concert at the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival (at the invitation of Quincy Jones and Claude Nobs); it is included on the upcoming video release of several tracks from that gig, and it is notable as being the last tour that drummer Jeff Porcaro would appear in. My favorite though might be the track "Tale of a Man," written near the time of their first album but recorded during the Hydra sessions apparently. (I could see it having appeared on Hydra. )

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Lately I've been listening to a Yes album from 2011, Fly From Here. I had no idea this album existed until I happened to be reading a discography of producer, Trevor Horn, who was behind the board for Yes' big '80s hits like "Owner of a Lonely Heart." I liked that era quite well and I'm a big fan of Trevor Horn as a producer, so I picked this album up and it's a real gem. Has several concise, hook-filled tunes that recall their '80s heyday (but thankfully, they've left those dance beats and cheesy synth sounds back in the '80s), and also includes some longer compositions and amazing instrumentation like they were famous for in the '70s. (The title track is a 20+ minute 6 part suite.) So you can find things to like here if you're a fan of Yes from just about any era. The original lead singer, Jon Anderson, has departed but they enlisted a new guy, Benoit David, from a Yes tribute band and he fills the role nicely.

Along with the new Cheap Trick from a few months ago and the recent new albums from The Cars and the Doobie Brothers, it's great to have a couple of brand new albums recently that have become big favorites of mine. That's pretty rare anymore. Now if Fleetwood Mac would just get busy...

 

[Rudy]

Trevor Horn...I have a few of his works from the 80s. I know he was largely responsible for the sounds on the Frankie Goes To Hollywood debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome (the band apparently played very little on that album). And of course, ABC's The Lexicon of Love, along with his work on the Yes 90125 album, and The Art of Noise (who, I should mention, I am not afraid of ). Quite influential in the 80s, as other bands sort of took on his unique production sound, and he's worked with a who's who in music himself. I would have to dig around more, as I probably have more of his work on other recordings beyond what I listed above.

ABC actually released a follow-up recently called The Lexicon of Love II. I have it, but haven't yet listened to it. Not sure how it will be, but I've read a few really good reviews of it. Horn does not produce it, but Anne Dudley (who co-founded The Art of Noise with Horn) returns with her arranging talents and keyboards. Martin Fry got the idea while doing an anniversary concert for the original album; the concert featured Anne Dudley conducting the strings behind the ABC band, so it was a full-blown reproduction of the album.

 

[jfiedler17]

Yeah, Fly from Here is a surprisingly great album; it's a lot better than most of their post-Union outings. The fact that Jon Anderson wasn't involved made me nervous at first, but Benoit really did a nice job of trying to fill in that void. (I agree about the new Cheap Trick album, too. Picked that up last week and have been enjoying it quite a bit; I especially love the 1-2-3 opening punch of "My Heart Is on the Line," "No Direction Home" (GREAT song!), and "When I Wake Up Tomorrow." "The Sun Never Sets" and "Blood Red Lips" are two others on there I really like.)

Trevor Horn has a really impressive discography as a producer. Of course, he was one-half of The Buggles before he ever got involved in Yes (first as a full-blown band member - lead vocalist, at that - on Drama and then as co-producer on 90125 and Big Generator, which I've actually always thought was fairly underrated - there's a lot of songs on it I really like, especially "Rhythm of Love" - that intro with the group harmonies just KILLS me). Other than his work with Yes, ABC, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the productions of his that stand out the most to me are the first two Seal albums (which are both quite good; I prefer the second of the two, if only because it's got my favorite Seal song on it, "Prayer for the Dying") and McCartney's Flowers in the Dirt (which was actually put together by a hodgepodge of producers, but Horn's responsible for producing several of the better cuts on there, including "Figure of Eight").

If you pick up Lexicon of Love II, you'll have to let us know how it is. I loved the original, so I'm a bit curious how the new one stacks up in comparison. (Have you ever heard the B-side "Theme from Mantrap" from the original Lexicon sessions? It's really just "Poison Arrow" re-invented as a cocktail-lounge-jazz number, which sounds like a really awful idea on paper, but it ends up being quite lovely. It's probably one of my favorite B-sides of the early '80s, actually.)

Went record-shopping this afternoon and came home with a bagful of fun vinyl finds from the dollar bins: a clean and scratch-free orange-label copy of Cheap Trick's In Color, a near-mint copy of Joe Jackson's Body and Soul to replace my old worn copy, Ellen Foley's Spirit of St. Louis and Another Breath (the former of which is practically a Clash album, since they serve as her backing band, while Mick Jones produced and Jones and Strummer penned most of the material), the self-titled debuts from Kim Wilde and Katrina and the Waves, and, best of all, Prefab Sprout's Two Wheels Good (the American edition of their album Steve McQueen). Anyone else here familiar with that last album? It is really, really fantastic. I highly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of sophisti-pop artists like Basia, Danny Wilson, Swing Out Sister, Johnny Hates Jazz, The Blue Nile, etc. Their song "Appetite" gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.

 

[Rudy]

Haven't heard Prefab Sprout but I might have to give that one a spin--it sounds interesting.

I've only played a couple of tracks off of Lexicon of Love II. Martin Fry's voice has aged, as you'd expect. The backing is more lush than the original, which was very "80s" in its production values (aka very "Trevor Horn" I guess you could say ). It was only in the car where I gave it a bit of a distracted listen, as it comes right after the first Lexicon on the USB drive (which I have been playing a few times in the past couple of weeks). The last song "4 Ever 2 Gether" is one of the more clever lyrics on the first record. I need to give the new one some attention this week.

Body and Soul is an excellent sounding LP. I found Big World and Will Power to sound equally good. The three new LP reissues on Intervention Records got a great review at Analog Planet--at the very least I'll get Night and Day.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

the first two Seal albums (which are both quite good; I prefer the second of the two

Seal got very hit-and-miss after those first two albums, although he had great tunes here and there. He has recently reunited with Trevor Horn who produced his newest album, "7." It's a real return to form.

(I agree about the new Cheap Trick album, too. Picked that up last week and have been enjoying it quite a bit; I especially love the 1-2-3 opening punch of "My Heart Is on the Line," "No Direction Home" (GREAT song!), and "When I Wake Up Tomorrow." "The Sun Never Sets" and "Blood Red Lips" are two others on there I really like.)

The other song I love on it is "Roll Me." Robin Zander just shreds the vocals on that one. It took a couple of listens for me to get into it but now I can't stop humming it.

 

[Rudy]

Someone asked recently if there were any new recordings that we had discovered, and after having spun The Lexicon of Love II a few times this week, I have to say that this new ABC album is fast becoming a favorite. Aside from the orchestrations, there really isn't a sonic similarity between the two. Yet thematically, it's a fitting sequel to the 1982 original, which had more of a synthpop sheen to it (courtesy of producer Trevor Horn). This one is more lush, more organic, with synthesizers taking a back seat to the rest of the instrumental parts.

Martin Fry describes the sequel concept best. To put it into context, he was performing the entire The Lexicon of Love album with Anne Dudley conducting the orchestra (she appeared on the original album), and....

“A couple of years ago I looked out into the audience and thought it would be great to make a sequel, but set in 2016. I’ve seen the ABC audience grow into their 30s, 40s and 50s. All the ups and downs and trials and tribulations are happening to everyone else too. That’s what happens as you move through life. So I wanted to write songs that are authentic and are about today.

“Love Inside The Love is about being married for 30-odd years, then there’s a song that muses about what you would say to your younger self called Brighter Than The Sun. The new record is about what you’ve achieved and what you value in your life. As you get older, you realise how much crazy stuff you have in your life. You look back on friendships and relationships.

--Martin Fry, Interview: ABC's Martin Fry talks ahead of The Lexicon of Love tour coming to Birmingham »

My favorites so far are "Viva Love" (the first single off the album), "Ten Below Zero," "Singer Not The Song" and the hopeful "Brighter Than The Sun" mentioned above. I have it digitally at the moment, but the vinyl should be arriving tomorrow or Monday.

I should point out that this record only has 11 tracks on it, and the last one is a reprise of "Viva Love." Perfect! Just enough music to digest in one sitting.

 

[natureaker]

Currently listening to The Monkees song "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover" from their Live 1967 album

 

[Captain Bacardi]

While it's been raining for the past few days (a rarity in August for Austin) I went through my LP collection and pulled out an album that I need to do a needle drop on. It's called Alivemutherforya and features Tom Scott, Billy Cobham, Alphonso Johnson and Steve Khan. A classic from '78!

 

[natureaker]

For the first time in a while, I decided to listen to Space Oddity by David Bowie. Totally forgot how much I like this song!

 

[Rudy]

The new vinyl of Lexicon of Love II has arrived and it sounds quite good.

This album from 2007 is spinning at the moment:

 

[AM Matt]

I saved up my money to get the Japan reissues of the group called Sneaker which I do have their complete collection. The debut (from 1981) was $ 79.95 in U.S. price (with 4 bonus tracks). Their second & final "Loose In The World" (from late 1982) was $ 89.95 (with the bonus tracks). A CD called "Early On" (1977 - 1983) cost $ 129.95 which is the unreleased demos. Finally "Footprints In Japan: Live In Concert" was $ 119.95 (which has former Doobie Brothers & Steely Dan guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter) on 2 live tracks. Their debut contain a song that Donald Fagen & Walter Becker (of Steely Dan) wrote called "Don't Let Me In" (which has gotten rock airplay back in early 1982). It was their only one hit wonder called "More Than Just The Two Of Us" (which went to # 34 in Billboard Hot 100 Charts) back on January 25, 1982 & # 17 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Charts & you don't hear that song on radio anymore. On "Loose In The World", the song "Believe Me Tonight" did NOT charted in Billboard which was their last song in their history. Sneaker disbanded back in late 1983 or early 1984. The total cost for all 4 CD's was $ 428 & change. What are your thoughts & has anyone on the A&M Corner Forum saw them in concert back then?? What has happened to the main songwriters Mitch Crane & Michael Carey Schneider?? They rank as Toto, Firefall, Ambrosia, Little River Band among others. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[AM Matt]

By the way, Sneaker "Don't Let Me In" ran 3:45 on the album version BUT the Japan version runs 4:08 which means there is 23 seconds more of the song. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[natureaker]

One of my all time favorite Queen songs, "The Prophets Song". It's a bit of a long song (well, compared to the rest of my playlist) but I absolutely love it!

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Since we're dealing with unusual monsoon rains in August I decided to start doing needle drops on my Baja Marimba Band LPs. As I pulled out the albums I realized I had a sealed copy of the first LP! Won't have to do much cleaning up on this one.

 

[DeeInKY]

Listening to a Stevie Wonder compilation, Song Review. There are just so many great ones on this. Couple of my personal favorites- Sir Duke and I Just Called to Say I Love You.

 

[Rudy]

Original Musiquarium is a favorite of mine. Three of the four new tracks on that one are great (Ribbon in the Sky, That Girl and Do I Do). May be a good night to play Innervisions...

Currently spinning Matt Bianco. I have been ripping the DSD layer of SACDs to ISO files, then extracting the tracks as DSF files (Sony format DSD files). The Matt Bianco Matt's Mood was released on SACD in Europe when it came out. Played that one, but have "Wap Bam Boogie" playing right now from the Indigo album.

Queueing up Diana Krall's The Look of Love to play next, but not sure if I'll use the newly ripped SACD, or the 45RPM vinyl (which sounds even more lush).

 

[natureaker]

Haven't listened to this song in a while, but currently listening to The Show Must Go On by Queen. Such a great song, must I say! I also really enjoy the album it was on; Innuendo

 

[jfiedler17]

Really can't go wrong with either Original Musiquarium or Song Review; they're both well-done compilations, the most notable difference between the two being that the latter covers more of his career. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a compilation (or box set, for that matter) available of his work that actually includes all of his 45 Top 40 hits, which would be a really handy anthology to have. I've always found The Definitive Collection a fairly confusing compilation - for a single-disc package, I guess it's really well done, but for the life of me, I will never be able to figure out what "Hey Love" is doing on there.

AM Matt, I'm not sure myself whatever happened to the members of Sneaker, but I've always thought that "More Than Just the Two of Us" is one of the most underrated soft-rock songs of its time. My favorite mix CD to play in the car has that song on it, alongside a bunch of other lost hits of varying genres (i.e. Jude Cole's "Time for Letting Go," David + David's "Welcome to the Boomtown," Electronic's "Getting Away with It," Utopia's "Set Me Free," etc.).

My own most recent purchases have been a bit all over the place genre-wise. Just picked up The Blue Nile's A Walk Across the Rooftops last night, which I believe was the AOTW on this forum just a week or two ago; phenomenal album. (Stumbled upon a clean copy of it in a dollar bin, delightfully enough!) Last week, I hit up a great local record shop I only discovered about a month ago and have started to go to regularly and picked up copies (all in pleasantly great shape) of Graham Parker's Squeezing Out Sparks, George Benson's Weekend in LA, In Your Eyes, and 20/20, Rickie Lee Jones' Pirates, Level 42's World Machine, and Billy Cobham's Spectrum.

Finally got to hear the new Monkees album that someone mentioned earlier here, Good Times. I was pleasantly surprised just how fantastic it was - it's a mix of some previously-unreleased outtakes from their peak period and some newly-recorded songs, most of them penned by notable outside artists, like XTC's Andy Partridge (I am a huge XTC fan, so I was pleasantly thrilled to see in the liner notes that Partridge had specially written a new song for the album) and Weezer's Rivers Cuomo (whose own newest album is the best thing that Weezer's put out in at least ten or twelve years) and Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard. If it ends up being the last Monkees album, it's a really rock-solid note for them to go out on. But then, it seems like all the best new releases that I've heard over the summer have been by the most veteran of artists. There haven't been a whole lot of CDs lately by more recent bands that have got me all that excited (although the newest albums from The 1975 and Keith Urban I both quite enjoyed, and there's an indie band called Lake Street Dive that has got a fairly good new album out called Side Pony that has a fantastic retro-tinged soul/lite-disco cut called "Call off Your Dogs" that's really, really addictive), but the newest albums by Clapton (I Still Do), Bruce Hornsby (Rehab Reunion), Tom Petty (Mudcrutch's 2), and Paul Simon (Stranger to Stranger) I've very much enjoyed.

 

[Rudy]

I've been ripping my SACDs to DSF files (which are pure DSD) and as a result, have been listening to what I've ripped. Over the past day or so, it's been The Police, as all five of their studio albums were released as non-hybrid 2-channel SACDs over a dozen years ago. I also have taken the non-album Message in a Box tracks and made them into their own "album" (although this was only on CD). The other "biggies" I've ripped so far were the Toto Hydra and IV albums, the Rolling Stones Hot Rocks and More Hot Rocks sets, and the five Stevie Ray Vaughan SACDs (first two are the Legacy reissues, the other three are Mobile Fidelity). Plenty of good stuff ahead like the Elton Johns, the Peter Gabriels, a couple of Miles Davis titles, etc.

 

[DeeInKY]

Live CCR recording. Pretty good.

 

[Bobberman]

W

Since we're dealing with unusual monsoon rains in August I decided to start doing needle drops on my Baja Marimba Band LPs. As I pulled out the albums I realized I had a sealed copy of the first LP! Won't have to do much cleaning up on this one.

Wow Lucky you. Ive done needledrops on all my BMB LPS well over a decade ago and i have all the lps and im happy to say they have held up very well.Ihope you enjoy the process of making needledrops i sure did with mine.