Les Abranis "Theggaeledh" 1973

A stumbling funky beat and a repeating refrain on the organ that doesn't get boring. A four-second guitar solo once every minute. Provocative wailing from singer Karim Branis. Algerian rockers Les Abranis got back together in 2008 and started touring again after a twenty-five year hiatus.

Miles Davis 'Round Midnight

Wow I did not think I'd be writing about this record. Which is funny because I noticed it in the pile next to the turntable. Maybe my unconscious swept that connection under the rug. This is just too much of a monster: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, Joe Jones on drums.

You might be thinking, why? You wrote about Sun Ra, and Eric Dolphy. Why is 'Round Midnight, or Miles Davis, unwriteable? It's just a notion. It's like writing about Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, a serious masterpiece of modern art made by a guy who took himself and his work very seriously. Also, a lot of other people have already talked about it and written about it. And I'm not an expert. So what will be added to the conversation?

It's interesting, though, how avant-garde cultural output becomes masterpieces that often later seem so of that era. What I mean is, 'Round Midnight sounds quintessentially fifties. In a good way. The production, the attitude of the players, the sound: it's all so smart people then. The same could be said of The Beats' writing, for instance, who incidentally liked this music, or Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso's cubism. At the time what they were making was so cutting-edge and few people saw it, or heard it, let alone understood it, but now it seems like it's from that moment.

Does that still happen? Will it continue to happen? The way culture is disseminated is so different now. Is Lil' Wayne avant garde? Some would laugh at that. I think Tha Carter III is groundbreaking, and just because a lot of other people dug it too and a whole pack of them sampled the beats immediately doesn't make it less avant garde.

Dreamland Faces - Chompin' b/w Brown Horn

This 45 is somber. A lot of people think dance music and good times when they think 45s. Well, forget it. This is serious and philosophical. Both songs are stark narratives about how lonely it can be to live. I agree. We are all alone, together.

Chompin' is a quiet, valient, solitary struggle. This could be the soundtrack section of a Russian or French film. If it's Russian, a lone character is wandering through Soviet housing projects on a bleak afternoon. If it's French, the scene cuts between a lone character in a park and someone else, maybe in that park, maybe elsewhere. Or the lone character is preparing for work as a tailor or seamstress. This could be in Paris, gray and drizzling Paris when no one has smiled for a week.

The saw is all over the place on Brown Horn. But that doesn't make it much more upbeat. Our main character from the previous scenes is now staring at a brook, wondering, then stepping through damp, low grass, out there, somewhere.

You can buy this low-key tragedy '45 on the Dreamland Faces Web site.

Dreamland Faces

In this age of promotion and bizarre concepts like branding oneself, Dreamland Faces are not PR people. Take for instance their orange CD, which doesn't have their name on the cover and doesn't have a title. There is just a simple drawing of two fighting bunnies. I don't know what year it came out because that's not listed anywhere, either.

The names of the songs and the members of the band are on the back, though. When the band lived in Milwaukee they were a duo, but a few years ago they moved to Minneapolis and now they're an ensemble of six: Josef Evans on pianoforte, Kristen Froebel on soprano saxophone, Karen Majewicz on accordion and vocals, Andy McCormick on musical saw, accordion, and vocals, Steve Sandberg on tuba and trombone, Randall Throckmorton on banjo ukulele and vocals.

Karen also plays in Carpscale Orchester. She composed the first song on this orange CD, Ballbuster. It starts with her on accordion and a quick rejoinder from the soprano sax. The atmosphere is old fashioned amusement park with fun house and cotton candy, romantic and cavorting.

Randall Throckmorton wrote Only My Pillow Hears Me Cry, a sad, mopey song that was probably written in the dead of the nine-month winter in Minneapolis. The pillow is the only source of consolation, and yet it's a shameful secret that is shared with us at the chorus.

Circle A Waltz is named after a mostly defunct bar in Milwaukee. It's a wobbly little party with some Eastern European lines, just like the city of beers.

Black Cat is a Baghdad folksong. The banjo ukulele is nice and plucky at the start. The saw comes along, then Karen sings in her truly inimitable style. I often think that her singing is 1930s, but now that I reflect on it there is no one from that era with that warble, either.

Aquatics is an energetic romp.

Everything I Have Is Yours is slow and lumbering, with Throckmorton's falsetto and some soothing, sleepy solos.

TRAPPED is back at the amusement park, but this time it's not too much fun. I imagine the end of The Lady From Shanghai where Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth have a showdown in the house of mirrors. It doesn't end well, but it brings to a close a story that is swirling downward.

Whipdance seems purposely cheery after TRAPPED, like someone who dances around and grins to stop a baby from crying. Everything's all right, everything's all right. Low voices lull, wordless.

I must admit I stopped the CD and watched the Ink Spots perform It's Only a Shanty in Old Shanty Town and one thing that is striking is how much they smile when they sing. Which changes the tone of your voice, by the way. As for the Dreamland Faces, and their slightly changed title, In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town, I have a small bone to pick: instead of saying "the roof is so slanty" which is grammatically incorrect but rhymes with shanty, Andy says it's "slanted". The next time I see them live I'd love to hear him switch that word. Otherwise I love this version. They really make it their own.

Mt. Hope is a gently swaying end to this CD, which you can order from Dreamland Faces Web site. Also this is an excellent live band, so go see them if you can.

Carpscale Orchester

Obviously this is not the cover art, but I don't have a picture of the cover to show you so here is the group in concert. Also, a slight digression here because this is actually a CD that is mixed in with the records next to the turntable. It's a gift from the band, who stayed with us a few months ago. I missed their show because I was out of town that night, but did see them all the following day. Now as I listen to this, I am sorely disappointed to have missed their performance because this is amazing and it's my kind of music. I knew it would be good because Karen is in the band. She's the accordionist in Dreamland Faces.

Right now Milwaukee Waltz is playing, which is named after where I'm writing this from. It's the third song on the CD.

Next onto El Remedio Fatale, a creative cover of an Astor Piazzola song. Never thought I would hear a different version of that song and prefer it, but this comes awfully close. This band is destined to do a soundtrack for a French film, I think.

Waltz of a Lost America has singing. The band is all women, and this is the first time you realize it. The vocals are followed by a nice chunky solo on bass, a solo on viola (or violin?) and I think I hear the saw, but not sure about that.

Crex Meadows Meadows is the swinging and swaying third-to-last song. It's the one that sounds old country.

Altamira has a familiar line that I recognize but can't place it. Maybe this is a tune I've heard many times and never knew it. Nice plucking on the viola and violin during the bass solo. There are many places called Altamira, the most notable being the Cave of Altamira in Cantabria, Spain, with Upper Paleolithic paintings and drawings.

San Rafael starts with the piano and becomes a sad and haunting end to it all.

Eric Dolphy - The Berlin Concerts

This is nearing the end of the pile next to the turntable. There is, however, another pile below it that awaits listening. So I'm not worried. And I'm sure you're not. What I'm more concerned about is that Eric Dolphy is a challenge to write about. First of all you can't help but think of his imminent death with a title like Berlin concerts. These recordings were made there in 1961, and Dolphy died there just three years later, a week after his 36th birthday.

On Hot House, the first track, Dolphy is lively and energetic. When Benny Bailey comes in to take a solo, he doesn't have that same jagged vigor. Which is not a criticism. He is smooth, a bit languorous in a hot, humid summer day way. Pepsi Auer on piano is somewhat muffled here. He makes his way through the improvisation relaxed and sure. Dolphy comes back in and banters back and forth with Buster Smith on drums. Again, he is forceful. There's a nice intertwining of him and Bailey at the end. The song is 19 minutes long.

The first song on side II is Benny Carter's When Lights Are Low. Dolphy starts with the main chorus, infusing it with a lot of personality and feeling. The line becomes a humorous chubby guy strolling down the block. But then that guy goes off, because Dolphy is soon improv-ing and there are geese, fast rushing brooks and streams and leaps and hops through the air. Jamil Nasser solos after him. Like Auer on Hot House, his bass is not quite loud enough. He climbs a precipice, tiptoes up and down the side of a rocky mountain wall, then finds a meadow and one note he likes a lot. Then quiet quotes of the chorus. Now Dolphy is back and does another back-and-forth with Smith. He comes back to the chorus on his bass clarinet, but now it sounds totally changed. Is this a different instrument?

Geewee is a Dolphy composition, so it's frantic and fast, there and gone and hard to hold onto.

The first song on side III (there are two records), God Bless the Child, is just Dolphy on bass clarinet. It's beautiful.

Nasser and Smith are back on bass and drums for Hi-Fly, with Dolphy now playing flute. You really get a sense of Dolphy's breath when he plays flute, and you realize how athletic his playing is. His flute is dry, breathy, "vata" in Ayurvedic speak. This is an appealing aspect of him. Thankfully he played multiple instruments. Jamil Nasser's bass can be heard better here. Buster Smith does some mad drumming at the end. Back to the chorus to wrap things up, but the drummer adds some nice crazy raps and taps. Someone says that's it. The flute meanders all over the place, winds down, changes direction, like a kid that doesn't want to go home.

Side IV and two more songs... but I'm not going to write about them. Maybe you'll listen to them and write about it, and then e-mail me: theheretohear@gmail.com

Sun Ra and his Arkestra - Sun Song

The first song on side A, Brainville, is such a great start, a walk down a busy street full of fascinating people all going somewhere. Everyone's in a good mood. You are among an intelligent group of people with senses of humor. They like to laugh at situations they find themselves in, and at themselves, sometimes. What a great introduction. You want to stay among these people, keep listening to them, keep watching them.

The second song, Call For All Demons, has a catchy main phrase going through it, with nice discordant piano chords in the background and quixotic solos that Sun Ra and his people can do gracefully, including one on tympani by Jim Heardon.

Transition chugs along hard and takes you with, and the solos here are intricate. Sun Ra has a solo on piano at the end, and the song stops on a dime, but smooth and sure.

Possession: time to sit back and dream. Lots of John Gilmore on the tenor sax, sleepy and a little yearning. At least he's not alone; the others support him. Everyone is nostalgic, romantic, but they perk up at the end and there's a ray of hope. This is a great way to wrap it up. The Arkestra is not composed of types to lull for long. Plus they've got Street Named Hell next.

This is the last song on side A. Angular, energetic, and ready to showcase a dueling match between Jim Heardon on the tympani and Bob Barry on drums. Lovely little transition on piano and the song goes creeping and crawling like a spider for a while, then dissipates.

Wow. That's just side A. And the songs continue to mesmerize on side B. If you don't have this album, you better get a copy. This is Sun Ra and his Arkestra on fire. Lucky me, I saw them live once. But I wish I'd seen them about a thousand times more.

Dr. Octagon - Blue Flowers

Moving right along through the stack by the stereo, the next record is a remix of Dr. Octagon's Blue Flowers, given to me by Eric Beaumont, a musician, librarian at the county jail, and record collector. Thanks, Eric! I love this song, and played the hell out of Dr. Octagonecologyst, the album it was on.

Kool Keith AKA Dr. Octagon AKA Dr. Dooom is probably one of the more eccentric hip hop stars and also seemed to have a following with the alternative music crowd. His imagination really runs wild and the result is somewhere between cheesy horror stories and surrealist poetry.

Blue Flowers on the album starts with a low, rumbling synth. A loop of spooky violins comes in over it, followed by a jangling tambourine beat and a background chorus, "Let me show you something." Dr. Octagon announces his entrance: "Dr. Octagon, paramedic fetus of the east..." Already, it's hard to know what he's talking about, but it's far out and he says it so well. He continues on with lines like, "Your insurance is high but my price is cheap," and at the chorus, "Blue flowers growing by the pond, screaming yellow, and "As I go into the park, I see... blue flowers. It's raining green, by the pond."

On the Automator remix, the violins are out, replaced by opera singer flourishes and a whispering Björk. Dr. Octagon breaks it down at one point singing, "Sailing, takes me away..." and inserts a "Here's George Jetson." He free associates, "I lay myself down to sleep, let my soldiers keep as I look at Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer riding through the sky, smoking weed..." It all makes no sense, it's funny, it's disturbing, sometimes in bad taste, and it's some of the most creative hip hop, or music, of the '90s. Fittingly, the record right after it is Sun Ra.

Duke Ellington "Rockin' in Rhythm" vol. 3 (1929-1931)

After Herbie Hancock's Treasure Chest is Duke Ellington, "Rockin' in Rhythm" vol. 3 (1929-1931). I don't have the other volumes; I've never thought to look for them but now that I think about it I am wanting them. This is the last in the series, according to the liner notes. Anyway early Duke Ellington is the best, I think. But he was always great. He did so much and he was always well dressed. This adds to my theory that people have devolved over the course of the twentieth century. People in general used to be more courageous, more interesting, and better dressed. When I look at pictures of my grandparents in Chicago in the middle of winter amid heaps of snow and dressed to the nines I think this.

Wall Street Wail, the second song on side one has some fantastic solos. This album is one of those jazz aficionado productions with everything well documented and one of the things they list is the order of the solos on each song. The order on Wall Street Wail is [Barney] Bigard, [Cootie] Williams, Bigard, [Joe "Tricky Sam"] Nanton, [Wellman] Braud, [Johnny] Hodges, Braud, Hodges, Bigard. In the liner notes Stanley Dance also gives the other names Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, also called The Jungle Band here, recorded under for other labels: The Ten Blackberries, The Harlem Hot Chocolates, The Harlem Footwarmers, The Harlem Music Masters, The Philadelphia Melodians, The Memphis Hot Shots, The Whoopee Makers.

Side two starts with a weepy Mood Indigo. This is definitely the saddest song on the album; side one is all pretty upbeat. The third song, Wang Wang Blues has got a lot of wah-wah personality and makes me think of my friends Dreamland Faces. Rockin' in Rhythm the song enchants and hypnotizes, and the frenetic Twelfth Street Rag right after it features piano duets with Benny Payne and Duke Ellington.

Herbie Hancock - Treasure Chest

Songs from Fat Albert Rotunda, Mwandishi, and Crossings are all on this album, released in 1974 and the third in the pile next to the turntable. To me there really is no other music like Herbie Hancock's, especially this, the earlier work. The Miles Davis influence is definitely there - Hancock left his group in 1968. Otherwise the songs are pretty far out, in a Sun Ra way but not at all like The Man From Outerspace.

The cover art is also exceptional: a close-up portrait of Hancock with eyes closed, pouting. It's a photo-realist painting and the highlights of Hancock's face are gold. I can't find credits for it. Liner notes are by David Rubinson, who begins his last paragraph with, "You must pardon me, if indeed you've gotten this far."