Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

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Brad
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Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Brad »

Welcome to Round 1.6 of Moderately Acclaimed Albums!

Vote for your favorite album in each match-up.
Remember, anyone can vote as long as the voter has heard both albums.

Good-spirited comments are encouraged, but not absolutely necessary.
Deadline = April 13th at 10am EST.

Here's a link to the bracket for the entire tournament:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=474290

Match-ups:
1. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill vs. Four Tops - Reach Out
2. Smog - Knock Knock vs. The Style Council - Café Bleu
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo vs. Echosmith - Talking Dreams
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum vs. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves


Music seems to help the pain
Seems to cultivate the brain
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Schüttelbirne
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Schüttelbirne »

This week there's two of my nominations. I am not optimistic they will advance, but we'll see...

Carla Bley & Paul Haines | Escalator Over the Hill (1971)

A project of almost unbelievable ambition and far-reaching magnitude. The production history of this album is incredible, as is the line-up which might be the single greatest line-up of musicians in recorded history? That might be hyperbole, but what Bley and Michael Mantler achieved here is a singular piece of music unlike any other, performed by a collective of incredibly talented people from all sorts of backgrounds. The instruments are played by members of the Jazz Composer‘s Orchestra, a rather loose group of artists created by Bley and her husband Michael Mantler in the ‚60s to play avant-garde jazz.
But there‘s also people like Peggy Imig who did play saxophone, but not regularly and certainly not professionally, performing on the album. Mantler himself played the valve trombone, which is an instrument he didn‘t really know how to play. They don‘t play for the entirety of the album, just for certain select songs.
For singers they chose people with experience in the genre like Jeanne Lee, but also some of their instrumentalists like Don Cherry or Charlie Haden. For the two lead characters of the „opera“ (more on that below) they decided on Jack Bruce (from Cream) and Linda Ronstadt (yes, that Linda Ronstadt) who couldn‘t come to New York to record and sent their recorded parts by mail.
I could go on and on about the sheer effort it took to record this album. If you‘re interested I recommend the article „Accomplishing Escalator Over the Hill“ by Carla Bley herself (to be found here). She tells the story about how the idea for the album came about, how it was written and especially the process of recording and their money troubles. It‘s a tremendously interesting and very rewarding read. Important to note is how well-mixed this is; the different elements come together flawlessly despite being recorded at different times with different people. It‘s a bit similar to what Teo Macero did on Bitches Brew the year before, but these songs have a clearer structure.
Now then, on to the album itself. It‘s often called a „jazz opera“ and it certainly seems like one at first glance. There‘s characters with defined singing parts, themes and an overture. But Bley and Haines (Haines was the lyricist on whose poetry the music was based on) are not really interested in creating a conventional opera or even in adhering to the rules an opera normally follows. The characters are not really characters, but abstract figures and what they‘re singing isn‘t really forming a coherent narrative.
To illustrate the method they‘re using I‘d like to refer to a different composition of Bley‘s, released on 1978‘s European Tour 1977, titled „Spangled Banner Minor and Other Patriotic Songs (Including Flags, And Now the Queen, King Korn and The New National Anthem). She‘s taking marching band pieces and deconstructs them, picks them apart and puts them back together again, effectively satirizing the meaning of patriotic songs.
That sounds awfully academic though, doesn‘t it? And that it is one of the primary criticisms Bley is faced with and, to a certain degree, I completely understand that point. Sometimes she gets lost trying to follow an interesting idea and forgetting that the music she composes is supposed to sound like more than just an academic experiment. To completely go off the rails here, there‘s an episode of Star Trek: Voyager where they meet an alien civilization that has never encountered music before and is understandably thrilled when they hear the Doctor sing. The Doctor consequently becomes the biggest star on their planet, but fame doesn‘t last long and he has to realize that the aliens do not like music for the same reason he does. He likes singing to emotionally express himself (and to show off, mostly the latter actually). They see music as an interesting experiment in mathematics and their own compositions reflect that. No human (or human-imitating hologram) can really enjoy the music that alien civilization composes.
I am not saying Carla Bley is an alien (I am pretty sure she isn‘t), but certain parts of her discography seem more like experimental for the sake of being experimental (which is not wrong, but not very enjoyable). I think Escalator Over the Hill escapes this fate. It is very enjoyable if the listener allows himself to get immersed in this wonderfully weird world.

To get back to the term „opera“: Bley picks the elements that form a normal opera apart and puts them back together again. The result is something that‘s similar to an opera, but seems different at the same time. It‘s a bit like a mirror that distorts its image: It‘s still recognizable, but the dimensions are different.
That may be the reason why the entire thing isn‘t actually called „opera“, but rather „chronotransduction“. This is not an established word, but rather an expression of innovation. Since there has never been anything like it, we need a new word for it. I don‘t think it‘s to be taken too seriously, but a rough translation would be: A process of passage through time.
Time is indeed very important for the opera (I will call it „opera“ because everybody, including Bley, does it and chronotransduction is just a monster of a word). It doesn‘t end. Of course it has to end at some point, but theoretically if nobody shuts it off, the vinyl will keep on playing the same note in a loop. I think this is more than a gimmick; much like The Dark Side of the Moon has a circular structure, this is very relevant for the album. But we‘ll get to that.

What I intend to do here, is go through the album track-by-track and just give an attempt at an interpretation. Obviously any attempt to make coherent sense of what is going on here, is futile because Bley rearranged the already rather cryptic material Haines sent her and later cut huge chunks of recorded material from the final product. So what we have here is a rather fragmentary piece of distorted musical theater, where you can‘t be sure what is happening. I don‘t think it‘s necessary to interpret this at all; the music is good enough to stand on its own. But an interpretation won‘t hurt anyone and I think it‘s a lot of fun (for me at least).
The album has six vinyl sides which I will interpret in typical musical theatre structure as an overture and five acts. Important for the stuff I will talk about is the libretto. I may issue a content warning regarding sexual violence. So, let‘s start:

Hotel Overture

One of the best pieces of jazz of the ‚70s. An overture is supposed to set the mood for the things to come and „Hotel Overture“ achieves this brilliantly. It features an armada of brass and woodwinds setting a melancholic mood, before flipping into an exotic mood by the advent of Roger Dawson‘s conga (which only lasts a short while). Paul Haines was in India while he wrote the poems the lyrics are based on. Although this track doesn‘t have lyrics, the foreign influence can be felt; a major theme of the album is the encounter with the unknown. The dark gloom of the cacophony of wind instruments is broken around the 5-minute-mark by a single clarient, standing out from the rest and shifting the mood into busy disarray.
Imagine a tracking shot in a movie, showing you different aspects of a hotel and the people living in it, the guests and the servants (this does have a very colonialist quality to it) and each of these groups getting a different mood. One doesn‘t want to imagine what goes on when Gato Barbieri‘s tenor saxophone (I hope I heard this right) starts screaming around the 8-minute mark while Paul Motian‘s dark drums thunder in the background.
But towards the end the piece gets an almost majestic quality to it before quieting down into the typical „you may feel the suspense of what‘s to come now“ sound.

Act I

We start the first act with “This Is Here“: A droning sound invites us in, joined by humming and later an organ. The chorus starts singing and with everything gaining in volume and intensity there‘s a definite feeling of uneasiness (the very same feeling we already saw in the overture). Then integrating into that sound and strangely enough not feeling out of place, soulful voices start singing „It‘s again“. I could almost describe them as sounding funky. Electric sounds distort everything and there‘s bangs and a helicopter transforming into something completely different and uneasiness all around. It‘s like in Twin Peaks: „It is happening again“. We will return to that later.
Now there‘s an exchange between a voice and multiple members of the public. „Whatever it is can‘t have a name since it makes no difference what you call it.“ And then a loud cry: „Edgar!“
Who is Edgar? I doubt it‘s a person, it‘s a more a humoristic answer to the previous statement. If it doesn‘t make a difference what you call it, might as well call it Edgar.
Calliope Bill tells us of the hotel, late at night and bullfrogs are having their throats cut. The chorus imitates the squawking of the frogs and the buzzing of the flies surrounding the carcasses.
Viva (the Andy Warhol Viva) talks about a scheme existing and closes with „O Rawalpindi“ (a city in Pakistan, formerly the Indian colony).
The multiple public members act like the chorus in Greek tragedy. They are commenting on proceedings the audience doesn‘t yet know anything about.
But there is certainly a hint: „You pick hysterically at your memory“. Is this the first time this happens? Or is it again?

“Like Animals“ shows us a doctor (sung by Don Preston), telling us about the hotel. It‘s Cecil Clark‘s Old Hotel and the people there are like animals (as the title says). They don‘t have free will, all they do is sit around and do what they‘re supposed to do without ever questioning it. They „vote for something weak“. This means they support their government and its colonial policies, because it brings them profit. „Riding the escalator over the hill“: It‘s very pleasant not to walk over the hill, but to stand on the escalator. The escalator is a brilliant picture, meaning a stairway that moves by itself. It‘s not a stairway to heaven, I think, but rather one to economic profit. By freeing themselves of their own will, they support exploitation (because somebody needs to work up the energy to make the escalator run), but since their just animals, they don‘t have to feel guilty.

We‘re in the lobby of Cecil Clark‘s Old Hotel now and we meet the man himself. “Escalator Over the Hill“ features the theme of the previous song reiterated. Cecil Clark and the Operasinger mostly just talk absolute gibberish („a flashing that insists on a new yodelling ventriloquist“), but Clark says something significant at the start: „People who never tell anyone anything, always just letting them know“.
We don‘t give orders, we just let them know what it predestined for them to do. It‘s not our fault other people have to serve us. The choice of a over-the-top operasinger is a sign of decadence, a system so foul it‘s rotting on itself. But they all don‘t have any choice in the matter. They have to ride the escalator over the hill, they can‘t get off, even if they‘re uneasy.
Carla Bley‘s four-year-old daughter plays the ancient roomer (this is a great joke, btw), singing „Riding uneasily“. If the roomer really is ancient, shouldn‘t the escalator have finally reached its destination?
In the middle of the song there‘s an instrumental passage; it‘s incidental music by the Hotel Lobby Band.

Carla Bley as the leader begs us to “Stay Awake“, growing louder and more desperate in her plea, while the music around her is fragmented and uneasy, with particles of different instruments flowing around her and vanishing like shadows. Then somebody screams at her to keep quiet, and Viva says that in this hotel, only the flies ever change while the „unused women lie uneasily“. I take unused to mean „not able to do anything but sit around“, because obviously the women aren‘t allowed to say or do anything in this system. The leader gets shut down just for singing „stay awake“.

Next up we are introduced to “Ginger and David“ without meeting them. A bunch of figures from the hotel are telling us about them. This works for David pretty well. He‘s a curator who is „paid to keep a shirt on his back and his back turned“ (meaning he actually does nothing, even when he should do something). Immediately unsympathetic. But Ginger lives „off premises“ and she looked for a man to spend the night with, so she could finally sleep. And here the voices are overlapping and are barely discernible anymore. Obviously nobody from the hotel can make sense of this Ginger. She must be a weird person.

We close the first act with “Song to Anything That Moves“. The hotel lobby band plays again, taking up motifs from the previous songs. Their song is dedicated to any living being, because they all move. And right at the end we hear Viva saying rather bored „like animals“. No living being has free will, at least that‘s what the people in the hotel want us to think.

Act 2

To introduce us back to the hotel, the hotel lobby band plays us the “EOTH Theme“, EOTH being of course short for „Escalator Over the Hill“. But we leave the hotel to go off premises.
Directly we are brought into “Businessmen“, a central piece. Here we meet Jack, sung by Jack Bruce. His introduction is supported by John McLaughlin‘s furious electric guitar. Jack is angry about businessmen. This passage is one of the best from a lyrical standpoint, conveying greed in an incredibly concise manner.
His traveling band (characterized most notably through the electric guitar, but also featuring Carla Bley on organ) plays an extended instrumental piece that is among the best in this album. But they‘re drowned out by bells and can‘t be be as angry for much longer.
Jack speaks in two voices, the first one talking about businessmen existing in a state of hypnosis, their minds „rancidly calm“, while the second voice talks about the businessmen in relation to others: Nobody can be trusted („all insurance a murder plot“), even the sun is in debt.
We were introduced to Ginger and David in the last act, but they‘re back in the instrumental “Ginger and David Theme. It plays because we finally meet this Ginger they‘ve been talking about.
And we meet her in one of the most important tracks of the album, Why. Ginger appears and talks to Jack‘s friends (I assume), who were told to bring her to him (I assume). She characterizes David like Jack characterizes businessmen: He lies around lazy all day, because he already has everything („what is there for an escalator (!) to bring to him?“). But he‘s still jealous about what other people have, in this case regarding food („his head full of other people‘s stomachs“). But she isn‘t gonna let herself be spoiled, she tells herself, characterizing herself as a „million dollar heart“. There‘s a whole verse that doesn‘t make sense a lot of sense yet, but we will get to that later. Linda Ronstadt‘s vocal performance is amazing here. It‘s the most difficult thing she had sung in her career at that point and she aces it.

A short track following it is “It‘s Not What You Do“, with the lyrics expanding that to also include it not being what you say or see. This isn‘t one of Jack‘s friends, it‘s a character from the outside telling us that Ginger doesn‘t really have a choice, because if her heart is gonna be wrecked, nothing she can say, see or do will stop it. Just 15 seconds, but already destroying all hope.

Next up, we have “Detective Writer Daughter“. Back at the hotel, Jack tells Ginger‘s life story. There was a problem with the Bruce‘s vocal track, so Bley had to overdub her own voice in parts, which makes it confusing who is actually speaking here. But that fits rather well to the song, because it‘s basically a pause to fill us in with backstory. Ginger‘s father was a German detective writer in Sweden and apparently they had a rather nomadic lifestyle, traveling through the country on a horse (horse = home = house), and after WWII the Swedes basically threw them out of their city or village (possibly with violence). Stuff like that actually happened. Ginger didn‘t understand what was happening; she thought they all hated her for how interesting she was. Viva‘s line at the end implies that she was told that by her father who tried to mold her character.

“Doctor Why“ repeats the verse from „Why“ I talked about. „If the horse is locked the house still there“ refers to Ginger‘s backstory. The horse is the house because it‘s her home and if nobody stole it it is still there. It is at this moment that we realize why Ginger is different: She‘s not different because she sees through the illusions of the other people, but she thinks she‘s above them. She wants to be the spoon in the soup (the closeness to melting pot is intended, I think). The doctor is here for Ginger, because she‘s crazy. She‘s living in the past, having been hurt by the way her father socialized her (and possibly by her experiences in Sweden). Jack sings along with her, because he wants something from her.

This is followed by a “Slow Dance (Transductory Music)“. It serves as an interlude, but also refers back to the theme of time and how past experiences can shape a person. This piece is filled with dread, understandably.

“Smalltown Agonist“ refers back to Ginger‘s father who was characterized as such by Viva. It‘s sung by David with support by a doctor, a therapist and nurses. Let‘s make the assumption that David is Ginger‘s father, just from the song title. It does add up: They appeared in song titles together because they belong together, as father and daughter. Here David talks about what Jack is doing with Ginger (you can guess what he means because he‘s talking about her being tied up in the bathroom, surrounded by Jack‘s friends and she‘s trying to bite them, meaning she‘s defending herself). He also thinks she‘s being payed to do it („selling nude photographs of Joe DiMaggio“ is a cruel euphemism, just like the socialist solution he mentions) or he gets paid for it. Even more cruel is what the nurses sing: „E pluribus unum“. Ultimately all that matters is money, and it doesn‘t matter how you get it.
Did I mention that David is inherently unsympathetic?

Act 3

We start the act with “End of Head“. The lyrics tell us that what David told us in the last act, is true. She‘s stuck in a state where she doesn‘t want to think about the future, but rather wants to continue living the past. From the rest of the album I think it‘s clear that Jack‘s friends weren‘t present during the actual act, but that Jack did it alone.
“Over Her Head“ continues that. She‘s being held down, she‘s a „pale saucer“ (another cruel euphemism) and she contemplates suicide.
“Little Pony Soldier“ centers on Jack and is very hard to interpret. I lean towards Jack describing himself as a „little pony soldier“ who never did anything wrong. He knows things, but he‘s not telling them (his anger at businessmen who do the same thing, being extremely hypocritical of course). A little line towards the end says that Ginger has seen him undress and dress again, so we now that he was indeed not only „intermediary“ or whatever you wanna call it, but direct perpetrator. The line at the end „The diamond on his ankle with its felt out“, might mean him having now shown his true colors.
“Oh Say Can You Do?“ has Carla Bley play calliope and Calliope Bill saying that „it‘s all up to you“, but actually „it‘s not up to you anyway“, showing once again that free will is non-existent.
The next track, Holiday in Risk, is pretty cruel again. Just saying that what happened to Ginger is the risk of going on holiday is cruel enough, but cracking jokes like Cecil Clark does and the laughing is even more abhorrent. The people in the hotel are horrible (but you may have guessed that by now). At the end of the song all we hear is a bird and Viva and the leader speaking in paradoxes, showing that language has lost all its meaning, because they can‘t use it the right way.
The act is closed with the hotel lobby band playing the “Holiday in Risk Theme“.

Act 4

Instead of going on with the story we have a track from the “A.I.R. (All India Radio)“ which serves to prolong the period until the resolution comes along. This track features Souren Baronian on the dumbeck, giving it all a bit of a foreign note, but still rooted in jazz tradition. It sounds like the rest of the album (sung by the colonizers), just with a little bit of foreign influence put in (though the dumbeck is not even an Indian instrument, which is pretty ironic, as intended).
We‘re checking back in with Jack and his friends in “Rawalpindi Blues“, which also gives as a welcome return of John McLaughlin‘s guitar. Jack talks about giving up something undesirable to get at what he desires and we can easily imagine what that is. His friends ask what they should do with him, and I‘m not sure if they actually mean that or if it‘s just pretense.
This track is dominated by Don Cherry on trumpet and singing as the Sand Shepherd. It‘s reflecting more than just individual pain; things are happening again and again and are destined to happen again because the system hasn‘t changed.
All in all, Act 4 changes the dramaturgy drastically. Where before we were able to explain what is happening by the lyrics, Acts 4 and 5 are dominated by long, fusion-like tracks dominated by repeated passages emphasizing a very certain position.

Act 5

We start immediately with “End of Rawalpindi“ and Jeanne Lee as Ginger II. We won‘t hear from Ronstadt again, an interesting musical illustration of her being completely transformed after her experience. Ginger II and Jack continue the theme of the Sand Shepherd from Act 4: „It‘s again“
But is it? The impression I get from the final few tracks is that if this had happened to anybody else but Ginger (or any of the other inhabitants of the hotel), nothing much would have happened. There is a reason why the track is called „End of Rawalpindi“. Jack and David have shattered the balance that has upheld their existence there for so long by being so overwhelmed by desire and greed respectively, that they turned against their own. And that is the only way to end their rule. Rawalpindi can‘t be killed, it must destroy itself from the inside.
“End of Animals“ shows their problem. What are they supposed to offer Ginger? There is nothing they can do, especially now that there‘s a „little one“ (yeah, apparently she‘s pregnant). There is no way they are getting out of this alive, apparently. But there‘s gotta be an escape – and there is:
“...And It‘s Again“ tries to forcibly create a way out. They‘re still on the escalator over the hill, and they have no intention of getting off. So they decide to turn a blind eye. They disguise the pregnancy horribly by turning it into a willing act and in effect reconstitute the balance. If nothing happened, Rawalpindi can exist again and they can stay on their elevator inside the comfortable system they have built for themselves.
They manage to convince themselves that nothing bad happened and Rawalpindi actually exists again for all eternity (signified by the loop).
The passage of „it‘s again“ in the beginning can either be a reference to the end, a sort of foreshadowing or, signify a circular structure, but I‘m leaning towards the former, because a circular strucure is hard to reconcile with the loop at the end.

This is just one possible interpretation that‘s not even taking every element of the album into consideration. It might also be that Ginger actually dies, but then who is Ginger 2? For me that‘s a big appeal of the album because it gives me a lot to think about. It‘s an incredible album that goes through a variety of different styles to tell a rather cryptic narrative that warrants further investigation. Certainly one of my all-time favorites.
Highlights: „Hotel Overture“, „This Is Here...“, „Escalator Over the Hill“, „Businessmen“, „Why“, „Rawalpindi Blues“, „End of Rawalpindi“


Four Tops | Reach Out (1967)

I often tend to be underwhelmed with albums by Motown artists; they‘re immaculately produced and orchestrated, but often they leave me cold. This is not really different. The production side is mostly great except for the backing vocals which are often more distracting than supporting the rest of the song. The vocal performances are also quite good, but the entire album lacks a bit of character of me. And the album‘s title song may be the most famous one, but I was never a big fan of it.
Highlights: „Walk Away Renee“, „I‘ll Turn to Stone“


Smog | Knock Knock (1999)

I‘ve only known Bill Callahan from his recent albums Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest and Gold Record which had some great material but were also pretty flawed. Knock Knock is a different story: The style is far more oriented on rock and less on folk, and that works rather well here. Callahan has a wonderful, soothing voice and he‘s supported by warm guitar and piano melodies. I enjoyed this a lot; my favorite song might have been „Hit the Ground Running“ if it weren‘t for the children‘s choir. That‘s an unfortunate decision, but a rare one on this very good album.
Highlights: „Let‘s Move to the Country“, „Held“, „Teenage Spaceship“, „Left Only with Love“


The Style Council | Café Bleu (1984)

I knew this album was from the ‚80s before even looking it up because the name The Style Council just screams „from the ‚80s“. So what I expected was candy-colored Pop drowned in synthesizers, so count me surprised when the album starts with a swinging piano melody. And once I settled into the groove, the album completely changes its style in the second half becoming similar to what I thought it would be at first, but far funkier than I expected, with the completely freaked-out „Strength of Your Nature“. I think the first style suits them better, which is mostly due to the songs in the second half being weaker. The rapping on „A Gospel“ isn‘t very strong. And then they change their style again: „You‘re the Best Thing“ is way too sugary for my taste, but the other tracks are pretty solid, but they‘re neither as jazzy as the first half nor as funky as „A Gospel“ and „Strength of Your Nature“. „Here‘s the One That Got Away“ features an interesting violin that ultimately does not convince me.
Ultimately I have to commend the album for taking chances and trying out different styles. It‘s certainly an interesting listening experience, even if not everything they try works and the first half is far superior to the second.
Highlights: „The Whole Point of No Return“, „The Paris Match“, „Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse“, „Strength of Your Nature“


Pierre Akendengué | Nandipo (1974)

Folk music focused on songwriting in languages I don‘t understand understand depends entirely on the vocals of the artist. Since I speak neither French (how often have I said this here already?) nor Nkomi, I have no idea what he‘s singing though I might look it up if he advances. But Akendengué has a great voice pulling me in. Especially noteworthy are the half-sung-half-spoken vocals on „Un conte du roi orei“. The instrumentals serve mostly a supporting role, but Nana Vasconcelos provides a wonderful percussion backdrop. The best fusion of instrumentals and vocals is achieved on the title track „Nandipo“ that can only be described as beautiful.
Highlights: „Oma ayiya“, „Ogowe“, „Un conte du roi orei“, „Nandipo“


Echosmith | Talking Dream (2013)

I remember „Cool Kids“ from the radio back when it was a hit but I never really liked it even in the days when I liked radio-pop music. The album is basically just more of the same stuff and none of it is interesting or engaging in any way, not even enough to get worked up about it being bad and writing a long text about it. I suffered through it and forgot the entire thing once it was over. Not a good sign.


Calibro 35 | Momentum (2020)

I discovered this early last year when looking for Jazz albums and since this is tagged as Jazz-Funk I listened to it and liked it quite a lot. All four members of the band play noteworthy parts, but Enrico Gabrielli‘s work on different keyboards should be emphasized because it plays the most vital role for the sound of the album. The band plays mostly instrumental tracks that focus on danceable grooves and catchy melodies. From the two instrumental tracks I vastly prefer „Stan Lee“; „Black Moon“ might be the weakest track on here, entirely due to the vocals. I don‘t like it as much as I used to, but I still think it‘s a good album.
Highlights: „Stan Lee“, „Tom Down“, „Fail It Till You Make It“, „4x4“


Cecil Taylor Unit | Dark to Themselves (1977)

I don‘t know if I‘m being evil nominating this because it most certainly isn‘t easily approachable. I still think it‘s not as hard as One Too Many Salty Swift and No Goodbye which is just incredibly long. Dark to Themselves has a nice length (61 minutes), a great line-up and progression. Nobody can tell me they can‘t see structure in this album unless they haven‘t listened to it. It‘s probably the easiest starting point for the Unit, though his solo work is probably easier for newcomers to digest. So if you‘ve never heard anything by Taylor, good luck.
I feel the need to mention that I‘m only considering the „true“ version of the album released in 1990, not the original release in 1977. The one on YouTube is the 1990 version which features the entire performance in one piece. The 1977 version was on vinyl and had to split it in two while losing about fifteen minutes because they couldn‘t fit the rest on there. But since it is one continuous performance, I doubt anyone would see it as two songs. I‘ve struggled with myself whether to put „Streams and Chorus of Seed“ on my all-time song list because it is so long and it stretches the definition of song maybe a bit much, but on the other hand I will probably put „Music for 13 Musicians“ on there which is about the same length. I‘ll have to think about it some more.
About the music: We have Cecil Taylor on piano, Jimmy Lyons on alto saxophone, David S. Ware on tenor saxophone, Raphe Malik on trumpet and Marc Edwards on drums. The first thing you may notice is that there‘s no bassist. Other releases by the Unit feature a cellist, here there‘s no string instrument at all. Instead there‘s three wind instruments which is a lot. Taylor isn‘t punishing the piano nearly as much as he does on other releases.
I think the album title describes the kind of sound you‘ll find here rather well. It is very dark, and to me it always sounds like a battle between the wind instruments and the piano, with occassional screams by the saxophones. The piano may seem to be the winner in the end with a long-winded solo, but the winds joining in again at the end makes a peaceful ending more likely.
Every single player here does magnificent work creating one of the best performances I have ever heard.

2 | Carla Bley & Paul Haines | Escalator Over the Hill vs. 7 | Four Tops | Reach Out
3 | Smog | Knock Knock vs. 6 | The Style Council | Café Bleu
5 | Pierre Akendengué | Nandipo vs. 8 | Echosmith | Talking Dream
4 | Calibro 35 | Momentum vs. 1 | Cecil Taylor Unit | Dark to Themselves
Jirin
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Jirin »

Reach Out 82 - Escalator Over The Hill 78
Cafe Bleu 88 - Knock Knock 76
Nandipo 83 - Talking Dreams 64

Need to try to hear Dark To Themselves. I just do most of my listening at work and streaming from sources like YouTube is problematic under those conditions.
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Listyguy
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Listyguy »

1. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill vs. Four Tops - Reach Out
2. Smog - Knock Knock vs. The Style Council - Café Bleu
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo vs. Echosmith - Talking Dreams
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum vs. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves
DaveC
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by DaveC »

1. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill vs. Four Tops - Reach Out
2. Smog - Knock Knock vs. The Style Council - Café Bleu
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo vs. Echosmith - Talking Dreams
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum vs. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by rumpdoll »

1. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill vs. Four Tops - Reach Out
2. Smog - Knock Knock vs. The Style Council - Café Bleu
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo vs. Echosmith - Talking Dreams
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum vs. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves
jamieW
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by jamieW »

Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill
Smog - Knock Knock
Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo
Calibro 35 - Momentum

Favorite album I couldn't vote for: Four Tops - Reach Out (I really enjoyed Cecil Taylor, too. That matchup was razor-close. "Momentum" won due to having 3 of my favorite songs from last year.)
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Rdwdbob »

1. Four Tops - Reach Out
2. Smog - Knock Knock
3. Echosmith - Talking Dreams
4. Calibro - Momentum
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acroamor
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by acroamor »

1. Four Tops - Reach Out
2. Smog - Knock Knock
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo
4. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves
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mileswide
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by mileswide »

Schüttelbirne wrote: Tue Apr 06, 2021 2:26 pm A project of almost unbelievable ambition and far-reaching magnitude.
I wish I were as captivated by the record as I am by your review of it, some of the best writing I've seen on the forum. You might not have pointed it out as it's too obvious but "E pluribus unum" is of course the original motto of the United States, suggesting the album's narrative could well be an allegory for American/Western society, which is borne out by the title of "Oh Say Can You Do", altering the opening line of The Star-Spangled Banner to decry the lack of action in response to the abuse towards Ginger. The motto's also Latin for 'one of many', maybe echoing how disposable Ginger is made to feel by the other characters.

Anywho:

7. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator over the Hill v. 5. Four Tops - Reach out
2. Smog - Knock Knock v. 3. The Style Council - Café Bleu
6. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo v. 8. Echosmith - Talking Dreams
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum v. 1. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves

Standouts: Hotel Overture | I'll Turn to Stone | River Guard | Headstart to Happiness | Sesi | Come Together | Glory-Fake-Nation | Streams
All I got inside is vacancy!
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Romain »

1. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill
2. Smog - Knock Knock
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum

Escalator Over the Hill is aa beautiful discovery. and it pains me not to vote for the Four Tops, whose album is great too (I give a bonus point for novelty.)
Knock Knock... who is there? it's another excellent discovery. You guys are a treat.
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Brad »

My picks:
1. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill vs. Four Tops - Reach Out
2. Smog - Knock Knock vs. The Style Council - Café Bleu
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo vs. Echosmith - Talking Dreams
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum vs. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves

For a real treat (if you're into this sort of thing), check out some of James Jamerson's isolated bass tracks from the Four Tops LP... mesmerizing.
Here's "Reach Out":

Thanks!
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Schüttelbirne
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Schüttelbirne »

mileswide wrote: Fri Apr 09, 2021 2:14 am
Schüttelbirne wrote: Tue Apr 06, 2021 2:26 pm A project of almost unbelievable ambition and far-reaching magnitude.
I wish I were as captivated by the record as I am by your review of it, some of the best writing I've seen on the forum. You might not have pointed it out as it's too obvious but "E pluribus unum" is of course the original motto of the United States, suggesting the album's narrative could well be an allegory for American/Western society, which is borne out by the title of "Oh Say Can You Do", altering the opening line of The Star-Spangled Banner to decry the lack of action in response to the abuse towards Ginger. The motto's also Latin for 'one of many', maybe echoing how disposable Ginger is made to feel by the other characters.
Thanks! I think I've heard about the "E pluribus unum" thing, but it totally flew over my head while writing. Same with the Star-Spangled Banner which I've probably heard more often than my own national anthem (which is basically only heard at football games and I don't watch those).
It does make sense though and I can totally see Bley going that way, especially considering that the Jazz Composers' Orchestra was formed after a festival titled "October Revolution in Jazz".
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Bang Jan »

1 | Carla Bley & Paul Haines | Escalator Over the Hill
4 | Four Tops | Reach Out

2 | Smog | Knock Knock
7 | The Style Council | Café Bleu

5 | Pierre Akendengue | Nandipo
8 | Echosmith | Talking Dreams

6 | Calibro 35 | Momentum
3 | Cecil Taylor Unit | Dark to Themselves

Favourite song of the week: Four Tops | Reach Out I'll Be There
"The first word in this song is discorporate. It means to leave your body."
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by spiritualized »

1. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill (6/10) vs. Four Tops - Reach Out (7/10)
2. Smog - Knock Knock (8/10) vs. The Style Council - Café Bleu (5/10)
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo (5/10) vs. Echosmith - Talking Dreams (4/10)
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum (8/10) vs. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves (3/10)
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by bonnielaurel »

Four Tops - Reach Out
The Style Council - Café Bleu
Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo
Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves
De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum.
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Henry »

1. Four Tops - Reach Out (m7 828th fave of all time)
2. The Style Council - Café Bleu (10th fave of all time)
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo vs. Echosmith - Talking Dreams (TBD - neither album is among my faves yet)
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum vs. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves (TBD - neither album is among my faves yet)
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Brad »

A little over 24 hours left to vote!
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Nassim »

2. Smog - Knock Knock
I feel like my picks are all appearing in those early rounds !
Anyway, the 3 albums released by Smog between 1997 and 2000 are all great, but Knock Knock is a bit above the other 2, warmer, more fleshed out and just plain more memorable, with my favorite song of his, Teenage Spaceship, in the middle. Café Bleu is really great when it's good, but there are a few songs I really don't like... I guess that's the risk when you are bold enough to go in so many directions.
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Honorio »



I can see that I'm alone again (naturally) in this but I love "Café Bleu." Paul Weller broke away from his punk/mod jail exploding in multiple directions (from lounge music to hip hop) tied by a stylish approach to black music, with a fascinating collision between classy ninth jazzy chords and combative social lyrics. Other interesting collisions of the week were between baroque pop and soul (Four Tops), velvetish-rock and slowcore (Smog), African folk and chanson (Akendengue) and jazz and modern classical (Bley).

5. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator over the Hill (1971) vs. 2. Four Tops - Reach Out (1967)
3. Smog - Knock Knock (1999) vs. 1. The Style Council - Café Bleu (1984)
4. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo (1974) vs. 8. Echosmith - Talking Dreams (2013)
6. Calibro 35 - Momentum (2020) vs. 7. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves (1977)

Favourite song from every album:
Hotel Overture | Reach Out I'll Be There | Cold Blooded Old Times | My Ever Changing Moods | Oma ayiya | Cool Kids | Stan Lee | Streams
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Kingoftonga »

Winners in red:

1. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill vs. Four Tops - Reach Out
2. Smog - Knock Knock vs. The Style Council - Café Bleu
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo vs. Echosmith - Talking Dreams
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum vs. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Rob »

No time for write-ups again. Maybe I'll have to skip them altogether from now on; work life is very busy.

Some stray thoughts, though:

- Glad to finally hear Escalator Over the Hill in full. It's a massive work with a lot to take in. I also didn't have time to read Schüttelbirne's write-up yet, sadly. Will do one of these days.
- Reach Out is a lot better than other Motown-albums of the sixties I heard: it is very consistent, even among the famous singles. One of those classic albums I wouldn't have checked out for a long time if it hadn't appeared here (despite absolutely loving the title track). Sad it is only the second best album of the week, up against the best one.
- I have to agree with Nassim that Café Bleu is frequently very good, but at times it is plain bad too.
- I had forgotten all about the existence of Echosmith - didn't even recognize the band name when it appeared here -, but their song Come Together was actually important in turning me off of mainstream radio altogether (it wasn't a strong relationship to begin with). It's hard to think of a song with more cliché lyrics than that. Apologies to the nominator, but the album itself did no better with me.

1. Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill vs. 2. Four Tops - Reach Out
3. Smog - Knock Knock vs. 7. The Style Council - Café Bleu
4. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo vs. 8. Echosmith - Talking Dreams
6. Calibro 35 - Momentum vs. 5. Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by LunarPiper »

1. Four Tops - Reach Out
2. Smog - Knock Knock
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum
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Safetycat
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Safetycat »

Escalator Over the Hill < Reach Out
Knock Knock > Café Bleu
Nandipo > Talking Dreams
Momentum > Dark to Themselves
Brad
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Re: Moderately Acclaimed Albums 12 - Round 1.6

Post by Brad »

21 total voters this week:
acroamor
Bang Jan
bonnielaurel
Brad
DaveC
Henry
Honorio
jaimeW
Jirin
Kingoftonga
Listyguy
LunarPiper
mileswide
Nassim
Rdwdbob
Rob
Romain
rumpdoll
Safetycat
Schüttelbirne
spiritualized

Winners:
1. Four Tops - Reach Out over Carla Bley & Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill 12-8
2. Smog - Knock Knock over The Style Council - Café Bleu 16-5
3. Pierre Akendengue - Nandipo over Echosmith - Talking Dreams 18-2
4. Calibro 35 - Momentum over Cecil Taylor Unit - Dark to Themselves 12-7

Round 1.7 up soon!
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