Joan Bibiloni - Una Vida Llarga I Tranquila (1984)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Joan Bibiloni - Silencio Roto (1987)

Folk-infused, synth-y Spanish jazz-funk/lite fusion. My commute to work starts around 6:15-20 in the morning, which means that there are generally not a lot of cars on the road when I leave, and, for most of the year, the sun isn't even up yet. I have a couple of mixes specifically made for this dark, slightly eerie, but laid-back early morning commute, and this record's title track is the first song on one of them. (The next two songs, you ask? "Song for Sharon" by Joni Mitchell, and "Falling to Pieces" by Faith No More. I'm usually at work by the time "Falling to Pieces" fades out.) So take that as my overall assessment of the album. Also, please stick around till the end, things get pretty fucking weird and I wouldn't want you to miss it.

Track listing:

1. El Cumpleaños Se Jaimito

2. Unda Vida Llarga I Tranquila

3. El Aguacito

4. Lailala Lailala

5. Doble Volta

6. Sagitari

7. Jazmin 29

8. Una Vida Llarga I Tranqiula II

OK, Mr. Rich. With your fingers in the asses of the 4-star generals. This is your only chance to hear me, so listen up big. No more kissing toilet bowls. No more fingering the cold tits of bombs. Get out onto the street. There's better things to do. This is the Ralphie the Dog speaking to you. Life can be better than a pile of shit. Don't wipe us out now.

Also listen to:

Ian Carr's Nucleus - Out of the Long Dark (1978)

Steps Ahead - Steps Ahead (1983)

Percy Jones Ensemble - Propeller Music (1990)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Percy Jones - Cape Catastrophe (1990)

Percy Jones with Tunnels - Percy Jones with Tunnels (1993)

Vic Stevens' Mistaken Identities - No Curb Ahead (1997)

Tunnels - Painted Rock (1999)

Drum machine, noodling fretless bass, synthetic-ass-all-hell keyboards, fragmented guitars -- generally woozy, slightly unsettling, 100% nerdy fusion. Midway through, vocals enter the mix, and the album morphs into a mid-era Gary Numan record. I listen to this by myself on headphones, and I think, "damn, this is so fucking rad, I wish all music was this weird;" I put this on a stereo with someone else in the room, I feel like a degenerate and a pervert.

Track listing:

1. $10,000 Bookshelf

2. Heidelberg Switch

3. Barrio

4. Panic - Disorder

5. Count the Ways

6. Turn Around

7. Slick

8. Slack

9. All for a Better Way

10. Looking for a Sign of New Life

11. Razorville

12. K2

Soon you're looking down at creatures in the dark

If you like this, you should hear:

Scott McGill - The Hand Farm (1977)

Louis de Mieulle - Defense Mechanisms (2011)

Ralph Towner - Blue Sun (1983)

 

Related:

Oregon - Music of Another Present Era (1972)

Ralph Towner - Diary (1973)

Ralph Towner - Solstice (1974)

Still can't prioritize this blog at the moment, but I wanted to quickly drop some Sunday listening on you. Like Towner's Diary, Blue Sun is a completely solo endeavor, which means that he wrote and performed every piece of it -- guitars, piano, cornet, synthesizers, some light percussion. Very easy on the ears kinda stuff.

Track listing:

1. Blue Sun

2. The Prince and the Sage

3. C.T. Kangaroo

4. Mevlana Etude

5. Wedding of the Streams

6. Shadow Fountain

7. Rumours of Rain

Over and gone

Also listen to:

Terje Rypdal - After the Rain (1976)

Bill Frisell - In Line (1983)

Steve Kuhn - Steve Kuhn (1971)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Steve Kuhn Trio - Three Waves (1966)

Steve Kun - Trance (1975)

Karin Krog, Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, & Jon Christensen - We Could Be Flying (1975)

By request, here's pianist/keyboardist Steve Kuhn's 1971 self-titled solo outing. Simmering, lightly funky vocal-jazz fleshed out by a super solid band (Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira), lovely string arrangements, and understated vocals by Kuhn himself. It's played mostly straight, but Kuhn throws down the weirdo gauntlet with "Pearlie's Swine", which blazes through over four minutes of clattering instrumental jazz-funk before he comes in with lines like "Ham / How I love to eat ham / Vultures don't give a damn" and "Meat / Monkeys eat with their feet."

Track listing:

1. Pearlie's Swine

2. Silver

3. Time to Go

4. The Heat of the Moment

5. The Baby

6. Hold Out Your Hand

7. The Meaning of Love

8. Ulla

So when I'm alone

Left with only a bone

On top of the sky

Birds are wondering why

You should also hear:

Astrud Gilberto - I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do (1969)

Michel Herr, Bill Frisell, Vinton Johnson, Kermit Driscoll - Good Buddies (1978)

Kenny Wheeler • David Friedman • Jasper van 't Hof - Greenhouse Fables (1992)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
John Taylor, Norma Winston, & Kenny Wheeler - Azimuth (1977)

Kenny Wheeler - Deer Wan (1978)

That album cover really is awful, huh? I suppose the actual art itself isn't so bad, but those fonts, and the overall composition? It looks like a self-help book about how bipolar depression can effect your marriage or something.

Which is a shame, because the music is positively gorgeous ambient jazz.  Wheeler's trumpet/flugelhorn, Friedman's vibraphone, and van 't Hof's piano make for beautiful, contemplative bedfellows, effortlessly combining and dispersing, allowing for a sense of dynamic and movement even as the volume rarely goes beyond a gentle murmur.

Track listing:

1. Zambon

2. Everybody's Song but My Own

3. Truvib

4. Greenhouse Fables

5. Farm

6. Salina Street

I follow to the edge of the earth

And fall off

You should also listen to:

Bill Frisell - In Line (1983)

Eberhard Weber - Pendulum (1993)

Manfred Schoof - Meditation (1987)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Jasper van 't Hof - Eye-Ball (1974)

Manfred Schoof / Rainer Brüninghaus - Shadows & Smiles (1989)

A curious entry in Manfred Schoof's discography. Airy, synth-heavy, mid-tempo grooves and drifting, reverberating trumpet, at times receding into full, new age-y ambience. Meditation definitely veers very close to smooth jazz, especially on the pillow-y "Timecode". Elsewhere, the title track sounds like something that would have lurked on the back half of Moby's Play, and "Robot" pitches a soundtrack for a PG-13 cut of The Terminator. Strange that it was released as a Manfred Schoof solo album as it is quite clearly a collaborative effort with keyboardist Jasper van 't Hof, the only other musician credited.

Track listing:

1. Meditation

2. Clouds

3. Timecode

4. Robot

5. Silence

6. Zen

Speak to me, baby

In the middle of the night

More smooth sailing:

Carlo Maria Cordio - Shadows and Memories (1979)

Jack DeJohnette featuring Lester Bowie - Zebra (1985)

Louis de Mieulle - Defense Mechanisms (2011)

Super tasty debut solo record from French jazz bassist Louis de Mieulle. Nocturnal, woozy, groove-y jazz-rock/fusion featuring a lot of work with out-of-sync time signatures -- I'm guessing there's a more concise, nerdier way term for that but I don't know it -- and the casually virtuosic drumming of Animals as Leaders' Matt Garstka. If you're a regular reader of this blog, this should be way up your alley.

Track listing:

1. Scapegoat 1

2. Scapegoat 2

3. Electric Cell Mutations

4. Skuld

5. Soundfrieze

6. The Ladybug and the Cockchafer

7. The Taste of Filth

8. Portrait de Famille

9. Solitude

Birth of an idiot

Similar sounds:

Hermann Szobel - Szobel (1976)

Percy Jones - Cape Catastrophe (1990)

Vic Stevens' Mistaken Identities - No Curb Ahead (1997)

Dark-tinted jazz-rock/fusion led by drummer Vic Stevens. Discordant guitars, fretless bass courtesy of Percy Jones -- for about half the album, anyway -- some saxophone here and there, surprisingly (given that the groups's formed around a drummer) restrained drumming, and a whole lotta tasty, dated keyboard voices.

Track listing:

1. Useless Humans

2. The Sun Rises in the East

3. No Curb Ahead

4. Do the Do That You Do

5. I Travel Alone

6. Would You Like to Dance

7. Answers

8. A Party of Five

9. Buy the Weigh

Peaceful anxiety

If you like this, try:

Nicky Skopelitis - Ekstasis (1993)

Scott McGill - The Hand Farm (1997)

Jon Appleton & Don Cherry - Human Music (1970)

Got a request for this deeply strange collaborative work from electro-acoustic innovator Jon Appleton and free jazz legend Don Cherry. Sparse, discordant, sonically manipulated sound pieces composed of synth, trumpet, flute, hand drums, and distinctly un-musical mouth noises.

Track listing:

1. BOA

2. OBA

3. ABO

4. BAO

This is Earth Radio, and now, here's human music.

If you like this, listen to:

Tony Scott - Music for Voodoo Meditation (1972)

Hal Russell & Mars Williams - EFTSOONS (1984)

Hunstville - For the Middle Class (2006)

Abstract, instrumental folk-jazz/post-rock from a Norwegian trio. Dreamy, droning, but bubbling over with life, For the Middle Class sounds both improvisational and expertly composed, and is probably a mix of the two. A favorite of mine ever since the golden age of the mp3 blog.

Track listing:

1. The Appearance of a Wise Child

2. Serious Like a Pope

3. Add a Key of Humanity

4. Melon

Presence in absence

You might also like:

Masabumi Kikuchi - Poo-Sun (1970)

Gastre del Sol - Camoufleur (1998)

Wayne Shorter - Odyssey of Iska (1970)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Wayne Shorter - Super Nova (1969)

I'm a little late but: R.I.P. to one of the greatest jazz musicians to have ever lived. A brilliant piece of amorphous, simmering avant-garde jazz, Odyssey of Iska capped off a positively ridiculous 8-album run that rivals pretty much any other in music history. (Not that the albums before or after are bad by any means, but Night Music through Odyssey is, to me, just about as good as it gets.)

Track listing:

1. Wind

2. Storm

3. Calm

4. De Pois do Amor, O Vazio (After Love, Emptiness)

5. Joy

Old is magic growing

If you like this, listen to:

The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Fanfare for the Warriors (1974)

Miles Davis - Get Up with It (1974)

Miroslav Vitous - Purple (1970)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Miroslav Vitous - Infinite Search (1969)

Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous, & Jack DeJohnette - S/T (1979)

Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous, & Jack DeJohnette - To Be Continued (1981)

Low-key, simmering fusion helmed by bassist Miroslav Vitous. I had a truly massive buildup of spam comments that I never deleted, and lo and behold, on the other side of that pile were a grip of comments from almost 4 years ago. One of them was a request for a post on this album from July 7, 2019. Better late than never?

Track listing:

1. Purple

2. Mood

3. Water Lilie

4. Dolores

5. It Came from Knowhere

Emphatic period

Also listen to:

Jasper van t' Hoff - Eye-Ball (1974)

Karin Krog, Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, & Jon Christensen - We Could Be Flying (1975)

José Roberto Bertrami - Blue Wave (1983)

Extremely chill fusion led by Brazilian keyboardist José Roberto Bertrami of Azymuth fame. Makes me feel like I'm on a boat drinking wine.

Track listing:

1. Bye Bye Brasil

2. Chorodô

3. Partido Alto #2

4. Shot on Goal (Perigo de Gol)

5. Blue Wave

6. Parati

7. Sheds and Weeds (Barracos e Arbustos)

Somewhere totally else

Similar vibes:

Arthur Verocai - Arthur Verocai (1972)

Jarosław Śmietana - Talking Guitar (1984)

Hal Russell & Mars Williams - EFTSOONS (1984)

Abrasive, sparse free jazz from two American saxophonists/multi-instrumentalists. Between the sax parts often sounding more like guitar feedback than saxophones and the whimsically unsettling atmosphere, much of EFTSOONS plays like a lost Nurse with Wound record.

Track listing:

1. Carnal Concupiscence

2. Is This Virginia?

3. A SYNC/SYNC STAT MUX PROLIXTHUX

4. Odoriferous Flambeaus of the Paranymphs

5. N, SSS, EEE <RETURN>

6. Eftsoons

7. Noise Command: Blast 1

I didn't know anybody, and there was a funny smell

If you like this, listen to:

Anthony Braxton - 3 Compositions of New Jazz (1968)

William Hooker - ... Is Eternal Life (1977)

John Zorn - The Goddess: Music for the Ancient of Days (2010)

Related:

Painkiller - Execution Ground (1994)

The final installment of a trilogy of albums that found John Zorn at his most accessible by a very wide margin. (Actually, this man has about 4 thousand albums, of which I've heard maybe 20-25, so for all I know, he might have an album of vocal jazz standards sung by Norah Jones.) Ethereal but propulsive jazz fusion powered by a glimmering cloud of vibraphone, harp, piano, guitar, and more. Borders on easy listening at times. If, when you think John Zorn, you think chaotic jazz-grind or discordant avant-garde, this record might blow your mind a bit.

Track listing:

1. Enchantress

2. Ishtar

3. Heptameron

4. White Magick

5. Drawing Down the Moon

6. Beyond the Infinite

7. Ode to Delphi

The center has moved on and all that's left is free

You should also listen to:

Harold Budd - The Pavilion of Dreams (1978)

Midori Takada & Masahiko Satoh - Lunar Cruise (1990)

Arild Andersen - Sagn (1990)

Norwegian bassist/composer Arild Andersen's folk-jazz opus. Buoyed by an excellent band that includes the beautiful, dynamic vocals of Kirsten Bråten Berg and rock-leaning guitars of Frode Alnæs, Sagn succeeds where many others have failed: getting me to enjoy a fusion of jazz and Scandinavian folk.

Track listing:

1. Sagn

2. Gardsjenta

3. Eisemo

4. Toll

5. Draum

6. Laurdagskveld

7. Tjovane

8. Sorgmild

9. Svarm

10. Gamlestev

11. Reven

12. Nystev

13. Lussi

14. Rysen

15. Belare

16. Sagn

I want to see your face in every kind of light

In fields of gold and forests of the night

You might also like:

Bill Connors - Of Mist and Melting (1978)

Bill Frisell - In Line (1983)

Marion Brown - Sweet Earth Flying (1974)

Sublime, meditative free jazz by saxophonist Marion Brown. Explorative, far-out sounds that are currently making my cat Peepers extremely nervous.

Track listing:

1. Sweet Earth Flying, Part 1

2. Sweet Earth Flying, Part 3

3. Sweet Earth Flying, Part 4: Prince Willie

4. Sweet Earth Flying, Part 5

5. Eleven Light City, Part 1

6. Eleven Light City, Part 2

7. Eleven Light City, Part 3

8. Eleven Light City, Part 4

For this moment

Just a speck

If you like this, you should hear:

Sonny Sharrock - Black Woman (1969)

Bennie Maupin - The Jewel in the Lotus (1974)

Hermann Szobel - Szobel (1976)

The one and only album by the one and only Hermann Szobel. The short version of the story goes: Szobel waltzed into a Roberta Flack recording session and blew away everyone there with his piano-playing, landed (with the help of his famous promoter uncle) a deal with Arista, recorded and released this incredible debut record, had some sort of breakdown while recording the follow-up, and disappeared. And not just from the industry: his mother filed a missing persons report on his behalf in 2002, and information about his whereabouts has remained sketchy at best since. Supposedly, he's alive and living in SF.

Aside from all of this, though, is the album itself, which is a wondrous labyrinth of avant-fusion from top to bottom. Discordant, controlled chaos that jumps effortlessly from cinematic slow-burning to frantic, panic-driven frenzies, often resembling RIO more than fusion. Szobel had some serious musical and compositional chops, and it could have been a brilliant career, but I supposed the music biz just wan't for him. At least he gave us this one gift before going off-grid.

Track listing:

1. Mr. Softee

2. The Szuite

3. Between 7 & 11

4. Transcendental Floss

5. New York City, 6 AM

When you talk to me

When you're moanin' sweet and low

Also listen to:

Masmabumi Kikuchi - Poo-Sun (1970)

Miriodor - Miriodor (1988)

Bill Frisell - In Line (1983)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Michel Herr, Bill Frisell, Vinton Johnson, Kermit Driscoll - Good Buddies (1978)

Bill Frisell - Rambler (1984)

By request, here's Bill Frisell's first solo album. Lovely ambient jazz consisting entirely of Frisell's ethereal, gracefully layered guitars and, intermittently, standup bass from ECM mainstay Arild Andersen. Soothing, wistful pieces that suggest both solace and loneliness.

Track listing:

1. Start

2. Throughout

3. Two Arms

4. Shorts

5. Smile on You

6. The Beach

7. In Line

8. Three

9. Godson Song

Alien prints

Similar listening:

Terje Rypdal - After the Rain (1976)

Bill Connors - Swimming with a Hole in My Body (1979)

Last Exit - Last Exit (1986)

Related:

Sonny Sharrock - Black Woman (1969)

Divination - Ambient Dub Vol. II - Dead Slow (1993)

Arcana - The Last Wave (1995)

Arcana - Arc of the Testimony (1997)

The Blood of Heroes - The Waking Nightmare (2012)

Discordant free jazz-rock madness from an incredible lineup of musicians. Sometimes feels more like no-wave than jazz. Also, just gonna disclose that I've struggled with attention/focus issues for my entire life, and the past week or so has been particularly rough in that regard. And around here, this has taken the form of things getting extra sloppy -- my last two posts were published with spelling errors in their goddamn titles (check the URLs) -- so sorry 'bout that. Onwards and upwards.

Track listing:

1. Discharge

2. Backwater

3. Catch as Catch Can

4. Red Light

5. Enemy Within

6. Crackin

7. Pig Freedom

8. Voice of a Skin Hanger

9. Zulu Butter

The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream

You might also wanna hear:

Musica Transonic - Musica Transonic (1995)

Slobber Pup - Black Aces (2013)