Playlist for
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
December 27, 2007

Hosted by Greg Lyon on Thursdays at 2-4 pm
on WPVM Asheville (103.5 FM and www.wpvm.org)

This show is available for listening as an archive for one week after its airing at WPVM’s Archive Page (click on the STREAM button for this show–under the letter ‘G’)

Notes:

– A lot of Best of 2007 lists have begun to appear, and I’ve been trying to track down a bunch of interesting-looking stuff and see if I too dig it. I hadn’t picked up the Tinariwen CD before this week, but Other Music had it as their top pick for the year, so I figured it was worth a listen. Plus, it’s from Mali, and I dig music from Mali. It’s really really good, but I’m not sure it’s in my top 10 for the year. I’m still ruminating on that list, so tune in next week.

– Holy Fuck’s LP (that’s the title) may very well make the list for next week. I really dig instrumental records when they’re hot, and this one is. Some classify it as electronic music, but they use two actual drummers, so it sounds more like an instrumental rock record to me than "electronic". It stands up well next to my all-time favorite instrumental rock record, Pell Mell’s The Bumper Crop, which I just discovered is criminally out of print. Yikes! That must be corrected. I wonder if SST still has the rights?

– The Dust-to-Digital collection Black Mirror: Reflections in Global Musics (1918-1955) is very tasty. The Japanese kabuki song from the 1930s I played was way weird, and it sounded really good. I’m not sure what holds all the songs together–concept or musical flow–but the stuff on there is choice grade A select.

– The Cluster Zuckerzeit reissue on Lilith is the best-sounding vinyl I’ve heard in a good while. A friend told me that they use the Czech record pressing plant, GZ Records (Gramofonove Zavody), and that this was also the plant that Matador Records has started using. Most reissue vinyl, I’ve found, sounds like crap, whether it’s on 180g virgin vinyl or whatever marketing gimmick they’ve construed to make audiophiles salivate. I played original pressings of the Blondie and Vibrators records today, and they were on typical major-label thin vinyl from the mid-70s, and they sounded GREAT. So wake up, people! Demand better mastering and pressings and stop being wowed by the weight of the vinyl!

Background Music: Herbie Mann - Stone Flute (Embryo 1970)

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