So the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness reissue LP is like $75. Yikes.

Yeah, I saw this, but I think I've decided I'm going to get it no matter what. I mean, I've only got to put away $20 per paycheck until December, ya know? But that probably means no "Psychedelic Pill" :-/

It's just fucking annoying.

Hey SuperNintendoChalmers. I sent you a package a few weeks ago. You ever get it?

Dude, thank you. Had no idea you were sending anything.

The address I used is my aunt's place in Queens. I haven't been out there since the shit went down. But she tells me there is a stack of packages as tall as me waiting at her place. Tentatively my plans are to go out there on Sunday, so I'll take some photos and note what's arrived. Thanks again.

Yeah, I wanted it to be a surprise but sort of started to worry it got lost in the mail.

I was spinning a mixed bag of stuff over the rainy weekend. Tried to get into Jazz a little bit, I've had these Miles Davis records for a while but never listened until now - Sketches of Spain and In a Silent Way. Nice background stuff, but I'm not sure how much I could repeat-listen. There is a certain "squeal" to his trumpet on Sketches that just irritates my ears. I did however really like that opening 15-min track Concierto De Aradjuez. I've heard Kind of Blue and Bitches Brew are the best, maybe I'll pick those up to try again. Anyone with other recommendations for an uninitiated jazz newbie?

Right after that I continued to expand my horizons with Brian Eno/David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981), which is considered to be one of the earliest records to use sampled vocals from old recordings. It's not quite a pop record, but it is quite an accessible listen and has a lot of interesting rhythms and textures. If you see it in a 2nd-hand bin, it's worth picking up.

After that I was burnt out on expanding my horizons, (and perhaps my girlfriend was getting tired of not hearing a discernable lyric after 2hrs of music) so we went back to the household favorites: Rolling Stones' Goat Heads Soup and It's Only Rock 'n Roll (one of my personal favorites... I don't know why Exile gets all the praise) and lastly Black Keys Brothers.

Speaking of the Stones, did anyone see the price of that 5LP greatest hits compilation GRRR? $150??

In a Silent Way was the soundtrack to my parent's divorce. That and Jesus Lizard's Liar.

On a happier note:

Paul and Pete, thanks so much for sending packages. There were about twenty boxes waiting for me in Queens and all told I'd guess easily over one hundred records.

Kind of Blue and Bitches are two very, very different beasts. I prefer Kind of Blue but my other fav Miles albums are
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bags'_Groove,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Funny_Valentine_(album) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_%26_More.

Great to see Palace Music front and center!

Did you get a package from Drag City with the most recent BPB ep and 2 singles?

YES! Was that you? I couldn't think who might of sent that one.

Thanks!!!

I actually don't entirely disagree with you about "Sketches of Spain"--I *love* the record, but if I'm not really keyed into it it can be a little shrill on the ears. It's a tremendous piece of work, though--I'd encourage you to listen again, especially if you only had it on in the background. Same with "In a Silent Way," which is probably one of my 25 favorite records of all-time. There's so much cool stuff going on there.

I'm kind of a Miles junkie--though my collection is far from complete, I probably own more CD's by him than by anyone else, which is partly due to simple volume of output but still. Some general thoughts that may be of use to a newbie:

"Kind of Blue" is one of the greatest recordings ever made, ever, by anyone--there's a reason it has all the accolades it has, and a reason so many people recommend it as a "first jazz album" for newbies. I wouldn't argue with any of it--it was my first jazz album too, after all (about ten years ago this time, actually). But I also think it has an "it" that you don't necessarily pick up on until you've heard 25-50 other jazz records of lesser stature. I always thought it was a good album, one of Miles's better ones, but I don't think it really dawned on me how truly great it was until I'd begun to make some sense out of his career as a whole, then one day I went back and played it and thought, "Oh man, this is why this album is considered such a touchstone of 20th century music." There's an angelic glow to it that I have never found in any album other anywhere else, in any genre.

While the number of CD's from the mid-to-late '50's that feature both Miles and Coltrane is tantalizing, be forewarned that Coltrane was still very much a developing voice during his years with Miles. That said, "Round About Midnight" and "Milestones" might be my two "where to go next" suggestions--both feature healthy doses of soloing from some majorly skilled players, but they're also catchy and accessible and showcase some great reasons why jazz is a composer's music as much as an improviser's. If you only ever own a few Miles albums, these should both be among them.

"Bitches Brew" is a titanic behemoth of a record and definitely one of the works that will end up standing as one of the pillars of Miles's achievement, but I prefer almost every other one of his fusion records. The fatal flaw in Miles's electric period was his tendency to take pieces that were more "concept" than composition or performance and stretch them out to lengths ranging anywhere from ten minutes to thirty, and "Bitches Brew" was kind of the birthplace for the practice. It's a fascinating listen, especially since all the personnel essentially had no precedent for how music like this was supposed to be played, giving the album a squirrelly, exploratory quality that suits a lof of the influences from which the performances are culled, but I like later works better. If I were to recommend two they would be "Live at the Fillmore East 1970: It's About That Time" (to hear the versatile dexterity in the fusion approach) and "Dark Magus: Live at Carnegie Hall" (from 1974, in which versatile dexterity is replaced by violent, swallow-you-whole, single-minded catharsis). The soundtrack album "A Tribute to Jack Johnson" is also very highly regarded and with good reason.

My favorite Miles period overall is 1965-1968, which were the years of his "second great quintet." You can read more about that band here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Davi ... at_Quintet. Every album they ever made as a unit is excellent, but the zenith of their playing might be the posthumous "Live in Europe 1967" set that came out last year. And dumbcharger is right that "Four and More" (which was recorded on the eve of the second great quintet, and which I prefer to "My Funny Valentine," a live disc from the same show) is a powerhouse.

Steer clear of his '80's output--there are some nice moments, but I can't imagine having any interest in it without first giving a fair amount of consideration to its place in the larger body of work.

If you're looking for jazz recommendations beyond Miles, check out the jazz thread--there has been some great stuff posted there this last year. I also made a mix CD for the "RM mix sharing thread" that I'd be glad to re-up if you want. It's a nice sampler of sorts and at least a few folks said they enjoyed it the first time around.

You might have different tastes to me, given that Sketches of Spain was one of those cartoon lightbulb 'aha!' moments for me (definitely moreso than Kind of Blue was), but perhaps something like Charles Mingus might be more your speed?

I still feel like a jazz novice in many respects, but I've always felt as though Mingus's material has a visceral bass-heavy thump and churn that isn't necessarily a million miles away from rock music, so it might be a good bridge between the two.

No problem, man! Just wanted to make sure they arrived.

Awesome!
I've been where you are, and know what it feels like to lose a collection that you had been building for decades. I hope this helps ease that loss and kick-starts your new collection.

I'd be interested to know what others would say if they had to start again, but my suggestion is to go "leaner and more focused".... Unless you're the kind of guy that does a purge every year or so.

PS southp set this up (at least, he's the one that tossed the idea to a bunch of us and gave us your address) so big props to him.

Yup, this was all Paul.