Grateful Dead – Dick’s Picks 8 (5/2/70): Last week, I listened to the first set from this show, an acoustic set that is absolutely amazing. I dug into the second set this week and was struck by both its highs and lows, sometimes in the same song. “Dancin’ in the Street” is so dull that it feels more like shuffling aimlessly in the street, but then it evolves into stunning solos that hint at the jazzier work the band would explore in a few years. This one is edging its way onto my short list of essential Dead shows.
Thee Satisfaction – Awe Naturale: I vaguely recall buying this a decade back on the recommendation of one of the guys at Baltimore’s Sound Garden because I mentioned to him how much I liked Shabazz Palaces. I never got around to listening, and that was a mistake. This is solid from front to back: production, writing, performances, all of it.
Tiga and Hudson Mohawke – L’Ecstasy: One of my hobbies is searching for raunchy old disco and house 12” singles, and if I’d found “Feel the Rush” in a 99-cent bin, I’d be ecstatic. But context matters, so when “Feel the Rush” is sandwiched among a bunch of middling songs that span every popular subgenre of electronic dance music, it feels disjointed at best and cloying at worst. L’Ecstasy serves to remind me of how many better dance records are out there.
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs: My wife gave me a turntable a few months ago, and the remastered versions of Tom Waits’ Island records were among the first I bought. I’m listening with a level of attention that I’ve never given them, and not surprisingly, I’m hearing things I never heard before.
Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead: I haven’t listened to their studio records in probably 15 years, so it’s a trip to hear these songs as they were originally recorded. So different from the live versions, and I appreciate them in a way I couldn’t when I was first getting into the Dead.
Jaimie Branch – Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)): The first track or two are hypnotic. The rest is interesting and good, but I wish it maintained that hypnotic element of the opening.
Old friends who made it into rotation this week: Godspeed You! Black Emperor: G_d’s Pee at State’s End!: Kolsch: Fabric Presents Kolsch; Laurel Halo: Atlas