Today's listening

 Daniel Le Blanc: Behind the Green Door OST (Mitchell Brothers Film Group)

I guess I'm going back from my intention of posting weekly reports to an occasional missive. Whatever, nobody's paying me to do this.

It's no secret to anyone reading here regularly of my interest in soundtrack music, and that extends into the world of pornographic features. (If anything, Italian cannibal movies are probably less reputable.) Indeed, the three movies that defined the "porno chic" of the 70s, Deep Throat, The Devil in Miss Jones and Behind the Green Door, all had original music. I've written about DMJ on this site before, and it stands out as the best music of the three. Better still is some of the music Bernard Purdie provided for Lialeh, but that's a story for another time.

It goes to show, the story of those films is far more interesting than the films themselves.

When I saw this CD on the shelves of Vinegar Syndrome's Pittsburgh brick and mortar store, I knew I had to check it out. I really didn't know what to expect, having seen the movie more than three decades ago (and honestly not being that impressed by it). 

The sound is...meh. That doesn't come as a surprise. It's probably higher fidelity than the Sex World LP I wrote about a few weeks ago. I suspect there's some AI processing? It's nothing more than a suspicion. I dislike that I even have to suspect such things. 

It's fair to say I wouldn't pay much attention to this were it not for its origin. To their credit, the musicians are mentioned by name; I don't know if this is the case in the movie credits themselves. Much of it is light and folky, strumming guitars, some simple violin playing in minor keys. Maybe that's appropriate for San Francisco c.1972. There's some early synth in there, perhaps a Moog modular? Some light funk, but you know, what do you expect from a porn soundtrack?

Several weeks later

The best laid plans, etc. This is what I wrote a few weeks ago. What I thought was a bad head cold turned out to be COVID, my second bout. I do not recommend it. I had these things written and figured, might as well share and move on.

---------------

As I mentioned in my previous posting, I was hit but a monster cold last week. (See follow up below.) It's hard to feel motivated to do anything under such circumstances. Today, we're basically snowed in and I might as well do some listening and writing.

01/26/2026 on CD

John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (on Naxos, Boris Berman performer)

Here's case where I wanted to find listening that seemed cold, or at least cool and chill. Feldman seemed like an easy choice, so instead I went with this old favorite. I have at least three recordings of his work, and it's easy to hear the differences in the results of the preparations. My favorite is the version played by Joshua Pierce on the Tomato label, though I recognize that it's probably because it was the first I heard. What might be most interesting is that despite Cage's fastidious instructions for how to prepare the piano, one can hear subtle but distinct differences. Perhaps, maybe I've even read, that this was one thing that led to his embracement of indeterminate techniques and the "giving up" of elements of control over his works. 

Perhaps it's just my perception, but the digital recording and playback for this recording seems to emphasize the delicacy of these pieces. The piano is in some ways being muted and therefor is naturally quieter than the unprepared version. The pieces in this set are not as virtuosically difficult as much other piano literature. I am convinced that it takes a pianist with a a high degree of understanding and sympathy to Cage's work to play this convincingly. Intensely listening while performing would be essential.

I know some who don't care for Cage's prepared music, some who love them. I find this set of pieces quite beautiful. 

01/29/2026 on vinyl

Clint Mansell: In the Wall OST (Death Waltz)

Well. Turns out that what I thought was a monster head cold turned out to be COVID. I'm in day eight, my wife is in day four +/-. 

I don't know this movie. I don't know this composer. I think this turned up used, and being on Death Waltz, I wasn't going to pass it up. The vinyl is spattered coffee and cream colored. Attractive looking, though notoriously these pressings tend to have surface noise. 

Looking over imdb.com, it seems I'm more familiar with Mr. Mansell's work than I knew. Pi, Requiem for a Dream, High-Rise. Anything sounding like an acoustic instrument, I suspect is sampled. There's some muted or prepared piano hits, which I will never not love. 

This has a digital quality that is lacking in the great Italian soundtracks I love. But I can't hold it against the composer, it is the method at the time. The atmosphere isn't that far off from those Italian works, though. 

So...Fabio Frizzi and Goblin > Clint Mansell > any other digital age Syfy channel movie.

Too harsh?

01/29/2026 #2 on vinyl

Jerry Goldsmith: Our Man Flint (20th Century Fox)

In the Wall led to In Like Flint, and I thought, I have the first Flint soundtrack, don't I?

Yes. 

Our Man Flint  and In Like Flint are two James Bond-style spy parody movies starring James Coburn as Derek Flint, super-spy. Except....they're only a step or two removed from the source material. The originals aren't that much sillier than these moves are. James Coburn, I don't know. I'd have to ask her how he ranks on the "sexy" scale, but I think she'd say he doesn't hold a proverbial candle to Sean Connery. He was rail thin at the time, reasonably handsome, so like I said I don't know. 

Jerry Goldsmith is great here. 60s lounge and space vibes. When I played a James Bond-themed party with two friends, I passed out the main title theme to this movie as part of the material. Who would have known or even cared?

You know what? For some 60's groovy bachelor pad listening, this is pretty good stuff.

01/30/2026 on vinyl, 10", #1

Teddy Charles: N.D. Quartet (New Jazz)

First 10" LP of the day. This has my father's signature on the back, so I know the source. He had the Teddy Charles New Directions LP, reissuing this and presumably another 10" on the other side. He encouraged me to listen to it, and I never got into it. But...I'd keep coming back. I knew there was something there. When he sold his record collection, I was disappointed that the Teddy Charles album went with it, despite asking him to save it. (He did save the Monk vinyl for me though.). 

The record: Lots of surface noise. I can only imagine the system my Dad listened to this on, probably the self-contained turntable system he gave to me and my sisters as kids. 

It's a nice session. I like it. Vibes/tenor/bass drums, definitely sympathetic to the instrumentation. Nice performances. What was it I didn't like about this as a young man? Too cool perhaps. Time mellows one, no?

01/30/2026 on vinyl 10"  #2

Daniel Lentz: After Images (Cold Blue)

I more or less remember meeting Daniel Lentz. It was at a Pittsburgh New New Music Ensemble gathering, Meet the Composer (or as Jason Gibbs would put it, Feed the Composer). Daniel came originally from Latrobe, PA. 

It's sweet. Daniel is/was a big guy, smoking a big smelly cigar. His music sounds elfish even if he is not.

02/01/2026 on vinyl 10"

Music Department, Imperial Household: 雅楽 = Gagaku (Court Music) (Columbia)

I've written about another 10" LP from this series before. Certainly not the most valuable records in my collection, but I have a sense that someone combing through my materials in the future will say, "Oh!Hey! What's this? Clean original copies of 1950s Japanese Gagaku LPs in the original 10" format?"

And if so, they wouldn't be wrong. What a find these were, at Jerry's Records. With beautiful covers no less.

02/01/2026 on vinyl 10"

Sun Ra: Live in London (Blast First)

A late era Arkestra album, divided among three 10" records. 

2026 week 3

Late to posting, I'm had an absolute bastard of a cold since Wednesday night. Not great but considerably improved on Sunday. 

01/15/2026 on vinyl

Unknown artist: Erotica: the Rhythms of Love (Fax)

As I've said before, I do enjoy my vinyl oddities. It didn't surprise me to see boxes of records at the 
"Heavy Metal Flea Market" in Allentown last year. I'm not sure I would have paid more than the $5 the vendor asked for this.

The front cover proclaims, "An experimental high fidelity recording featuring the sounds and rhythms of erotic love." Uh huh. What exactly does that mean?

It starts with the sound of a conga player, occasionally shouting out and speaking in a language I don't understand. (I don't think it's Spanish, but even then I'm uncertain.) Then there's a background sound that increases. Obscured at first, it becomes clear it's the rhythmic rocking of a bed, with a female voice occasionally crying out in apparent passion.

Side one!

Side two: same elements but without the conga player's exclamations. And that's it!

Discogs indicates that this dates to 1962, which explains a lot but not everything. It seems tame even for the time. Was it supposed to sound hot? Was it intended to invoke sex? Masturbation? Did repressed boomers/pre-boomers feel a flash of shame buying this? What did they expect? For that matter, what did I? I certainly did not feel shame buying it, I thought it was a laugh. 

01/16/2026 on vinyl

Bern Alois Zimmermann: The Numbered Improvisations/Tratto (Heliodor)

It would be an exaggeration to say that I had even a minor obsession with Zimmermann for a time, maybe a "heated interest" would be a better description. I found it frustrating that there's scant information about him in English. I thought, if I was a hungry doctoral student looking for a topic, knew enough about things like set theory applied to music composition and other such lofty concepts, possibly spoke German, and was looking for a thesis topic, Zimmermann could be an interesting choice. He's something of an odd bird with respect to post-War composition. His early works are rather on the academic/conservative side, all things considered. He was never a strict serialist, as far as I can tell. A number of his compositions liberally quote other composers' works, sometimes (if not always) crediting in the score. His Monologue for two pianos weaves in quotes from Bach and Messiaen among others, for example. 

Then there's the dramatically different two sides of this LP. Side one: the Manfred Schoof Quintet plays on themes drawn from Zimmermann's opera Die Soldaten. The opera is considered to be one of the most difficult of all to perform and stage. I've viewed the score and it is unquestionably challenging. Here, materials are extracted and performed by a sympathetic European jazz quintet. (The LP itself has no instrumental credits, but on discogs I see the drummer was Jaki Liebezeit, who would later be a founding member of Can.) There are bursts of activity in between quiet and very spare stretches. Predictable it is not. Nor does it swing in a traditional sense, but its atonal jazz sound reminds me of what some more recent New Yorkers and Chicagoans have done. At least in small part. I wish I could view the written materials. 

Contrast that side two, with its single work "Tratto". It's a purely electronic work, very much in the German continuum in that respect. There are extensive notes on the work, indicating a carefully planned and controlled composition. I sometimes like these elektronische musik works, though they have a tendency to be rather dry. I must say, I find this work to be quite beautiful, perhaps my favorite of the purely electronic Germanic works. It's unhurried, often soft-edged. There's a repeated noise event that almost sounds like breathing. It eventually gets fairly busy but not frantic. I guess the whole aesthetic appeals to me. 

Now about that dissertation...

01/19/2026 on vinyl

Charlie Haden: Liberation Music Orchestra (Impulse!)

Sitting here in my retirement from teaching, I'm pondering what new projects I might consider starting. I find my situation frustrating insofar as, I've been plugging away at playing (hopefully) original/interesting/creative music for over four decades in this city, and how much I still have sto struggle just to find gigs for a band such as Thoth Trio. Thoth mostly plays my compositions, but it capable of playing background music for a party if need be. Perhaps that's not a "proper" Thoth gig, but I just want to play with my crew when I can without making huge sacrifices. Calling tunes I like to play during an event isn't so bad, especially when dinner is involved.

I've had an idea for a group, larger than a trio but smaller than the ten-piece OPEK (maybe), partially using this group as a model. What I have in mind is less arranged than this group, though they're willing to play freely too. It's an interesting mix. Among the pieces are old Spanish folk songs, Haden's "Song for Chè", Ornette Coleman's "War Orphans", "We Shall Overcome", etc. In other words, leaning political without making blatant political statements. There's some interesting mixing of recorded folk songs along the way, making this more than just a document of a ban playing live.

It's a hell of a lineup: Carla Bley, Perry Robinson, Paul Motian, Roswell Rudd, Mike Mantler, Howard Johnson, etc. Carla's voice is significant on this, contributing several original works and all of the arrangements. I knew she was thoroughly involved in this project, but even if I didn't, I'd recognize her writing from the first notes.

01/20/2026 on CD

M.B.: Teban Slide Art (disc one, Triumph of the Will) (Menstrual Recordings)

Well it's a bleak and cold day in Pittsburgh, in a bleak year, so why not pull out another of my favorite sound artists of bleakness. The story behind the original issue of this album is infamous. Maurizio Bianchi (MB) signed a contract with Come Org (William Bennett of Whitehouse's label) that gave permission to do whatever they wanted with the tapes. The result were two LPs under the moniker Liebstandarte SS MB, blending MB's recorded audio with recordings of Nazi speeches. Maurizio was not happy but couldn't do anything about it. 

Since he's had the opportunity to re-release the albums. William really was a jerk for what he did, especially considering the records aren't any better because there's the outrageous speeches mixed in. 

The CD issue includes a previously unissued third track, 100% Nazi-free. It's MB playing with delay feedback, producing some woofer-speaker rattling. Atypical but not out of character.

2026 week 2

Well let's see, 2026 so far: the Pittsburgh City Paper has shut down, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette has announced that it will shut down in May, Trump kidnapped a (admittedly illegitimate) foreign leader under the guise of a "police action", PA senator John Fetterman has announced his support of Trump buying Greenland, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has announced that it is folding, the CDC is recommending fewer childhood vaccines while measles is on the uptick, and I'm forgetting other things.

There are many reasons we listen to music. One is to uplift and stimulate us. Another is to find reflect our moods, good or bad. Guess what I'm feeling now. 

01/08/2026 on CD

Khanate: Things Viral (Southern Lord)

Here I go tapping the endless well of misery and despair that is the music of Khanate. Okay, that's a little overstated. But they are bleak.

I've written before about Khanate, in particular Capture & Release, the soundtrack of my mood the first time Donald Trump was elected president. They came recommended by Adam MacGregor when I asked for suggestions for the severest music possible. I've gone on about this in the past. I don't think I've mentioned this album previously, but I could be wrong.

Both this and the aforementioned album are similar in many ways: slow tempos almost to the point of being agonizing, long sections of little activity divided by moments of severe guitar breaks, Alan Dubin's unique brand of shrieking. But they're also distinctive, different versions of the Khanate sound. At times this one is even noisier than C&R, most string noise, sounding a step closer to being an old school industrial band. 

I'm grateful music such as this exists. It's not pleasant nor is it intended to be. Under similar circumstances, thirty years ago, what would I have been listening to? Probably Swans, maybe early Sonic Youth, Throbbing Gristle. There's that. But this comes closer to my vibe right now. 

PS: prior to the most recent election, I noticed a car outside the comic book store that had both Swans: Filth and pro-Trump bumper stickers. I thought, shouldn't those things be exclusive to one another. 

01/10/2026 on vinyl

Mike Vickers: Dracula AD 1972 (Death Waltz)

Hammer films, for an independent British film studio, had a pretty good run. Founded in 1934, they were known for their horror and fantasy films from the late 1950s into the mid-1970s. Hammer films were generally more lurid than their American counterparts: stronger sexual suggestion (becoming more blatant in later films), more skin (cleavage and later nudity), brighter colors, deeper red blood. 

Dracula AD 1972 finds Drac (played by stalwart Christopher Lee) in swinging post-60s London, along with the original Professor Van Helsing's grandson (played by stalwart Peter Cushing). The title itself immediately dates the film. But then, this London of fifty+ years ago doesn't necessarily exist, so it might as well be dated. 

Vickers' music reminds me a bit of another busy British film composer, Ron Grainer, with a touch of what one might hear on a period James Bond soundtrack. There's one exception on the album, about four minutes of a cue titled "Devil's Circle Music" which is credited to the group White Noise including Delia Derbyshire (electronics), Paul Lytton (free jazz drummer, noted for his work with Evan Parker) and three others. Vickers dabbles in some delay effects, but the Derbyshire/etc work is far more atmospheric and noisy. Of course I can't mention the names of Derbyshire and Grainer without mentioning in passing the controversy over the original Doctor Who theme, and whether Delia deserves co-credit for the piece.

I'm Team Derbyshire on this one, and her realization is easily the best version of the piece to my ears.

I might have to seek out that White Noise album.

01/11/2026 on vinyl

Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Alone in San Francisco (Riverside)

I can't recall if I bought this, or my father gave it to me. Probably the latter. I have the complete Riverside Monk on CD, but this seemed right.

A few days ago, it was Khanate as an external expression of my mood. Now it's comfort food. Monk's music is something I've know nearly my entire life, Dad recommending his music to me. It's possible I've spent more time listening to Monk than anyone else, or at least he'd be top five.

I prefer Monk in a quartet setting. I was a little unsure at one time about his solo recordings, the  hesitancies, the occasional strangely-chosen note (the opener on this, "Blue Monk", is a good example). But with age I feel like I understand these recordings better, at least intuitively. It is Monk at his purest, and take him or leave him. If you come expecting Art Tatum or Oscar Peterson, you're going to be disappointed. 

It's cold and windy outside, snow blowing almost horizontally. The state of national and international politics is crushingly awful. But I'm sitting at home, in the warmth, with an old friend. 

01/12/2026 on vinyl

Edgar Froese: Ages (Virgin)

I've tried to write my first sentence here at least three times. I am both involved in music technology and electronic music, and ambivalent to both.

I am definitely interested in expanded sound palette of acoustic + electronic sounds. I enjoy early electronic music recordings because of the effort, the "sweat" as i have often put it, that I hear in the results.

Do I enjoy electronic music on its own terms? I guess it's a case-by-case, artist-by-artist basis.

Edgar was 1/3 of I guess would be the classic lineup of Tangerine Dream. He, with Peter Baumann and Christopher Franke, created probably the group's signature recordings. Atem, Phaedra, Rubycon, Stratosfear, the soundtrack to Sorcerer. Pretty good run. 

This album seems dated insofar as, it could have been produced on a laptop with Ableton Live in a fraction of the time this session probably took. Not that it would sound better; there's something inescapable about the analog synths/recording/playback that makes it earthier. 

This might be Edgar's purest vision of music, but I think I prefer the mix of ideas on the best Tangerine Dream albums. Those are...soupier? More of a blend or even confrontation? Less predictable?

On the original Virgin label, who are more involved with airlines and sending rockets into space than pursuits such as music. 

01/12/2026 #2 on vinyl

Morton Feldman: Rothko Chapel/For Frank O'Hara (Columbia)

I noticed on Facebook that today is the anniversary of Morton Feldman's birth. I couldn't let that pass without notice. 

As I have no doubt previously written, John Cage was an important influence for me in my earlier years, but it's Morton Feldman's music that has left a stronger impression. I am perfectly satisfied with the path I have chosen as a composer and improvisor, but there's a part of me that wishes I could get away with what Feldman did. That is, compose works so spare that they are deceptively simple. His works are not easy, just not busy. Many are very difficult if played correctly. 

What appealed to me about Rothko Chapel? The piece is set for viola, percussion and chorus with solo soprano. Without going into details, it's the translucent harmonies in the chorus that I loved. How else can I describe the piece? It's a beautiful transliteration of Rothko's visual art to the aural.

My friend Jason (who may be reading this shortly after posting) told me that the second side, For Frank O'Hara, is more typical Feldman. He might be right. It's beautifully thin, Morton's attempt to represent the "flat plane" of Abstract Expressionist art by way of music. 

But...Rothko Chapel...that's my stuff. 

01/13/2026 on vinyl

Etta James: Etta James Rocks the House (Jackpot)

My brother-in-law gave me this LP. He doesn't own a turntable and I don't know how he came to have this. I notice that the record label is the same as the name of the store on the price sticker, so maybe it was a giveaway. I promised I'd play it, so I'm living up to my word.

Etta James' version of "At Last" seems to have had a life that's grown over the decades. I hate to sound cynical (who, me?) but it's a song that vocalists sing that pretend they want to be jazz singers. I'd find it more tiresome but I don't go listening to jazz vocalists very often. 

This album was captured on two September nights in 1963. One of eleven songs was co-written by Etta, with others by Jinny Reed, Ray Charles, Willy Dixon, and others. It leans on the blues side of R&B. 

She's a belter, that's for certain, and the crowd was clearly eating it up. Would have been great to see her at this time.

Heading into 2026

One of the reasons I began posting to this blog was to give purpose to my listening. That and maybe show off some of my accumulated knowledge (whoopdy-doo!).  For a time, and then on and off, I stayed at it regularly.

I am doing this casually which only a very limited audience, which sometimes makes it difficult for me to motivate myself.

So I thought maybe I'd take a different approach going into 2026. I want to make a more regular routine of sitting and listening to pieces from my collection, at least once a day with occasional days off. Then, rather than write an essay trying to make a point, I'd post the week's listenings with a shorter comment on each than I had before.

I am still leery of my own ego. "Hey I'm Ben Opie and check out what I've been listening to!". At times I feel a bit rudderless in my retirement and want to continue to foster positive routines.

01/01/2026 on vinyl

Luciano Berio: Différences, Sequenza III, Sequenza VII, Due Pezzi, Chamber Music (Philips)

I don't know that I count Berio as one of my favorite composers, but I don't ever regret listening to his music. He can have that thorny, disjointed Post-War sort of sound at times, but rarely is there a time when some seems removed from the idea of melody. The opening work on the LP, Différences, finds Berio at that thorniest. It's a chamber work for five instruments with tape, the taped content being manipulations of the the same instrumental group. Sometimes the sound blend, others you can hear the expansion past the purely acoustical sound palette.

I've just noticed that the flute part in this piece was played by retired CMU professor Jeanne Baxtresser, whose studio was once around the corner from my classroom. She must have been young at the time. They also misspelled her name.

If I had to guess, Berio's probably most famous for his series of Sequenzas. These are virtuoso solo works, though at times augmented by another sound element. #III is for solo voice, performed here by his then wife Cathy Berberian. A better interpreter you won't find, exploring a wide range of vocal effects. This is followed by #VII for oboe, played by the amazing Heinz Holliger (not his only recording of the work). It's a study in oboe timbres, set against a (quiet) tone generator drone. (There's a version for soprano saxophone I wish I could play. His Sequenza for trumpet is played into an open piano with the sustain pedal depressed.)

Due Pezzi for violin and piano sounds pre-War, almost like Bartók at times. The program ends with Chamber Music, again featuring the amazing Ms. Berberian with a text drawn from Joyce. It doesn't require the wide range of techniques as the Sequenza, but was undoubtably a very difficult work for voice.

Whew, that's a lot for just one record so far.

01/02/2026 on CD

Ronald Stein: Not of This Earth! The Film Music of Ronald Stein (Varese Sarabande)

Is it fair to call Ronald Stein the "Bernard Herrmann of the Drive In Movies"? Probably not, but it would put you in the neighborhood. Ronald had a reputation for writing some decent music for cheapo films, sometimes in excess of the movie's general quality. This tells me two things: 1. He took his assignments seriously; 2. He could work quickly and efficiently.

I have another collection of Ronald's music, five CDs in the set, and I don't think I've listened to all of it. Some time. He composed for a variety of genre films, with this single disc collecting cues from sci fi/horror films. There are selections from the incredible Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (recorded in stereo!), The Terror, Dementia 13, Not of This Earth! (great title for a movie recall being a bore),  Attack of the Crab Monsters, The Devil's Partner, and best of all, Jack Hill's amazing Spider Baby (AKA Cannibal Orgy). I've been a fan of Spider Baby for many years. Stein's music adds to the dark atmosphere of the film. Included here is the main title theme sans vocals, and the vocal version with (unrelated) lyrics spoken by Lon Chaney Jr. He was both a notorious ham and drunk, and his vocals rattle off the lyrics without any synchronization to the music. It's one of Lon's last roles, and I think he's actually a good choice for it. Just watch the movie and see.

I guess Rob Zombie has seen release of the full Spider Baby soundtrack on vinyl. I balk when I see the cost, more than double what this cost me. I'm fine with this collection.

01/03/2026 on vinyl

Harry Carney: Rare Dates Without the Duke (Raretone)

I've recently been playing a series of hour-long improvisations with tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE on designated dates, to coincide with other people in other countries in an attempt at psychic communication. Well, you know, it's a wonderful aspiration even if I'm skeptical. I'm happy to have the opportunity to gather with at least one other person and just play. 

I've been bringing a different instrument each time: alto saxophone, tenor, soprano, clarinet, bass clarinet. Today at tENT's request, it was baritone saxophone. I don't play bari much, though at one time I earned more off that instrument than any other. As I was sitting with this heavy hunk of metal strapped on my neck, I was contemplating: do I have a favorite baritone saxophonist?

Harry Carney, possibly. Harry joined Duke Ellington's band as a teen (I believe he had to receive his parents' permission) and occupied the bari/bass clarinet seat for the majority of both men's lives. Harry is the earliest jazz musician I know to have taught himself how to circular breath. 

This collection is self-evident: dates sans Ellington. Duke's shadow hung over some sessions though. No more so than two sides with Harry and Billy Strayhorn. 

This is a collection of 78 sides, and I can't hear a sour note in the bunch. Do we still practice such craft?

01/04/2026 on vinyl

Flexure: Insert Title Here

If I can't dig my own stuff now and then who will? I'm very proud of this LP. Everything was recorded at the New Hazlett Theater during a brief residency, Side one is three separate performances edited together. It has perhaps my best solo recorded. Side two is a complete unedited performance except for some brief its of guitar at the front and back ends. I considered editing out a short bit of drums in the middle, but I guess I liked the idea of leaving things alone as much as possible on that one. 

01/06/2026 on vinyl

Various artists: Paura; A Collection of Italian Horror Sounds From the CAM Sugar Archive (CAM Sugar)

Glancing over this at Jerry's Records, I was familiar with a few tracks but few enough to make this worth a purchase. Il Maestro, Ennio Morricone, is represented only twice among the twenty-five tracks, at least literally. His shadow is broadly cast over much of the music here. There are other familiar names to me, specifically Bruno Nicolai and Riz Ortolani. The former worked with Morricone and I think might have hinted that Ennio copied some of his ideas, but I can't find a source to cite in that respect. It's easy to say (and I've posted about this before) that Nicolai sounds a lot like Morricone. Or is it the other way around? I wouldn't want to favor Morricone just because he's the more famous composer.

There are lesser known names, to me at least: Stelvio Cipriani (who shamelessly apes "Inna Gadda Da Vida" on one cue; on another, his loud use of a jaw's harp over a rock beat again recalls Morricone), Daniele Patucchi (out of tune piano makes this sound especially weird), Manuel De Sica, etc. etc. 

I've come to recognize many Italian horror movies just on sight without knowing their origin. There's more than one factor: the dubbing to be sure, the music, the general look of the films. There's a tendency to be long on atmosphere and short on plot.

Paura. Fear. Jan 6. I don't know.

01/07/2026 on vinyl

Karlheinz Stockhausen: Prozession (Candide)

In my 20s, I had an interest, maybe even passion, for the idea of compositions as open-ended systems. That is to say, elements of the work would be constructed by the composer and have a resulting character, but the exact outcome wouldn't be the same each time. Robert Ashley's Quartet is a good example; it has a particular sound world but is different from performance to performance.

I come back from time to time to Stockhausen's "plus-minus" pieces. Performers are given a series of symbols (+, -, = among others), and are to take something they've played or heard and develop its elements based on the symbols. That is, a plus means louder or more complex or with more sections, a minus the opposite.

Once again I have an excellent library to thank for being able to check out Stockhausen scores, this time Kurzwellen, Prozession, Spiral, Pole, Expo, all in the plus-minus mode of composition. I suppose I have dream of performing Kurzwellen, in which the players respond to shortwave sounds. I know it'll never happen. I don't have that particular record, but I do have this one. 

It does have an improvisational quality, despite Karlheinz' particular directions. Players are asked to draw from prior Stockhausen compositions. There's no way to follow the score and know what's going on. I find that both exciting and frustrating, unable to pin down how the players are synchronizing their sonic events (if at all). 

Group Stockhausen must surely be one of the more unusual ensembles of any sort: two players on tam tam and microphone, piano, viola, and elektronium (an older electronic keyboard instrument), plus KS on sound projection (quadrophonic panning) and filtering. I was reading in Robin Maconie's book Other Planets that if Karlheinz didn't like what someone was doing in the moment, he'd pull them out of the mix. This led to to some members angrily leaving the group, to his surprise. 

Stockhausen definitely pushes the edge of self-assuredness-hubris-egomania. I'm grateful for him and his music but I can imagine how difficult he must have been at times. And even with all of the documentation of his scores, they are at times very difficult to interpret without him there to directly coach the players. 

VOTD 12/27/2025

 Charles Ives: The 100th Anniversary [disc one] (Columbia)

Purchased at Jerry's Records

Hello. My postings here have been intermittent, I know. I guess after all of my online blabbering, I'm unsure what it is I have to say that is in any way original.

And to be clear, I gave up on the idea of being "original" long ago. Not that it isn't a goal to be achieved, certainly. Only that if all I strive to do is be original, then that is potentially a trap in itself. Some still manage to do so; I've just decided I won't worry about it.

Back to Ives, not for the first time this year. Listening to The 100th Anniversary box set, released in 1974. So yes, 2025 was 151 years of Mr. Ives. How many more years before the world catches up with his music? If it will ever?

Maybe yes, maybe no. One of the elements of Ives' music was his willingness to quote any piece of music (particularly works known to most Americans a century ago) mixed with anything else at any given time. When there are two, three, four distinctive musical lines or events happening simultaneously, he's challenging us to sort it out.

Let me paraphrase something from Bill Dixon somewhere...we still don't entirely understand Duke Ellington. How long before we understand John Coltrane, let alone Ornette Coleman or Cecil Taylor?

To which I say, are we supposed to "understand" it? I get what Bill's saying, the world catches up with forward-looking artists. I hope the question of whether Ives knew what he was doing or not has long since passed. But will we, generally, collectively, ever really "get" it?

Perhaps I don't want that. I'd say Ives is a glorious mystery, but that sounds too spiritual. I don't need to read detailed analyses of any given work. The proof is in the pudding, that is to say the listening.

VOTD 12/18/2025

 Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band: Unconditionally Guaranteed (Mercury)

Purchased for $2 at an antiques mall in Morgantown

In the past two days, I've listened to Lick My Decals Off, Baby twice, and then The Spotlight Kid. Now this. This is largely the same musicians as the previous two records: Zoot Horn Rollo, Rockette Morton, Art Tripp (Ed Marimba), Alex Saint Clare (a Beefheart alumnus), plus a keyboardist, occasional acoustic guitarist and saxophonist. 

Does it suck because I'm expecting a Beefheart record, or does it just suck? Probably a little of both. But it wouldn't be the low point. 

The Magic Band sounds defanged. There's no bite to them. Not as bland as the record that would follow this, Moonbeams and Blue Jeans, but almost. And Don just isn't able to write a good straightforward song. He's far better flowing on Beat-style sound poetry. Sun zoom spark!

Well what can I say, this was worth all of $2 to satisfy my curiosity about this period of Don's creative life. And the worst was yet to come, after the band collectively quit after this. I spent another $2 for Moonbeams and Blue Jeans, and that record is worse than this. This is just average mid-70s bluesy-rock. Unmemorable. Maybe some people were meant to be weird.