2 Albums

Allan Holdsworth - Sixteen Men of Tain

I'm still going through a bit of a Holdsworth phase. This is my new favorite of his albums. It's also the most "jazzy" of his releases on account of the acoustic bass. They actually swing-out on the title track, albeit in a weird Holdsworth-hybrid fashion that works surprisingly well. However, my favorite track is probably "The Drums Were Yellow", a guitar-drums duet between Holdsworth and Gary Husband. The synth-axe makes a few more appearances throughout, as do the usual FM synthesizers that keep the music in a strange '80s time-warp. There's just something about his gorgeous lead tone and liquid legato technique that utterly fascinates me.

Evan Parker & John Weise - C-Section

This is an interesting album. Listen to it on headphones or a nice stereo system. John Weise is performing with the same set-up as the video I posted earlier -- a combination of tapes, microphone, drum-machine, and MSP software running on a laptop. Also, the performances are full takes with no edits or overdubs. Evan Parker plays soprano saxophone throughout with his patented spit/sputter approach that he has refined over many years. The sound Weise creates is difficult to explain -- a collage of noises and beeps that ricochet across the speakers. On "No Shoes", he records the sound of the soprano and has Parker interact with it. Cool stuff.