The Vinyl Press

KEN GOLDEN: TOP PICKS FOR 2018- A LIST [Ed. Note]: Ken Golden, who contributed a piece on “Prog Rock Obscurities” here in 2016, has been a tireless guide to the less well known, the obscure rock, jazz and hard to “genre-fy” music that has become a staple of my musical diet, gives us a holiday present in the form of his most interesting “picks” for 2018:  I’m often asked to compile a year-end top 10 list and I always refrain.  My memory is short and there is so much music pouring through the threshold of my business that it becomes too much work v. fun.  Plus I have a short memory and I give heavier weight to more recent releases and shortchange albums that came out at the beginning of the year. 2018 was a strong year for progressive music so I’m going to give it a try.  I’ll probably forget one of your favorites so remember: THIS IS ALL FOR FUN.  THERE ARE NO MONEY PRIZES. In order: All Traps On Earth -  A Drop Of Light (AMS Records). The Swedish band Anglagard was the lightning rod for reviving progressive rock in 1992. While their output is generally sparse their impact still reverberates.  In the downtime from the studio, their bassist Johan Brand started up a side project four years ago.  Enlisting past and current members of Anglagard as well as other guests, Brand uses the Anglagard core sound as a foundation and expands upon it embracing Canterbury, King Crimson, and Magma influences in his writing.  Shadings of light and dark with complex song structures heighten the dynamics of the listening experience.  Available on CD and vinyl. 2. Al Doum & The Faryds – Spirit Rejoin (Black Sweat Records).   This is the fourth release from an Italian musical collective with an ever-shifting lineup.  Back in the 70s, the German band Embryo created a musical collision of heavy psychedelia, world music and … [Read More...]

Mark Weber on the West Coast Experimental Jazz Scene and the Shape of Things to Come Sun Ra Arkestra – April 2, 1981 Los Angeles – photo by Mark Weber I first got onto Mark Weber when I was researching Horace Tapscott and landed on Mark’s webpage, which included a photo essay of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra.   Mark spent the first 32 years of his life in LA, and was the CODA jazz magazine LA columnist for the better part of a decade, spending a total of 18 years reporting for CODA from Cleveland, New Orleans, San Francisco, New York, Detroit and Salt Lake City. His archive of photos and essays from the period 1970 through 2005 is now lodged in the UCLA Special Collections. Mark moved to Albuquerque, NM in 1991 and hosts a jazz radio show on KUNM.  I thought it would be fascinating to tap into Mark’s considerable knowledge and experience during what was a vital era of experimental jazz that set the stage for the shape of jazz after the ‘60s.    TVP: You are quoted on the UCLA Collections page:   It would be a major disservice to a great art form to contain it within a defined orthodoxy. Without a definition it radiates outward. Nor would I care to venture a speculation as to what jazz is. I'm not too locked in on the word "jazz" anyway. If a cat (or kitty) can play, then he can play. Jazz is not a type of music, it is not a specific form or category. Jazz is a manner in which music is played. Jazz is the way you play the music, not the music that is played. Jazz is the original Free Form. It continues to evolve. That’s a pretty astute observation. But the “way the music is played” is riddled with conventions isn’t it? And the music and the players you gravitated toward seemed to defy those conventions, didn’t they?   Mark Weber (MW):  There was something about the Sixties that made us all want something new --- like Ezra Pound always said “make it new” ---- So, yes, I came into the music … [Read More...]