So, four exhibits:
Exhibit Two: "Hot Tuna" . For some reason, I play this when it's really hot (although when it's 'don't move a muscle' hot, it's time for the flutes, tablas and sitars). I know, white rich people play acoustic county blues. Politically, I should hate it, but I enjoy it too much.
One thing that ties the last two CDs together is that they both have bonus tracks -- no surprise in CD vs LP time -- but the bonus tracks are really good, and would have fit well on the LPs had vinyl been able to handle the 60+ minutes.
Exhibit Three: new Van Morrison! "Born to Sing: No Plan B". There's a reason this is #3, if you know anything about dramatic tension. This is the yes/no before the final thumbs up, just around the corner...
Bottom line: Van's assembled a crack band for this one. No, they're not even close to the Pee-Wee Ellis or Georgie Fame bands, but they might be close enough, and they may expand in live performance. My dear wife and I underpacked our CD selections for our overnight trip to Concrete, so we heard this one A LOT. A few times through, we're sharing first impressions: a few 6-minute plus tracks work, lyrics hmm plowing the same furrows. But...there's a big media/promotion push -- Van's first studio album since 2003's "Keep It Simple"...and crap, librarian alert, there are a few major typos. Jeez, Van, can't pay a proofreader? It smacks of "here you go, I'm an artist, I don't care about marketing" -- but they got YOUR OWN LYRICS WRONG -- and they misquoted them in the fawning liner notes.
Finally, my latest summer favorite: the soundtrack to "The Descendants", and I haven't even seen the movie, so I'm not listening with some film scene in my mind. I know next to nothing about Hawaiian music, other than the Alfred Apaka LP my parents had (shrink-wrap bound and played never, except by me).
It's a very well selected collection, some instrumental slack-key guitar, some vocal, all of it seamless. It's not the tourist-centric music you may be familiar with, and for that I'm grateful to be able to hear a part of native culture I was totally unaware of. Great job!
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