Amoeblog > Tag > spoken word

More Journeys Off the Beaten Track

Posted by Rick Frystak, November 29, 2011 04:44pm | Post a Comment

Peter Michael Hamel
Hamel
Vertigo 6641 055, 1972

2-Lp set on German Vertigo circa 1972 brings us a spiritual journey of minimalism and creative spark, alone in the studio…tape running and overdubbing, often not listening to the previously recorded material. Hamel was doing multi-tracked organ, synths, piano and percussion in Germany at the same time as Riley, Glass and those guys were, quite forward-thinking. He worked with maestros Joseph Anton Reidl and Luc Ferrari, but never went in that conrete’ or collage direction as a style musically. Terry Riley is still doing live organ pieces just like these herein, and classical composers have struggled with this style for decades. Here in these discs we have 2 luscious sides of organ and synthesizer pieces with each instrument “beating” or modulating the other, simple rooted tones yet always moving with melody and logic; 1 side of prepared piano with a Cage influence, yet Hamel shows his prog/pop and Indonesian gamelan inclinations rhythmically and tonally. Nice! The last side is synthesizer overdubs with water and breath sounds, owing to Hamel’s heavy spiritual side and his immersion in this new minimalism. This record is still fresh now, and vibrates with a wonderful, contemporary accessibility and creative spark even after nearly 40 years. And this 2-disc set on Vertigo vinyl is rarer than a 2-dollar bill at this point.

Pat Martino
Strings!
Prestige 7547, 1968

(For which we beg your forgiveness)

Posted by Job O Brother, April 6, 2009 03:12pm | Post a Comment

I spend a lot of time walking; it’s my favorite mode of transportation, except for maybe riding a train, but riding a train from my apartment to, say, Amoeba Music Hollywood, would require either walking half the day to the train station, spending lots of money on a ticket to the next nearest destination which would be somewhere on the outskirts of Los Angeles, at which point I would either have to walk back, which would take a couple days (stopping for food/bathroom/weeping breaks) OR a couple hours in a cab (which would cost more money than I make in a week) OR require walking to a bus-stop and a day-long bus ride. I could do all that, or I could walk the 10 minutes from my apartment to Amoeba.

So, while technically riding a train is my favorite mode of transportation, context is of some consideration, and that results in walking sometimes being my favorite mode of transportation.

Please accept my apologies for the above two paragraphs; they were a complete waste of both our time.

While walking to various destinations, I often enjoy listening to books that have been recorded. People, myself included, still most often refer to these as “books on tape,” even though compact discs are the preferred vehicle for said recordings (“said recordings” – get it?).

I am really hating my journalistic “voice” in this article. Like, a lot. But, going on…

Amoeba Music has a hearty supply of used, “books on tape” and other spoken-word gems. In the Hollywood branch, they’re located in the jazz room, tucked between the classical and experimental sections. We put them there because they kept getting picked-on by the rock/pop DVD’s and vintage posters, both sections known for their name-calling and general rowdiness.

Spirit Records & Francis Thompson

Posted by Mr. Chadwick, November 26, 2007 02:23pm | Post a Comment

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter ...
Francis Thompson

A misfit Catholic from a time and a place where just being Catholic made you a misfit, Francis Thompson lived a down and out life in London's late 1800's. An opium addict, failed doctor and failed priest who found his savior in many forms, down many an odd avenue, his story is simply fascinating. He died Nov 13th 1907 from TB, his later years spent nursing himself after the disappearance of his muse and savior, a prostitute who had been housing and supporting him.

Norman Mailer RIP

Posted by Mr. Chadwick, November 12, 2007 08:00am | Comments (1)

I remember "borrowing" a copy of a great Marilyn Monroe coffee table book when I was about 12 years old. Of course it was for the great writings of Mr. Mailer, not the photos, ahem...

Here's a few shots of Norman Mailer's spoken word LP on the short lived Prestige records subsidiary "Lively Arts"

Below is a complete list of the Label output for the Lively Arts series...In the future I'll do a photo essay for the complete series...

Prestige Lively Arts 30000 series (12 inch LP)

LA 30001 Billy Dee Williams - Let's Misbehave
LA 30002 A Taste Of Hermione Baddeley
LA 30003 Roddy McDowall Reads The Horror Stories Of H.P. Lovecraft
LA 30004 Burgess Meredith Reads Ray Bradbury
LA 30005 Larry Storch Reads Philip Roth's Epstein
LA 30006 James Mason Reads The Imp Of The Perverse And Other Stories By Edgar Allen Poe
LA 30007 James Mason Reads Herman Melville's Bartleby, The Scrivener
LA 30008 Morris Carnovsky Reads Dostoevsky's Notes From Underground
LA 30009 Norman Mailer Reads Norman Mailer

Final October Favorites

Posted by Mr. Chadwick, October 31, 2007 10:00pm | Comments (3)

HAPPY ALL HALLOWS EVE

OK, so the day has finally arrived...All Hallows Eve...Devils Night...So my final three suggestions for listening pleasures this wicked evening are here as well...

First, I'll break ranks and suggest a compact disc. Not just a compact disc but a compact disc single, CD5, whatever...In 1997, the visionaries @ K-Tel came up with the idea to release a novelty single for the Halloween season by none other than Chubby Checker...Maybe they had seen his half-time extravaganza with the Rockettes back in '88 and, that being pretty scary, they thought he could pull of the Halloween thing. The tracks- Doin' The Zombie, House of Horror, The Twist, & Screams From Beyond rival the Fat Boys collaboration on the scare-o-meter (of course none of these tracks come close to the Fat Boys collaboration that the Beach Boys did, or worse yet Mike Love's "Rock n Roll Again" LP where he helps butcher some older songs...check out "Walk Away Renee" by the Association, Midi/Yamaha DX7 frights from hell...anyhow I digress)

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