The Essential Lonard Cohen

Dear Mr. Cohen,

Here I am taking a gander at a compilation of songs mostly picked by you. I have to admit I like your earlier higher baritone on your earlier songs. On your lower monotone voice, the only songs that work is when every single element comes together, then it is almighty arresting, like "Hallelujah" and "Tower of Song". And when you deliberately make the song structures Dylanish, you don't really set out to imitate him but to overdo him but I don't find it particularly interesting as on "So Long Marianne". I also like your interpretation of synth-pop, as on "First We Take Manhattan", with its quirky charms. I also forgive you for clunkers like "Night Comes On" and "Anthem", which had me going for the "skip" function on the player. All in all, good show, Mr. Cohen.

Yours,
Dukey

Michael Jackson - Off The Wall

Had heard this on 8-track a long time ago and didn't find it interesting enough. On a relisten, this one is mostly a precursor to Thriller, and the arrangements sound like they're going to evolve into another "Wanna Be Startin' Something" or something. I feel the tracks screaming for crossover like another "Beat It" but it's mostly disco and funk here. As it is, it's not bad. The ballads like "She's Out of My Life" are quite effective. Even the fillers are listenable, such as "I Can't Help It" (despite being written by Stevie Wonder) and "Burn this Disco Out". I singularly like the slapbass on "Get on the Floor" the most. Good.

The Essential Jacksons

Starts off with some lesser Gamble and Huff songs. Gets better when they are writing their own songs but not by much. Despite having halcyon love for "Blame it on the Boogie", hearing it again ain't as fuzzy warm as the memories. So's "State of Shock", which now sounds brittle with the twee distortion of the guitar riff. They go some way towards evolving funk on some tracks but not so much so. Can do lar.

The Essential Herbie Hancock

A panorama of his career, although it is not very disparate, as there are similarities in feel throughout the songs, due to his familiar use of chromatics, passing notes, chordal voicings, tonal palettes and scale colours. Only two songs break out of the mold, the mostly disco "Stars in My Eyes" bereft of any keyboard solo with some nice guitar fills by Wah Wah Watson, and the deliberately dumbed down "Rockit" just accentuating the hook. Not bad at all. As with the Miles Davis collection, there's a unitary vision, unlike the John McLaughlin collection, which sounds like 7 or 8 different guitarists.

Herbie Hancock - Headhunters

Sounds a bit dated. Might be adventurous for its time, but sounds like a relic for its time now, due to the electronic instruments. Still, the clavinet sounds good, and it's something like a clippier sharper guitar tone. I liked the pygmy music intro to "Sly" and the busy middle section of "Vein Melter" but so much of it sounds like a soundtrack to some 70s cop movie. And "Chameleon" sounds too much like Mahavishnu Orchestra's "Pastoral Funk" for its own good. Not as spacey as Bitches Brew or futuristic as On the Corner, both by Miles Davis.

Miles Davis - Platinum

A collection of songs from the "Birth of the Cool" era. Competent. The legedermain with whomever sax player he's playing with is interesting. Otherwise, I'm much too familiar with the style, having bought BOTC at an early age and played it to death.

Charles Mingus - Cumbia and Jazz Fusion

Here's a track-by-track breakdown:-

Cumbia And Jazz Fusion - A Latin American percussive piece with two chords interspersed with big band jazz segments. I'd wish he just built upon the basic two-chord structure.

Music for "Todo Mondo" - A solo funereal dirge solo interspersed with big band jazz segments. As again, I'd wish the solo bits, especially the free jazz parts, were elongated.

Comes with some outtakes which are disposable. In some ways, I like this album more than his "classic" recordings, being structurally denser.

Wilco - Being There

Hard to follow up after the excellent opener "Misunderstood". But otherwise an engaging collection of alt country tracks that leaves others of its ilk (e.g. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals) in the dust, with its unpredictability and strong grasp of melody. My first taste of Jeff Tweedy and it's good.

Stereolab - Chemical Chords

Don't like this much. Retro electro-pop that sounds pretty mundane, with only one actual post-rock song.

The Special AKA - In The Studio

Excellent! Best Specials album.