Uriah Heep: Uriah Heep (1970)

It was inevitable that I would come back to Uriah Heep. More than any other discovery in the past few years, they’ve been the band I’ve been drawn to the most: a potent proto-metal outfit with progressive tendencies and just some killer, killer tracks. I thought the trilogy of Look at Yourself, Demons & Wizards, and The Magician’s Birthday would be enough (all reviewed here), but both older and newer albums have ensnared me just as deeply. So the plan this week is to finish off the recent acquisitions starting with the American version of their debut, simply titled here as Uriah Heep.

ChrisApril 18, 2024April 16, 2024Leave a comment

Vinyl

Egg: The Civil Surface (1974)

Sometimes you don’t know how a certain album landed in your periphery. Did it suddenly appear out of the mystical musical ether? Was it one of those random selections that comes on after the album I set to play as I fell asleep ended? We may never know (though the latter scenario seems more likely), but whatever the cause I’m glad The Civil Surface, the third and final studio album from the oddly satisfyingly named Egg found its way to me.

ChrisSeptember 6, 2023Leave a comment

Vinyl

McCoy Tyner: Expansions (1970)

The #mayvinylchallenge for Day 3 revolves around whatever it is you currently have on repeat. In the parlance of the times, what are you #nowplaying? The past few weeks I’ve been having late night chat and game sessions with my friends, and we’re all jazz heads, although truth be told their scope is much broader than mine. And so it came to pass during a lengthy session discussing Eric Dolphy we hit upon McCoy Tyner and the wonders of his Expansions album when talking about good reissues. Expansions was reissued on Blue Note’s Tone Poet series, and I managed to find a copy online for $15 in great condition, so here we are.

ChrisMay 3, 2023May 3, 2023Leave a comment

Vinyl

Miles Davis: Jack Johnson (1971)

A quick one as I prepare to leave for the weekend (which means no review tomorrow…I’m okay with that). Miles Davis has always been a towering figure for me in music: he was my gateway into jazz, and his evolution served as touchpoint for my own growth as a listener. The connection to his music is even stronger now that my son joined his schools jazz ensemble and in what is now his 7th year playing trumpet opted to get his own for Christmas. So we’ve been exploring the man’s work, and today as we drove to school I put on Jack Johnson to show Davis’s skill at improvising over a repeated lick, and his use of a mute, which my son is also starting to utilize.

ChrisJanuary 6, 2023Leave a comment

Vinyl

Alphataurus: Alphataurus (1973)

Another day, another Italian prog album celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The self-titled debut from Alphataurus was pretty much a one-shot: after their debut the band, formed out of some like-minded musicians in Milan broke up before completing their second album. But that one is enough for me – this is more bombastic and rocking that the previous albums we’ve covered so far, and I remember it also being the first album I checked out from the Sea of Tranquility primer (yeah, I know…I’m linking to this a lot), namely because the list was alphabetical. But whatever the course it took to discover, it’s here, in my hands and on my turntable and the rush of sound is both exciting and calming, putting me in the familiar waters of prog and getting steadily settled in the Italian vibe.

ChrisJanuary 2, 2023Leave a comment

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso: Io sono nato libero (1973)

I was originally going to write about about failure, about how 2022 basically ground me to dust and left me lost…a failure inside, weak in body and spirit, and sick. By giving myself writing goals and objectives and deadlines I turned this outlet, a channel for my passions and joy into just another job, and I don’t need that…don’t want that. It’s just one more thing that puts me further in the dark.

There. That’s the post. Now let’s just listen to an album and record some thoughts about it. And try it again the next day, and the day after that. I’d been meaning to get to the loads of Italian prog I had purchased over the last few months… my post on Arti + Mestieri was just the start of it. So why not kick off 2023 with an album celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the third release from Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, the complex bag of tricks known as Io sono nato libero.

ChrisJanuary 1, 2023Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Tag: 1970s

Uriah Heep: Uriah Heep (1970)

Egg: The Civil Surface (1974)

McCoy Tyner: Expansions (1970)

Miles Davis: Jack Johnson (1971)

Alphataurus: Alphataurus (1973)

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso: Io sono nato libero (1973)