Musical Musings

This will be a somewhat random post.

After having listened to several live shows on Youtube and more or less recreated Beck's Night Running Tour set, I'd say that, while I enjoyed seeing him, I don't think I would pay to see him a second time.  I would also say that I appreciate Cage the Elephant more on CD than live.  I don't think their fans are wrong or anything, but their live set didn't interest me all that much.  I still wish Spoon had at least another 10-15 minutes.  If you look through their various setlists for the tour, they mix the songs up far more than the other two groups with no two shows being quite the same.  I would definitely go see them again if they come through Toronto on a more proper tour, so I'll just keep my eyes open.

It sounds like there is a good chance that Beck will be coming out with an album later this fall, and perhaps Spoon as well, though they may be a bit further behind.

Tinariwen is releasing a new album, Amadjar, on Sept. 6.  I'm pretty excited to see them at Danforth Music Hall on Sept. 28.  I imagine if I really want to, I can pick up the new album at that time, though I am trying fairly hard not to add any more CDs to my collection.  However, if it is a great enough album, I'll probably weaken.

Sept. 6 is also the launch date for Rubberband, a "lost" album by Miles Davis, though it is probably more accurate to say it was an abandoned effort that has been stitched together and re-engineered.  This has basically no interest for me, though I'll probably stream it once, assuming it comes to iTunes.  I'm definitely not a fan of Miles's 80s work, though Amandla and Aura aren't too bad.  I also have a bit of a soft spot for the Dingo soundtrack.  However, I didn't like any of these sufficiently to keep them in my collection after the upteenth move...

Later in Sept. (Sept. 20), Robbie Robertson has a new CD called Sinematic coming out.  This is tied together with the documentary on his life, which is going to premiere at TIFF.  Aside from the fact that I boycott TIFF during the festival (because of their selfish and ridiculous demand to reroute the King Streetcar), I just don't have the patience to watch biopics (of anyone really, but specifically not musicians).  That said, the film sounds promising, but just not something I'll ever get around to watching.  I'll listen to Sinematic though.

In early Oct., Abdullah Ibrahim will release a solo piano CD called Dream Time, and I'll try to remember to keep my eyes open for that (in iTunes at any rate).

In early Nov, Skye Wallace is opening for Matt Mays at Danforth Music Hall.  I haven't decided if I will go or not.  I think the set will be pretty similar to her show back in July, where she had about an hour.  Not surprisingly, she focused mostly on her newer material, but that left out a bunch of songs I had hoped to hear.  To be honest, I don't know anything about Matt Mays, but I'll listen to his last couple of albums and decide if I want to go.

In early December, Cracker is coming back to Lee's Palace.  I was really hoping this would be slightly later in Dec., since that would mean it would be a joint show with Camper van Beethoven.  I think I'll go anyway, but of the two groups that David Lowery fronts, I do prefer CvB.  Oh well.  I wonder if he'll be playing any new material off of his solo album, In the Shadow of the Bull.  This is also around the time that 54-40 comes around to do their anniversary celebration shows at the Horseshoe Tavern.  I passed last year, but I might go again this time around.

I'm only just piecing together what 2020 will bring, but I am excited that Laurie Anderson will be performing at Koerner Hall in January.  I've already gotten my tickets.  I have no idea what she'll be doing, but I'm sure it will be interesting.  I've never seen her live before, though I've listened to some of the CDs of her performances.  Anyway, definitely some promising live dates in the near future.