The Steve Miller Band - Sailor

Let me preface this by saying I loathe Steve Miller. My teen years were spent desperately avoiding the craptacular output of this guy. And it only got worse as we slipped into the 80s and were forced to endure the remarkably hideous (even for him) Abracadabra.

So imagine my surprise when I hit upon this. I heard the exquisite Quicksilver Girl for the first time recently and when I discovered it was actually the dreaded Miller my reaction was, "Steve Miller?! I fucking hate Steve Miller! How the fuck can this be Steve Miller?!" Call me late to the party, but this album is (for the most part) a revelation. Recorded in 67, Sailor is a real gem that holds wonderous surprises. It's a weird mix of styles that is reminiscent of early Pink Floyd, some VU, and even the Beach Boys.

Enjoy the above mentioned Quicksilver Girl, the delicate Dear Mary, and the oh so period, bonghit soundtracker, Song For Our Ancestors.

I guess even pigs find an acorn once in a while.

Hear

Solomon Burke - Cool Breeze OST (1972)

HEAR

R.I.P. Solomon Burke 1940-2010

not a bad way to die, mile high in the sky

on your way to play a souled-out show...

(twenty-one kids in your afterglow)

Sleep - Dopesmoker

I can't exactly toss Volume One at you without providing access to this monster. This beast is what ultimately kilt Sleep. Get out yer knee pads.

HolySmokes!

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Allmusic.com: The saga of Sleep's Dopesmoker was already almost ten years in the making by the time of its belated release in 2003. Originally slated to follow closely behind their second album of a decade earlier, the landmark Sleep's Holy Mountain, it lingered in unreleased limbo instead -- the subject of a vicious legal dispute between the Northern California trio and their record company, London, which refused to release Dopesmoker as delivered by the band -- that is, a single, 60-minute-long song! The impasse eventually led to the stubborn band's ignominious dissolution circa 1997 rather than conform to the label's demands, leaving fans waiting for an album that most assumed would never be heard. But come 1999, an incomplete, disjointed version of the recordings was cobbled together and released by Rise Above Records with the title Jerusalem. Unfortunately, this version sounded oddly ragged in places, with senseless digital song divisions and an abrupt, obviously chopped-off ending; so for all intents and purposes, the ideal work as envisioned by Sleep clearly remained unrealized. Thankfully, all these glitches were finally corrected for the definitive, band-sanctioned 2003 edition of Dopesmoker, which bears a top-notch production job courtesy ofBilly Anderson (Helios Creed, Natas, etc.) to boot. Revealed here at last, in all of its colossal glory, Dopesmoker is at once an instant doom metal classic -- some might even say a masterpiece -- as well as an impossibly dense, nearly impenetrable listening experience for unprepared fans (just to give you an idea, the first vocals only arrive 16 minutes in). Meticulously composed in the style of Gregorian chants as interpreted through the ears ofBlack Sabbath, "Dopesmoker" esoterically describes -- get this -- the "Weedian" people's pilgrimage to the "riff-filled land." But lyrics aside -- and there are precious few here to justify stressing over them -- what skeptical listeners must take into account here is that "Dopesmoker" is in fact a single song, not a series of song snippets stitched together progressive rock style. As such, this initially daunting edifice of snarling riffage requires quite a bit more patience and dedicated sampling before its secrets are unlocked and its riddles unraveled, but therein lies the crux of what is ultimately a very rewarding experience. And for Jerusalem owners still reticent to part with their hard-earned cash for this new and improved edition, Tee Pee Records has added a bonus treat in the form of a live recording of unreleased track "Sonic Titan."

HEAR

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata

Allegorical for my recent day to day. Kirk always has a way of making me feel like he's spying on me. I'm also super paranoid.

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Allmusic.com: This is a rather unusual solo LP (available on CD only as part of a Colletables twofer with the Inflated Tear). Other than a couple of percussionists (and piano accompaniment on "Day Dream" by Sonelius Smith), all of the music was created by Rahsaan Roland Kirk without overdubs or edits. He plays tenor, stritch, manzello, clarinets, flutes, black mystery pipes, percussion and various sound effects, often two or three instruments simultaneously. The performances are episodic and colorful with plenty of humor and adventurous moments, worthy of repeated listenings and amazement.

HEAR

Sleep - Volume One

Sleep My Child

Pop Goes Your Summer - Various

The End of Summer approaches.

As my kids pruned themselves in the pool for the last time this year and I sipped my way through a couple of Sierra Nevadas, I spun up some old mixed discs. I fell back in love with this one from 2003 that I remember mixing for a friend's 40th birthday that year. It is composed of purely disposable pop - exactly as a summer disc should be. I don't usually throw mixed discs up in the Forest, but what the hell.

There's an abundance of Rooney from their debut, and a couple from a nice, but overlooked pop band, Feel.

I should warn you - the tracks are NOT individual. I mix as one continuous track, so suffer the whole thing or blow it off.

Rooney - Stay Away
Pernice Bros - One Foot In The Grave
Sea And Cake - Hotel Tell
Stampeders - Sweet City Woman
Chuck Prophet - Summertime Thing
Rooney - Sh Sh Sh Shakin
EELS - Saturday Morning
Azure Ray - Beautiful Things Come From The Dark
Smog - Our Anniversary
Fountains Of Wayne - Hailey's Waitress
Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland, 1945
Liz Phair - H.W.C.
Feel - Got Your Name On It
Them - It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
Rilo Kiley - With Arms Outstretched
EELS - Numbered Days
Rooney - Blueside
Feel - Won't Stand In Your Way
Fountains Of Wayne - Stacy's Mom
Sorry Bout Dresden - Sick And Sour
Feel - I Am The Summertime
Sea And Cake - Sound And Vision

Hear