Day 271: She's a model and she's looking good...

Album 961/1031

Astor Piazzolla & Gary Burton - New Tango (1988)

1	Milonga Is Coming	12:06
2	Vibraphonissimo	6:25
3	Little Italy 1930	8:48
4	Nuevo Tango	5:39
5	Laura's Dream	11:56
6	Operation Tango	9:55
7	La Muerta del Angel	4:02

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-new-tango-mw0000194633

Golf's verdict: It may just be me and my ears, but I could not really distinguish between the new tango and the old tango to be perfectly honest. All tangos sound roughly similar to me and - whilst I would not say I actively dislike it - I would not be rushing back to play tango of any vintage any time soon.

Máire's verdict: Not for me.

Album 962/1031

Charles Mingus - Black Saint & the Sinner Lady (1963)

No.	Title	Subtitle	Length
1.	"Track A – Solo Dancer"	"Stop! Look! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney!"	6:39
2.	"Track B – Duet Solo Dancers"	"Hearts' Beat and Shades in Physical Embraces"	6:45
3.	"Track C – Group Dancers"	"(Soul Fusion) Freewoman and Oh, This Freedom's Slave Cries"	7:22
4.	"Mode D – Trio and Group Dancers" "Mode E – Single Solos and Group Dance" "Mode F – Group and Solo Dance"	"Stop! Look! And Sing Songs of Revolutions!" "Saint and Sinner Join in Merriment on Battle Front" "Of Love, Pain, and Passioned Revolt, then Farewell, My Beloved, 'til It's Freedom Day"	18:39
Total length:			39:25

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Saint_and_the_Sinner_Lady

Golf's verdict: Another one for Máire's birthday present list. I thought it was perfectly pleasant and a wonderful example of trumpet mastery.

Máire's verdict: Hmmm...... jazz......

Album 963/1031

Grateful Dead - Live Dead (1969)

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Dark Star" (Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Robert Hunter, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, and Bob Weir)	23:18

Side two
No.	Title	Length
2.	"St. Stephen" (Garcia, Hunter, and Lesh)	6:31
3.	"The Eleven" (Hunter and Lesh)	9:18

Side three
No.	Title	Length
4.	"Turn On Your Love Light" (Deadric Malone and Joseph Scott)	15:05

Side four
No.	Title	Length
5.	"Death Don't Have No Mercy" (Reverend Gary Davis)	10:28
6.	"Feedback" (Tom Constanten, Garcia, Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, McKernan, and Weir)	7:49
7.	"And We Bid You Goodnight" (Traditional, arr. by Grateful Dead)	0:35

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live/Dead

Golf's verdict: Apparently, just a few years earlier these guys were Beatles wannabees. Little sign of that here - as that would require at least a rudimentary understanding of melody, song structure etc. that these drawn out improvisations all sadly lack. I imagine they would have been quite fun to see live, if suitably prepared. Mid-afternoon and yet to even crack open a first beer, so a bit lost on me.


Máire's verdict: Rubbish.

Album 964/1031

Iggy Pop - The Idiot (1977)

All tracks written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie, except "Sister Midnight", co-written by Carlos Alomar.

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sister Midnight"	4:19
2.	"Nightclubbing"	4:14
3.	"Funtime"	2:54
4.	"Baby"	3:24
5.	"China Girl"	5:08

Side B
No.	Title	Length
6.	"Dum Dum Boys"	7:12
7.	"Tiny Girls"	2:59
8.	"Mass Production"	8:24

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Idiot_(album)

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Iggy's debut, written and recorded with Bowie in Berlin as a means of distracting both of them from significant drug addictions. This is a cracking album that should have made Iggy set for a successful solo career right from the off. Instead he had to wait another 10 years for 'Real Wild Child' to accomplish that. In the meantime at least he benefited from the very successful covers of 'China Girl' from Bowie and 'Nightclubbing' from Grace Jones.


Máire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Wonderful record. Known as a classic for a reason.

Album 965/1031

Kraftwerk - The Man Machine (1978)

All lyrics written by Ralf Hütter except "The Model", lyrics by Hütter and Emil Schult.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Robots" ("Die Roboter")	Ralf Hütter Florian Schneider Karl Bartos	6:11
2.	"Spacelab"	Hütter Bartos	5:51
3.	"Metropolis"	Hütter Schneider Bartos	5:59

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
4.	"The Model" ("Das Model")	Hütter Bartos	3:38
5.	"Neon Lights" ("Neonlicht")	Hütter Schneider Bartos	9:03
6.	"The Man-Machine" ("Die Mensch-Maschine")	Hütter Bartos	5:28
Total length:			36:10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man-Machine

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! At the time this must have sounded so different to anything else. Nowadays it manages to sound both vintage and of the future simultaneously, which is quite a trick. Like Metropolis, another product of German futurism, this will never truly get old.

There are many (some, probably, apocryphal) stories about Kraftwerk. My favourite concerns their Dusseldorf origins. Apparently, to German ears the Dusseldorf accent is not the most sophisticated, being similar to that of a Brummy (Birmingham) accent to British ears. Now go and listen to 'The Model' and try not to think of this without smiling...Not quite as sophisticated and 'teutonic' now, is it?

Máire's verdict: Better than Autobahn, but that’s not saying much.

Album 966/1031

Sonic Youth - Sister (1987)

All tracks written by Sonic Youth (Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley), except as indicated.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lyrics/vocals	Length
1.	"Schizophrenia"		Gordon, Moore	4:38
2.	"(I Got A) Catholic Block"		Moore	3:26
3.	"Beauty Lies in the Eye"		Gordon	2:20
4.	"Stereo Sanctity"		Moore	3:50
5.	"Pipeline/Kill Time"		Ranaldo	4:35
6.	"Tuff Gnarl"		Moore	3:15
7.	"Pacific Coast Highway"		Gordon	4:18
8.	"Hot Wire My Heart" (Crime cover)	Johnny Strike	Moore, Gordon, Ranaldo	3:23
9.	"Kotton Krown[a]"		Gordon, Moore	5:08
10.	"White Kross[b]"		Moore	2:59

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_(Sonic_Youth_album)

Golf's verdict: Great introduction to Sonic Youth. We listened to my vinyl copy of this album, which I bought in 1988 and probably has not been out of its cover for 25 years. Inferior to Daydream Nation, but not by much.

Máire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Haven’t listened to this for years. Loved it.