ajejebrazorf

Dude, allow me to disagree (not one hundred percent): Waits, for example, is not just a great songwriter, he’s also an extraordinary musician, someone with astonishing musical knowledge and mastery. But I reiterate my passionate opinion (but mindful, I reiterate) since I know very well and am a great admirer of the musicians I mentioned. But will there come a day when what is Buckley’s will be given to Buckley? Who knows, who knows.

saw live yesterday...I'm very biased, but Ferretti is always Ferretti, charisma. And great Maroccolo.

Here you go. Here are the samples. See you tomorrow.

But I told you, I growl that it’s an expression of someone in love... in fact, I forgot the most fitting counterpart for Buckley (the Buckley of Starsailor): the Robertino Wyatt of End of an Ear and Rock Bottom. Perhaps. I find many affinities there.

I’ll take a bold stance, consciously striking, but made from the heart: if singer-songwriter means anything to me, he is the greatest of all time, there are no Waits, Dylan, Van Morrison, Cave, or Cohen who come close. I said it. Love me for it.

tiziocaio, I assume you are referring to dreamletter...anyway, for you and for odra and for anyone interested: this is an album that is absolutely different from the earlier ones, it is definitely Buckley's most experimental record: folk here does not exist at all, for those who have heard the first albums it might sound like another musician. The sound references are Bitches Brew for the type of improvisation and the "noises" in the background, Ligeti (I've mentioned him before), definitely free-jazz (I woke up I’m sure would have pleased Coltrane and especially Ayler, but also Dolphy. Oh, the solo is not on trumpet but flugelhorn, which I don’t know what it is but must be some kind of trumpet), and the voice here is pure instrument, and almost hysterical: in Monterey it was compared to a monkey, which said like that isn’t very flattering but it’s a great track. The instrumentation is more like a jazz-fusion band than a rock group: flutes, sax, electric piano, and strange things that I don’t know what they are...tomorrow I’ll post some samples if enk doesn’t take care of it. By the way, I wouldn’t be so sure that it hasn’t been reissued, I seem to remember the opposite. Well, I’ll check.

And put the little link, Eneuccio, come on. Please.

Odra, you know I admire you, I care about you, and all that, but your precious samples (let's continue the pro-sample campaign) didn’t convince me at first glance; it reminded me of Einaudi or something like that. I don’t know... I have a little doubt: sometimes just the name or the label is enough. If the solo piano is played by Jarrett or the minimalists, everyone praises it, but if it’s done by a New Age pianist (I think of the great Lanz and Michael Jones), no one gives it any attention, they say "but it’s New Age..." and yet it’s the same melody, and as far as I’m concerned, even more refined...

On the internet, there’s a video of "Song to the Siren" with Tim playing solo, accompanying himself on the acoustic while sitting on a beaten-up car – it’s moving, truly tear-jerking. If I catch it, I’ll drop the link. A little anecdote: the song was supposed to appear on Happy Sad, but a friend made fun of Tim because a line said “I’m confused like the oyster,” and he was so embarrassed that he didn’t record it! In fact, on Starsailor, the line became “I’m confused like a newborn baby.” In the video, on the other hand, you can appreciate the confusion of the mollusk; I think it’s a recording from before Starsailor.

Good job, Enk, it couldn’t be that Starsailor was missing! You really say very little about the album, though. Not just avant-garde: avant-garde and jazz, Miles and Berberian, and even funky. A must-listen to understand who inspired Stratos (Monterey, Jungle Fire) and Alan Sorrenti (his "Un fiume tranquillo" is the Italian Starsailor, no joke). And you don’t mention two absolute gems: the stunning "I Woke Up," with that brief and divine trumpet solo (never was dawn so well soundtracked) and the title track, a clear homage to Ligeti. In my Buckleyan fundamentalism, however, I must be the only one who loves "Song to the Siren" less than many of his other songs.