Lacking the motivation to weave a coherent theme through all these thoughts (i.e. opinions), they are presented here as nothing more than mental dandruff.
Like it or not, agree with it or not, anti-vax or not, everyone needs to realize that normalcy returns only after a significant majority of the populations gets vaccinated. Every business in this country should be vocally advocating that federal, state, and local governments get their collective act together and make this happen as soon as possible.
Regardless of what political party was or might have been in power at the beginning of 2020 when the pandemic got underway, the weak, ragged, uneven rollout of vaccinations was predictable. The logistical challenges here are huge and are complicated by how the feds and states interact.
Notwithstanding the previous, the administration in power during the first year of the pandemic severely underperformed. They either overachieved or underachieved depending on how you interpret "One day - it's like a miracle - it will disappear."
At lot of musing about "the end of X" where X is movie theaters or fitness centers or dining out is misplaced. Once "everyone" is vaccinated, all this stuff will come roaring back. The flip side is that all the positive behaviors we've adopted like handwashing and not shaking hands and staying away from other people when sick are already disappearing.
It's quite dismaying that the behaviors we've all be asked to adopt (stay home when sick, cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough, wash your hands) are exactly the same things we should be doing regarding the flu. And sadly, many don't. If only one of these behaviors stick, I hope it's staying home from work when you're sick.
If everyone got the flu vaccine each year, the savings in terms of lost productivity at work would dwarf the cost of the shots.
Having an anti-vax opinion is your right. It's my right to say you're wrong.
The human animal is quite weak and I'm not speaking about susceptibility to viruses. Who knew how strong was the desire to dine in public at TGI Friday's and drink in public at the neighborhood pub? On TV the other day I heard a "man on the street" interview with someone who just had to travel somewhere, anywhere, right now. Who knew 9 months was the limit of human willpower?
If the pandemic was a TV show called "National Emergency," it would rank lower than Joanie Loves Chachi.
During the pandemic year of 2020 with its lockdowns and working from home, some people compensated by baking bread, others with home fitness, still others binged all their favorite shows on streaming services.
I listened to a lot of music. By "a lot" I mean 107 new (to me) albums. So many that over the course of the year I lost track of what I had ordered, in what format (digital or CD), and whether I had received it or not. It was only after cleaning up the backlog of tunes over the past couple of weeks that I settled on 107 as an accurate count.
It's hard to identify just a handful of favorites from a list that long. So you'll have to indulge me for being lengthy in terms of the list and brief in terms of the descriptions.
PANAMERICA by Stick Men with David Cross
The first new album I bought in 2020 made the list: the 5-CD PANAMERICA by Stick Men featuring David Cross (violin). Recorded throughout a South American tour, the 5 CDs of PANAMERICA are themed as Improvs (Disc 1), Suites (Disc 2), one full live show (Discs 3 and 4), and Soundscapes (Disc 5).
If you're not familiar with Stick Men they are Tony Levin (bass), Markus Reuter (guitar), and Pat Mastelotto (drums). To become familiar with the band, PANAMERICA is a great place to start because it gives you a taste of everything they do: the subtle application of power, sweeping melody, expressive rigor.
PANAMERICA and other Stick Men albums are available on Bandcamp where you can preview even more of their work.
Music from the Early 21st Century by Previte, Saft, and Cline
Bobby Previte (drums), Jamie Saft (Hammond organ), and Nels Cline (guitar) recorded this classic, improvisational organ trio live on tour in late 2019. The results are a spectacular springboard of classic forms into future possibilities.
Music from the Early 21st Century is available from RareNoise Records.
RUMBLE by Lorenzo Feliciati
This four-track EP is a stylistic standout from Feliciati's other albums. It's more of an orchestral take on jazz built upon Feliciati's rich, burbling bass lines that are more vocal than foundational.
The culmination of years of the two Eno brothers sharing keyboard pieces (Roger) and treatments (Brian) is the album Mixing Colours. The result is a series of shimmering soundscapes that deceive with their minimalism and entrance with their depth.
Keeping with ambience for a bit, I was totally blown away by the gravity of the sound achieved in Machinefabriek's (Rutger Zuydervelt) Stillness Soundtracks II, five deep tracks scored to accompany Esther Kokmeijer's film of icebergs at the North and South Poles. I can't recall music that more accurately conveys a visual representation of icebergs: solid/liquid, massive/fragile, still/moving, visible/hidden, white/spectral. Amazing.
Stillness Soundtracks II was released by Glacial Movements Records and is available on Bandcamp.
Music of Our Times by Gary Husband and Markus Reuter
When stranded in Tokyo during a pandemic after your tour is cancelled, what do musicians do? They book time in a studio and make music. In this case, Gary Husband (piano), who was touring with Stick Men, and Markus Reuter (guitar) were able to exquisitely capture a moment in time, their take on a world at inflection between live interaction and lockdown. Elegance.
Music of Our Times was released by MoonJune Records and is available on Bandcamp.
Punkt and Firma (96k) by Trey Gunn
I was unable to choose between Trey Gunn's (10-string Warr guitar) albums Punkt and Firma so we get both. All you need to know is their description: "These pieces will reward detailed and repeated listening. Likewise, they will punish casual listening."
My love affair with the combination of Sonar (a "progressive groove band") and guitarist David Torn goes back to 2018's Vortex in which Torn's playing was the salt to Sonar's polyrhythmic stew. Fortunately their collaboration continues on Tranceportation Vol. 2, described as "pointillistic, metrical complexity with deep subterranean grooves."
The Jerry Granelli Trio Plays Vince and Mose by The Jerry Granelli Trio
Speaking of love affairs, I don't recall when I first heard the piano playing of Jamie Saft but it's been a romance for me ever since. Here Saft joins Jerry Granelli (drums) and Bradley Christopher Jones (bass) as they perform their take on the work of Vince Guaraldi and Mose Allison. Fresh and lively without being anchored to the past, the album ends with what's now my favorite version of Christmas is Here.
The Jerry Granelli Trio Plays Vince and Mose was released on RareNoise Records and is available on Bandcamp.
Behind Closed Doors by Thorsten Quaeschning and Markus Reuter
When the pandemic made it virtually impossible for musicians to tour and perform live, some got creative. Markus Reuter, for example, held several live, online sessions with other musicians to demonstrate technique, record tracks for an album, or perform brief concerts. In this later category falls his 50-minute performance with Thorsten Quaeschning (Tangerine Dream). The combination of Quaeschning's synthesizers and Reuter's Touch Guitar is mesmerizing as they cover the gamut of tone and texture.
Bonus: Behind Closed Doors 2 came later in the year when the duo added percussionist Shawn Crowder.
Small Moments by Michael Manring
Perhaps not a household name, but when you think bass guitar Michael Manring's name should be at the forefront of your mind. Similar to Trey Gunn's albums cited above, Small Moments features Manring and his basses and that's about it. Pure and expansive, these pieces (written to be performed live), reveal mastery of one's instrument combined with artistic expression.
Listening to Pictures and Seeing Through Sound by Jon Hassell
Being a fan of Jon Hassell (trumpet) doesn't necessarily mean I've done a good job of keeping track of his work. I was thrilled to hear about his new album Seeing Through Sound and disappointed in myself for finding out it's the second in his Pentimento series, the first being Listening to Pictures. So I got both. And was not disappointed.
Both of these albums by Jon Hassell are available on Bandcamp.
Spectral by Robin Schlochtermeier
I first heard about Schlochtermeier in an online post by Eraldo Bernocchi whose opinions are usually enough to get me to take action. Spectral is the first solo album by the composer of film soundtracks and "captures some of this mysterious, nebulous spirit of bafflement and wonderment" he witnessed in his baby daughter.
Spectral was released on Denovali Records and is available on Bandcamp.
Selling England by the Pound and Spectral Mornings Live by Steve Hackett
It's not surprising that a Steve Hackett album should land on the favorite list of a person for whom Genesis was the genesis of his musical interests. Yet it may be surprising to know that of all the Hackett albums I own (which are many) this is my favorite. These performances feature Hackett and his band in fine form and the version of Spectral Mornings is fantastic.
I'll be honest. I didn't expect to like this album knowing that previous work by the parties was heavy, raging improv. On Cuts Open, they didn't take their foot off the gas but maybe turned down the volume from 11 to 10.
From a description of the album: "When the occasional bursts of brutality arrive – and they do arrive, in all their eviscerating glory – they’re almost cathartic in their relief from the teeth-gnashing tension of the album’s more subdued moments, where menace hangs in the air like a thinly veiled threat."
Fittingly named OWARI meaning "the end," this live album was recorded on the last date of the group's truncated tour of Japan thanks to the pandemic. Perhaps because of this, the performances are majestic with Husband's keyboards playing a central role.
OWARI was released on MoonJune Records and is available on Bandcamp.
Bumerang by Hallebeek, Feliciati, and Voskuil
Bassist Lorenzo Feliciati joins guitarist Richard Hallebeek and drummer Niels Voskuil on this self-titled album by this new trio. To my ear there's a definite Allan Holdsworth influence that's paired with Feliciati's triumphant bass playing. Can't wait to hear what Bumerang does next.
Even if this album wasn't good (which it is) I would've put it on the list. It was the last album released by Harold Budd before his death due to complications from Covid-19. Unlike their other pairings, this album to my ear emphasizes Budd's piano work over Guthrie's lush washes of guitar.
In yet another example of a favored artist of mine (Bernocchi, see above) paired with a Tangerine Dream alum, the result is - let's say - "classical electronica."
I do not know Mr. Dorgon but I do love Saft's piano work. If you listened to any of the samples of Trey Gunn's albums above, those are a good analogy for this album of "intuitive, counter-intuitive, and non-intuitive" compositions.
"One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain."
This album was released by Veal Records and is available on Bandcamp.
PORTAL by Feliciati and Mastelotto
I hadn't realized how much of Lorenzo Feliciati's work was on this list until now but we'll end with his PORTAL album with drummer Pat Mastelotto. Maybe the most melodic rhythm section you'll hear today.
2020 was not a good year for reading for me. Working from home since mid-March eliminated one of my primary reading opportunities: listening to audiobooks during my daily commute to and from work. During Q1, I read 18 books. None in Q2. None in Q3. Then the holiday season in the last two months of the year allowed me to read another 6 for a grand total of 24 for the year. To put that in perspective, I read 50 in 2019 and 37 in 2018. A side-effect of no audiobooks was that fiction reading was way down (only 6 of the 24). That's simply because I'm unable to listen to non-fiction in the car because I get bored.
Anyway, enough about reading and more about what was read. Here are my favorites from 2020. Or more accurately, my favorite because there's only one standout. And honestly, 2020 scrambled my memories of what I read early in the year.
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon is another reason why I say "I should read more science fiction." And maybe they made it into a (short-lived) TV series for a reason. In the far future, your mind, memories, and personality can be downloaded to something like a hard drive and installed in another body. Awakening in a new body, Takeshi Kovacs (an elite soldier) finds himself in the role of private detective. His super-rich client wants Takeshi to solve the client's murder - yes, the murder of the client.
Morgan creates vivid characters in a fantastic setting and weaves an attention-keeping tale. Highly recommend.
In case you've watch the TV series, there are many differences between the book and the show. But that just a warning - it won't prevent you from enjoying the book.
If you're new to this, hang on to your stack. It's a wonderful ride.
This blog reflects my personality as it is childish and immature, self-aggrandizing and ego-maniacal, a rambling stream of consciousness devoid of forethought and consideration of consequence. Therefore, it's perfect for the internet.
Things you'll see here: computational fluid dynamics (CFD), social media and internet, animation art, coin collecting, popular culture, progressive rock music, abstract expressionist art, poop and flatulence humor, computer science geekery, and miscellaneous internet detritus.
