Home Boyz 'Round the World

Catch up with a couple of PT's musical expatriots. Postbop guitarist Miles Okazaki has created an intriguing ever-evolving website at http://www.milesokazaki.com , and John Speck, featured tromboner with Spam Allstars (and Beatnik Zydeco!) is profiled at http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2005-10-20/music/music2.html .

Cruise the Muze

An endless labyrinth of categories within categories, the Muze database is a perfect tool for researching specific recordings or just browsing. Access to this computer kiosk (updated monthly) is free-of-charge for Quimper Sound customers, so let's dive right in.
The first choice is very broad: Pop, Rock & Other. This includes all nonclassical musics and breaks down further into:

ARTIST - Look up your favorites, check out songlists and notes from their various releases.

SONG - Search by title or keyword therein. Find out who has recorded your favorite song(s).

ALBUM - Search by title or keyword.

RECORD LABEL - Got a spunky little label you dig? Check out all their releases.

CATEGORY - Now it starts to get interesting. Here's a very small sampling of styles listed in the subcategories:
Rock- experimental, glam/glitter, loFi, industrial, psychedelic...
Country - bluegrass, cowboy, outlaw...
Jazz - all the major trends, plus the cool option of searching by instrument...
Blues - delta to modern urban...
R&B - acid jazz, new orleans, UK house...
Rap - french, latin, southern...
World - aboriginal & afghani to zimbabwean & zouk...
Other - spoken word, comedy, electronic, easy listening (with further divisions like exotica lounge)...

A page accessed at the bottom of the screen, NarrowSearch, allows you to set even more parameters, such as guest artist, year of release and producer.

CLASSICAL MELTDOWN!
When searching for a recording from the classical canon or modern tradition, enter as many choices as needed on the NarrowSearch page:
Composer - extensive listing
Composition - a partial title phrase will sometimes work
Composition Type - an interesting browse, from agnus dei to zarzuela
Sequence Number - try opus numbers or BWV(Bach), K(Mozart) designations
Ensemble - find your favorites
Record Label - support good ones
Soloist - more voluminous listings
Conductor - the silent guy...
Instrument - here's a few to check out (I can't help myself!):
accordion (760 pieces!)
alto sackbut
alumiphone
bullroarer
conch shell
crwth
data glove
espejo plasmaht
JustStrokeRods
steel guitar
toy piano
zoomoozophone

After you get some hits, try changing between composition (more specific, with conductor, composer, ensemble & soloist) and album title.

Maybe you'll find new ways to use the mighty Muze. One little girl thanked us for letting her type to her Grandma, who is "up in heaven."

Neil Young In-stock & On Sale!

The wait is over. The new Neil Young (single disc): Prairie Wind is finally in-stock (manufacturing problem pushed it back). As a thank-you to all our loyal customers we've put it on sale for a limited time at $16.95* (list: $18.95). Additionally, we've got the new David Gray: Life In Slow Motion (single disc) on sale at $16.95* (list: $18.95) as well.

*Note: Now that we are phasing out the Frequent Buyer Program we are freed up to feature some of the more expensive new releases at a discount. Look at the box next to the register to see what's on sale any given week.

Top 5 Favorite Women Jazz Artists

OK - In response to Tracy T.'s comment here I made a list of my favorite jazz musicians who happen to be women. While I was thinking about it, it occurred to me that (as often happens with my taste in jazz) there could easily be another list of "New Music/Avant Garde" artists as well. I should note that, despite the overwhelming prominence of women vocalists in the jazz tradition, there are only two on my list because, well, vocal jazz isn't my bag - these are favorites after all...

Jazz Favorites:

5) Robin Holcomb
4) Myra Melford
3) Cassandra Wilson
2) Abbey Lincoln
1) Mary Lou Williams

Other notables in my collection: Jane Ira Bloom, Geri Allen, Billie Holiday, Shirley Scott, etc.

Avant Garde/New Music Favorites:

5) Pauline Oliveros
4) Marilyn Crispell
3) Meredith Monk
2) Joel Leandre
1) Jay Clayton

Other notables in my collection: Ikue Mori, Aiko Shimada, Carla Bley, etc.

The Gits

If you're a PT Film Festival goer I highly recommend seeing "The Gits" tonight at the Broughton Theater - 10pm. I saw it last night and, though I didn't think much of it as "a movie", I loved seeing all the footage of one of my favorite bands. While I generally think the late 80's/early 90's Seattle "scene" is overly romanticized, there were some truly remarkable bands. If you weren't lucky enough to see the Gits live this a great introduction to one of the greatest (and as the interviewees never fail to remind us) soulful punk bands of all time. The music stands on it's own - but there was a special magic to seeing Mia perform it and the film does a good job of giving you a peek at that magic.

Top 5 Albums Listened To At Home

Ok - I'll start this out with a simple list - For your consideration I give you the top 5 albums from Steve's music room this week:

5) Johnny Hodges: Previously Unreleased Recordings [Verve - Lp]
4) Tommy Guerrero: Another Late Night [Teacle - CD]
3) Sam Rivers: The Live Trio Sessions [Impulse - Lp]
2) Henry Threadgill: X-75 Vol.1 [Novus - Lp]
1) Vandermark 5: The Color Of Memory [Atavistic - CD]

I've also been sneaking tracks from Lyrics Born's "Same !@#$ Different Day" Lp - what can I say - it makes me happy...

-Steve

Welcome to Quimper Sound Off!

Daddy, what is this noise you're listening to?

Hello everyone. Welcome to our new notebook (I can't stand the 'word' "blog"). This is a place where we can post reviews, concert info, advice, opinion, and other record store related hoo-haw in a timely and convenient fashion.

In the hope that we can include everyone who might want to contribute to the discussions herein, we're allowing comments from all comers. However, we reserve the right to turn this feature off if there are abusive or offensive comments. Let's all play nice. Some simple comment rules:

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It's our hope that this 'notebook' can be useful, informative and most of all, fun. Dive in!