Posts by Dr. John

As others have noted, good musically. I'm a little lukewarm on the lyrics.

I really like this song. Sure I don't really get the point of the story about Mozo. That and some of the wordplay reminds me a bit of TLLDOB. But I really like the music. The studio version has that liquidy synthesizer track, nice aggressive guitars, and Peter in his raspy singing mode. Lots of fun. I think the live versions got even better, with Peter stretching out the high notes and sounding much more commanding.

Musically this is a wonderful track, for all the reasons described above. Tony's dramatic chord sequence alone makes it a classic and Phil's drumming on the main percussive riff is fantastic. I also really love the dynamic shifts from soft to loud. That said, I have always been underwhelmed with the main song itself, both the lyrics and a fairly pedestrian melody.

Here's The Queen and the Soldier from the show I saw. This person recorded several songs, but unfortunately none of the new ones. I'm the person who guessed that she was going to play this song and yelled it out, to which she responded with "You! You're the trouble." (I had also anticipated she was going to play In Liverpool a few songs previously and yelled that out too.)

Quote from Mozo

This is good to see. A few days ago I bought a ticket for her show near me later in the year.

I've been seeing her live on and off since the very first album (1986 I think) and she's always great. I think she is a shockingly undervalued songwriter and artist.

I think she's one of the best songwriters over the past few decades. Her lyrics are an obvious strength, ranging from straightforward to rich with elliptical imagery. But I also think she has a real knack for melody and more interesting chord progressions than many in the folk-based style. Hope you enjoy her show.

I saw Suzanne Vega last night at Lula Lounge in Toronto, a supper club kinda place. I bought her first album back in 1985 and have been a fan ever since. I splurged for the VIP ticket and was one of 5 to watch her soundcheck and play 3 songs, plus got to chat with her and ask questions. I also got her to sign my Tour of Open Hand program, which I have kept relatively pristine for some 35 years.

The concert itself was great. She was accompanied by guitarist Gerry Leonard, who provided atmospheric loops, percussive effects, and other interesting treatments. She also had a cellist who added some gravitas to various songs. She is by now a seasoned and confident performer, expressive and also comfortable with playful banter with the audience. She featured 4 songs from her upcoming album Flying With Angels - the title track, Chambermaid, and a song about not wearing white were particularly great. She also has a silly punk-ish song about rats. The rest of the setlist featured the usual suspects from her early albums, plus a few selections from her mid-period.

If you are a fan, she is touring all this year and worth seeing.

A well-crafted pop song, with great harmonies.

I took your urgent whisper

Stole the arc of a white wing

Rode like foam on the river of pity

Turned its tide to strength

Healed the hole that ripped in living

Quote from JustALawnmower

Too many to choose from but yes to all of the above plus the intro to Cinema Show

Agree, the intro is gorgeous too.

Quote from Duke of Earl of Mar

I agree 100%. These are precisely the moments I love. I would add the little instrumental section in The Lamia between the "choruses" (with the whole band playing) and the verses (just Tony, Steve on acoustic guitar, Phil on vibraphone, and Peter). The Eb lydian dominant chord with the ascending melody...

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I had actually thought about this bit in The Lamia, but my list was starting to get too long.

While beauty can be stirring, not all things stirring fit with my definition of beauty. There are lots of emotionally stirring moments in Genesis music (pretty much every song has some), but for me beauty puts emphasis on the aesthetically pleasing aspects of the music. Music that is harsh, disturbing, uncomfortable can be very emotionally engaging and stirring, but might not meet most people's idea of beautiful.

So going with the definition of beautiful being aesthetically pleasing to the senses, here are a few of my picks of beautiful moments in Genesis music:

• the sections of The Fountain of Salmacis with the main organ riff and the swelling mellotron chords.
• the quiet instrumental section of The Cinema Show between the first and second sections that start with "Take a little trip back...". Plus the main melody section in the 7/8 section (the melody that is played twice).
• the middle section of TLLDOB (and the corresponding section of Carpet Crawlers).
• the intricate intermixing of guitar parts at the beginning of Entangled.
• the first chorus of Ripples.
• the middle section of Eleventh Earl of Mar ("Time to go to bed now...").
• Blood On the Rooftops from the intro up until the beginning of the first chorus.
• As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs, Seconds Out version.
• the intro to Duchess
• the looping string figure at the start of It's Gonna Get Better

I thought that Steve has performed with more than one tribute band - maybe The Musical Box and Genetics?

Phil posted previously about playing this gig. He said he made the mistake of not trying to practice until the day of and quickly realized that he couldn't easily replicate what he did 30 years previously. He felt the performance wasn't great, although it sounds to my non-drummer ears that he did a pretty good job. The full audio of the performance is available in the YouTube video below along with the available footage. Apparently they are only releasing the footage that he was OK with.

I like it. I don't love it. The lyrics are only OK for the verses, but I like the rhythm track and melody. The choruses are very good, with nice harmonies on the backing vocal part. I find the instrumental unremarkable. I feel the exact opposite of Schrottrocker - I find this one to be more aimless noodling, whereas I love the Fading Lights instrumental, with all of its contrasting sections.

Quote from Synthia

Oh, for sure. Link for anyone interested:

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(My favourite is the 1996 one from the Works box set.)

Then 1978 version sounds great, although I am not sure my ears are skilled enough to do a comparison.

Quote from Backdrifter

Can you explain what all those pizzas are? I have a vague idea Chicago is deep-crust but otherwise I'm not aware of the others. I'm open to pretty much any fairly simple pizza, though as I said I strongly favour thin crusts. And any amount of different kinds of chillies.

Chicago style is a thick crust, baked in a deep pan. It was created with the aim of making pizza a sit-down meal. Colorado style is thick crust also, with honey at the table provided to eat up the leftover crusts. Detroit style is usually square/rectangular, deep dish and fairly oily, with the sauce on top. Ohio Valley is a square medium crust baked with just sauce, with the cold toppings put on after (included cold shredded cheese). Korean often has different ingredients in the crust and then has some of the usual suspects as toppings (Korean fried chicken, bulgogi, kimchi, etc.). New England/New Haven style is similar to Neapolitan, but has limited use of cheese and can have local toppings like clams.

There are many more styles that I haven't tried.

Quote from Backdrifter

As you might know, Italians have a fiercely protective attitude to their food - even individual regions will abhor the local dishes of neighbouring regions - and see pizza as an Italian dish, and therefore regard creations of other countries such as the hawaiian as an unacceptable aberration.

Generally, not just regarding pizza, many people have a major problem with meat-fruit combinations. Depending on the specific combination I think it often works well.

I was amused by a story told by an English traveller in Italy. Ordering at the local village pizzeria he asked for an extra topping on his pizza. He was told bluntly "That pizza does not exist." Puzzled, he tried again with a different extra topping but got the same implacable response.

I very much respect how Italians (and others) have a strong sense of the "right" way to make a dish in a specific local context. When I have been in Italy and in many other places, I have always sought these regional specialties out and tended to avoid dishes/restaurants that weren't as specific to the place. I had a friend recently go to France and she mainly ate at Japanese restaurants, which I found puzzling.

At the same time, I love how food can evolve beyond the traditional. Pizza is one example of this. I love all styles of pizza, even though many versions would make an Italian shudder. Detroit, Colorado, Chicago, Ohio Valley, Korean, New England, it's all great.

Quote from Synthia

The 1978 recording of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. Mesmerising.

I love this piece. I have his 1998 recording of it and don't think I have listened to the original 1978 version. Should I check it out?

Got to see him perform this live a number of years ago.

As a Canadian, I have to defend Hawaiian pizza (since it was created here). True it can be a questionable experience if it is made with crappy tinned pineapple. But with good quality ham and fresh pineapple, it can be wonderful. Sweet fruit with salty meat is a great combo in general, why not on a pizza?

Quote from BillysNumber

I just picked up a copy of Back in the High Life Again...

The title track is one of my favourites of his. The mandolin, that martial snare section with bagpipe-y synths, James Taylor's smooth harmony.

This is a nice live version with James Taylor and Sheryl Crow on accordion (low quality unfortunately).:

Antoine Baril is very impressive. And it is always great to see a young person tackle Genesis.

Camila Pocovi also did a rendition of Supper's Ready: