120th upload

Cloudcasts by CHRIS DRUMM on Mixcloud

the ultimates

Here are the CDs in my collection with word 'ultimate', just because I'm sure you are curious:

1. Brooks, Garth ULTIMATE HITS, THE… 2CD Pearl 2007
2. Charles, Ray GENIUS: The Ultimate Collection CD Concord 2009
3. Cliff, Jimmy ULTIMATE COLLECTION CD Hip-O 1999
4. Cocker, Joe ULTIMATE COLLECTION 2CD Hip-O/A&M 2004
5. Gilbert & Sullivan ULTIMATE GILBERT & SULLIVAN, THE… CD London 1998
6. Hooker, John Lee ULTIMATE COLLECTION, THE…: 1948-1990 2CD Rhino 1991 Xgau: A-
7. Jackson, Michael ULTIMATE COLLECTION, THE… 4CD Epic/Legacy 2004 Xgau: CC
8. Jennings, Waylon ULTIMATE WAYLON JENNINGS CD RCA Nashville/BMG Heritage 2004 Xgau: Recyclable
9. Mathis, Johnny ULTIMATE HITS COLLECTION, THE… CD Columbia/Legacy 1998 Xgau: A-
10. McAuley, Jim ULTIMATE FROG, THE… 2CD Drip Audio/eMusic 2008
11. Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix ULTIMATE MENDELSSOHN 5CD Decca 2008
12. Miller, Glenn ULTIMATE LEGENDS CD United Audio (Holland) 2000
13. Minogue, Kylie ULTIMATE KYLIE 2CD Capitol 2005
14. Mutabaruka ULTIMATE COLLECTION, THE… CD Shanachie 1996 Xgau: A
15. O'Jays, The… ULTIMATE O'JAYS, THE… CD Columbia/Legacy 2001
16. Owens, Buck 21 #1 HITS: The Ultimate Buck Owens CD Rhino/amazon 2006
17. Parker, Charlie YARDBIRD SUITE: The Ultimate Charlie Parker Collection 2CD Rhino 1997 Xgau: A
18. Prince ULTIMATE 2CD Warner Bros. 2006
19. Rascals, The… ULTIMATE RASCALS, THE… CD Warner Bros. 1986
20. Redding, Otis ULTIMATE OTIS REDDING, THE… CD Warner Bros. 1986
21. Robinson, Smokey & the Miracles ULTIMATE COLLECTION, THE… CD Motown 1998
22. Seger, Bob & The Silver Bullet Band ULTIMATE HITS: Rock and Roll Never Forgets 2CD Capitol/EMI 2011
23. Steel Pulse ULTIMATE COLLECTION CD Hip-O 2000 Xgau: A-
24. Tippin, Aaron ULTIMATE AARON TIPPIN CD RCA Nashville/BMG Heritage 2004 Xgau: A-
25. various AFRICAN AMBIENCE: The Ultimate African Dance Party CD Shanachie 1999 Xgau: A
26. various BUBBLEGUM HITS, 25 ALL-TIME GREATEST…: The Ultimate Bubblegum Collection CD Varese Vintage 2000
27. various CARAVAN: The Ultimate Silk Road Album CD Deutsche Grammophon 2002
28. various HOT LUV: The Ultimate Dance Songs Collection CD EMI-Capitol 1996 Xgau: A
29. various ONLY FOR THE HEADSTRONG: The Ultimate Rave Compilation CD FFRR (I.L.S.) 1992 Xgau: A-
30. various RAT PACK COLLECTION, THE ULTIMATE…: Live and Swingin' CD Reprise 2003
31. various SUN RECORDS: Ultimate Blues Collection 3CD Varese Sarabande 2003
32. various ULTIMATE 60's COLLECTION, THE… (Absolutely the Best of the 60's / The Psychedelic Sixties) 2CD Fuel/Varese Sarabande 2002/2003/2005
33. various ULTIMATE CLUB DANCE: '90s Dance CD Just the Hits/Metacom 1998
34. various ULTIMATE DANCE PARTY 1997 CD Arista 1996
35. various composers ULTIMATE 2001 ALBUM, THE… CD Deutsche Grammophon 2001
36. various composers ULTIMATE CLASSICAL CHILL OUT: The Essential Masterpieces 5CD Decca 2006
37. various composers ULTIMATE CLASSICAL PIANO: The Essential Masterpieces 5CD Decca 2007
38. various composers ULTIMATE CLASSICAL RELAXATION: The Essential Masterpieces 5CD Decca 2008
39. various composers ULTIMATE RELAXATION ALBUM CD Decca 2001
40. various ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE IN SOUND & PERFORMANCE, THE… CD Chandos 1987
41. White, Barry ULTIMATE COLLECTION, THE… 2CD UTV 2000
42. Yardbirds, The… ULTIMATE…, THE… 2CD Rhino 2001

clank's rationale

The original Clankface—a name coined by Milo Miles for the Microsoft unseen force that policed Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog for expletives and, for example, could not abide words that ended in -sh being followed by words that started with it- (spaces between letters don't fool Clank.) Also, it tampered with URLs by inserting invisible punctuation-mark to make them unfollowable—whether to keep us on the MSN reservation or to prevent spam, nobody knew. Indeed, often a post would be swallowed whole and proclaimed to be something resembling spam and prevented from being posted, not then and not ever if it hadn't been saved.
With the demise of EW and the other MSN blogs—by a Microsoft exec's executive decision to pivot its piddly puddle of spare change into marshaling content (Bing) rather than continuing to originate original content—Clankface has also gone missing, if not missed.
But not forgotten. DJ Clankface inherits the name and some of the attributes. He mindlessly patrols a large body of data and capriciously picks and chooses. I actually like to think his hand more guided by the ghost of Steve Jobs than the Great Courses-educated brain of Bill Gates. (But then, when I play music with iTune's classic visualizer I get that same cosmic sense of seeing Steve's soul abiding.)

I figured out that listening to all the music on my hard-drive for an hour a day would take 65.4 years to listen to everything. But since I'm inputting music at a much faster rate than that, it would actually take forever. Kind of like just paying a credit card bill's minimum each month, I guess. Not that I hope to live to be 130 years old.

In any event, I have recently enlisted Clankface to pick songs on my hard drive to randomly listen to in just such one-hour chunks. Since I'll never be able to listen to all of it anyway, this way at least all of it has some chance of being heard—and not just by me. I'm uploading these one-hour chunks, one a day, as continuous mixes to Mixcloud. So far there have been 21 of them. A few songs I'm less than fond of, but so far I haven't exercised my curative discretion to remove any. If I hadn't already burned the mix to a CD maybe I would, but I need a CD to be able to import for all the songs to be joined together as a single track. There are surely better ways to do it, but I doubt they would be easier—and ease matters if I'm going to keep doing this.
Whether other people care to hear this stuff when there are so many other listening options, even just on Mixcloud, is doubtful. Maybe I'm unique in being able to tolerate such mad variety and even delight in the unexpected. And be able sit through a few lesser moments.
Here's #21 (for example):

DJ CLANKFACE'S QUEUE-RATED MIXTAPE 021 by Cdrumm on Mixcloud

DJ CLANKFACE'S QUEUE-RATED MIXTAPE 018

DJ CLANKFACE'S QUEUE-RATED MIXTAPE 018 by Cdrumm on Mixcloud

DJ CLANKFACE'S QUEUE-RATED MIXTAPE 017

DJ CLANKFACE'S QUEUE-RATED MIXTAPE 017 by Cdrumm on Mixcloud

DJ CLANKFACE'S QUEUE-RATED MIXTAPE 015

DJ CLANKFACE'S QUEUE-RATED MIXTAPE 015 by Cdrumm on Mixcloud

DJ CLANKFACE is on Mixcloud

It Will Stand : Minit Records 1960-1963 (EMI America, 1986): https://t.co/Wdajl90x4s (Xgau's #1 reissue on 1986 Dean's List—no CD release)

— CHRIS DRUMM (@cdrummbks) May 13, 2014

siren sounded last night

It used to be tornadoes always seemed to target mobile homes. Nowadays it's new construction. When they show the obliterated neighborhoods, the debris looks mighty flimsy. Mobile homes, which these have probably replaced, haven't been the inevitable target lately. Now probably no structure can stand up to a massive tornado, but I still like my chances in our 120 year old house—knock on (rough-hewn-beam) wood. Still—it's not much fun being in the path.

spectacular oracular

I was curious about Xgau's use of the word 'spectacular' and it turns out he uses it often enough, often in the negative (not spectacular); more often to describe stage/visual acts than albums.
A few:
"I mean, the man has genuine flair, and his show should be spectacular." (Bowie)
"No more than five-six and slender, he dances with a rolling gait that's spry rather than spectacular." (Lee Dorsey)
"...spectacular guitaristics of "Honey Power," a pomo "Telstar"..." (MBV's Loveless)
"...spectacular dancer and savvy singer knows how to find music that does her songs proud." (Tshuala Muana)
"...there are notable themes and spectacular sounds throughout." (Ebenezer Obey)
"The tour has been predictably spectacular, but its sole display of arrogance came Tuesday night..." (Stones)
"This is "great," all right, but without Wilson's spectacular visuals it's also, to these pop-happy ears, tedious and sometimes even pompous." (Philip Glass/Robert Wilson)
"...this r&b spectacular moves smoothly for four sides." (The Johnny Otis Show)
"Digitally spectacular and harmonically futuristic, solo Tatum is also florid and self-involved." (Art Tatum)
"we expected an edifying evening--lively, gorgeously costumed, technically spectacular, but also a bit stilted and grand" (Guinea's Ballets Africains)
"spectacular chops" (Jackie Wilson)
"rock and roll so spectacular you'd never think to turn the damn thing over." (if Gap Band Gold had been programmed fast side/slow side)
"...spectacular assurance with which the singer skips from mood to mood and register to register." (Prince)
"...the most spectacular rock record and concert draw of 1968." (Cream)
"The most spectacular of the Sugarhill crews on stage is also the hookiest on record..." (Grandmaster Flash)
"The Stewart success has been a little more spectacular." (Rod)
"And though these aren't as spectacular as on Stern's Dakar-based Music in My Head, they're often as surprising." (Authenticité: The Syliphone Years)

"Any more spectacular numbers are inference, speculation, hearsay, or bullshit." (Dwight Gooden)

"Sometimes-spectacular English folk-rocker isn't quite as ageless as he thinks--and neither are his songs" (Richard Thompson)

"Nothing spectacular, that would violate his sense of propriety--just rocking with a steady roll, perfect for admirers of Robert E. Lee if a mite laid-back for Broadway ..." (Elvin Bishop)

I know I've made a botch of this one, having to interpolate two from Youtube and one not correct. Only an HM***: https://t.co/3PgXAT4TOY

— CHRIS DRUMM (@cdrummbks) May 8, 2014

Another playlist today: 1986: Dean's List Singles + Jazz Picks: https://t.co/VgEJQLdwcY. I have some listening to do.

— CHRIS DRUMM (@cdrummbks) May 4, 2014

A playlist representing Sir Douglas Quintet: The Best of... [Takoma, 1980; Xgau: A-]: https://t.co/Q00LNtI9Xj

— CHRIS DRUMM (@cdrummbks) May 4, 2014

Pixies ep+1: https://t.co/yiDqLOBRwN

— CHRIS DRUMM (@cdrummbks) May 2, 2014

Jan & Dean – Gotta Take That One Last Ride (United Artists, 1974) reconstructed: https://t.co/mO9wuESR4A

— CHRIS DRUMM (@cdrummbks) May 1, 2014

Playlist reconstructing Jame Brown's Soul Classics Volume II [Polydor, 1973; Xgau: A-]; https://t.co/YhVVAwrw6x

— CHRIS DRUMM (@cdrummbks) April 29, 2014

iHeartRadio COUNTDOWN: Alternative

Received this in email. Actually, the Des Moines affiliate I do listen to in the car, and it's often not half bad. This looks like a playlist begging to happen—a quick way to check out what passes as "alternative" these days. Pending actual listening...counting down (up?) from ten to one: https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXyk1aQejk3Jfj7xEFeMv86UUpiiMmqO9K0VYsCsfWiOCVPScp7PviBuRGj0I5rFH6pAUtfd8uvvBjZuyS7Yv-tp1-ZoSJw==.

Let the countdown begin!   These are the top 10 Alternative songs on iHeartRadio right now. Click on any artist to start your own custom built station around that artist, commercial free!     Do I Wanna Know? Arctic Monkeys It's About Time Young The Giant Come With Me Now KONGOS Coming of Age Foster The People Fall In Love Phantogram Come A Little Closer Cage The Elephant The Walker Fitz & The Tantrums Afraid The Neighbourhood  Team Lorde  Bad Blood Bastille

MOG BEING BEATS

I have my doubts about having these hep cats "curate" my listening. A long-time MOG subscriber, there's not much I want changed. It would be nice if it was no longer struggling, so I could count on them not being suddenly defunct one day. I figured there could only be so many streaming services that are successful, and MOG never seemed to be among the survivors. So this looks like it might be a positive for MOG's future. But I like to think of myself as my own curator, not the curatee. Certainly I have my go-to gurus helping me pick what to listen to, but they aren't Rolling Stone or Pitchfork or Dr. Dre or Jimmy Iovine or Trent Reznor—or Ellen's personal dj. If there was a Christgau channel I'd be in heaven, but otherwise having some outside force come in and weed out the "howlers" in my listening queue...I don't know about that. I guess I'll have to wait and see, or hear, what happens.