Work = still very busy. Life looking up I guess. I started to take vitamin B complex. My grandmother told me it will make me less tired. I had a band practice. The band will be pretty cool, I think. Anyway, I will try and start reviewing my enormous backlog of CDs (I’m pathetic- I can’t even keep up with the new ones I buy!)

Compilation: 'Between or Beyond the Black Forest Volume 2' (CD; Crippled DIck Hot Wax; 1968-1978)
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Yikes. I was really happy to find this used, but that was because I thought I would enjoy it far, far more than I actually did. It's wacky stuff, and rather demanding on the ears. There are bursts of funkiness, but many of the songs are over-long, and it's mostly jazz/rock hybrid (with the emphasis on jazz), without much to offer to a poor wimp with a big pop sensibility like me. The drums are quite prominent throughout this compilation, and there are plenty of cool electronic noises. It just doesn't gel enough for me. Maybe I need more patience! Where the tracks are more coherent, they tend to be over-smooth and over-long (e.g. 'scratches' by Charly Antolini). Probably my favorite track here is one I already knew from the 'Get Easy' vol 4 compilation - Nelson Riddle's easy-funk number 'Volcano's daughter'. Also enjoyable is the creepy crime-jazz style (even though it's from 1968) 'Powerstart' by Roland Kovac.

Overall, however, this leaves me cold. Even the great Dave Pike fails to impress me with the track 'baiafrock/volker'. It's an over noodley fusion piece which sounds entirely tasteless to me.

Bullet: 'The Hanged Man' (CD; DC Recordings; 1975)
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I bought this because I had heard it was a mega funky and sought after LP. This CD, which looks like a bootleg in spite of its excellent sound quality, was put out in association with the famous 'Intoxica' record store in Notting Hill, west London. Anyway, it's not bad at all, but most of it is rather laid back action jazz, not the frenetically funky stuff I'd imagined. Vibes, electric piano, a lot of bass, and a recurring theme, kind of schifrin- esqueIt's all quite cool, but not super super cool somehow. Not bad at all, and worth the $8 I paid for it, but it hasn't changed my life...

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