Traffic - On the road

Style: Blues rock, Jazz rock.
Similar artists: Jefferson Airplane, Manfred's man, The Moody Blues.
Recording year: Island, 1973.

Though it ultimately must be considered an interim vehicle for singer/songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist Steve Winwood, Traffic was a successful group that followed its own individual course through the rock music scene of the late '60s and early '70s. Beginning in the psychedelic year of 1967 and influenced by the Beatles, the band early on turned out eclectic pop singles in its native Great Britain, though by the end of its first year of existence it had developed a pop/rock hybrid tied to its unusual instrumentation: At a time when electric guitars ruled rock, Traffic emphasized Winwood's organ and the reed instruments played by Chris Wood, especially flute. After Dave Mason, who had provided the band with an alternate folk-pop sound, departed for good, Traffic leaned toward extended songs that gave its players room to improvise in a jazz-like manner, even as the rhythms maintained a rock structure. The result was international success that ended only when Winwood finally decided he was ready to strike out on his own.

Reportedly released as an effort to undercut bootleggers following a world tour, Traffic: On the Road was the band's second live album in three years. The album chronicled a late edition of the band in which original members Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood were augmented not only by percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah, but also by a trio of session musicians from the famed Muscle Shoals studio, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, and Barry Beckett. The studio pros lent a tightness and proficiency to their characteristic free-form jams, and though they sometimes sounded like they couldn't wait to get the songs over with, the tunes went on and on, four clocking in at over ten minutes. That might have been okay if the choice of material had been more balanced across the band's career, but 1971's Welcome to the Canteen had treated earlier efforts, and the 1973 tour was promoting Shoot out at the Fantasy Factory, from which three of the six selections were drawn. Unfortunately, that album was not one of Traffic's best, and the live versions of its songs were no more impressive than the studio ones had been. Traffic: On the Road featured plenty of room for soloing by some good musicians, but it was the logical extreme of the band's forays into extended performance, with single tunes taking up entire sides on the original LPs. It's not surprising that, after this, Traffic shrunk in size and returned to shorter songs. [Though best known in its two-LP version, Traffic: On the Road was initially released in the U.S. as a single LP containing only four tracks.

Fields Of Haze... Underground for all.

Tom Waits - Big Time

Género: Experimental Rock, Beat Poetry

Artistas similares: Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Howlin' Wolf

Año de grabación : Island, 1998.

Big Time is an 18-track live album running nearly 68 minutes, its material drawn mostly from Tom Waits' trio of recent studio albums, Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, and Franks Wild Years. (One track, "Falling Down," is a previously unissued studio recording. The performance of "Strange Weather" marks Waits' first recording of a song he and his wife, Kathleen Brennan, wrote for Marianne Faithfull.) It's challenging music, made somewhat more accessible in a live context. Waits' performances tended to be somewhat over the top on the studio versions of these songs, but before a live audience his theatrics seem more appropriate, and he even includes a mini-set of piano ballads. Still, it takes him until the seventh tune, "Way Down in the Hole," to bring the audience to life, and he rarely speaks, in marked contrast to the earlier live-in-the-studio album Nighthawks at the Diner. But Big Time makes a useful sampler of Waits' later work that might enable a listener to determine whether to invest in the studio recordings.

Fields Of Haze.

Tom Waits - Beautiful Maladies, The Island Years

Género: Experimental rock, Beat poetry

Artistas similares: Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Howlin' Wolf

Año de grabación: Island, 1998.



Thomas Alan Waits, nació en Pomona, California en diciembre de 1949; pianista, cantante, compositor y actor estadounidense, famoso por sus canciones de tono áspero, inspiradas en escritores como Charles Bukowski y otros de la generación Beat, en especial Jack Kerouac.

En 1967 comenzó a trabajar en los cabarés de Los Ángeles, ambiente que le influyó mucho para las canciones de su primer disco, Closing Time (1973), aunque este álbum se vio eclipsado por The Eagles y Tim Buckley, pero fue con el álbum Heart of Saturday Night (1974) el que dio a conocer su personal estilo. Más tarde en 1975 con el disco en directo Nighthawks at the Diner combina canciones muy personales (entre ellas Better off without a wife) con entretenidos monólogos introductorios.

Tras Small Change (1976), sus siguientes discos no consiguieron situarse en las listas de éxitos. En esos años interpretó pequeños papeles en películas como La cocina del infierno (1978) o Corazonada (1981, de Francis Ford Coppola), para la que también compuso la música.

Volvió a las listas de ventas en la década de 1980 con Swordfishtrombones (1983), Rain Dogs (1985) y Frank’s Wild Years (1987), discos en los que confluyeron una gran variedad de estilos desde el blues hasta el tango, que dieron a sus canciones una atmósfera especial que le aseguró el éxito de ventas y la aceptación del gran público. También participó en películas como Bajo el peso de la ley (1986, de Jim Jarmusch), Drácula (1992, de Coppola) y Vidas cruzadas (1993, de Robert Altman) con papeles de más importancia que en sus anteriores incursiones en el cine. Asimismo, compuso la música de la película Noche en la Tierra (1991, de Jim Jarmusch) y al año siguiente, graba Bone Machine (1992). Un año más tarde colaboró con William S. Burroughts en la ópera cómica de carácter siniestro The Black Rider.

El disco que te presentamos en esta ocasión 'Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years' es una recopilación de 22 tracks provenientes de 6 álbums que van de 1980 a 1992, es decir: 'Swordfishtrombones', 'Frank's Wild Years', 'Big Time', 'Bone Machine' y 'The Black Rider'.

Un excelente disco para quien guste de escuchar trompetas con sordinas, una voz de arrabal y composiciones completamente originales.

Thomas Alan Waits, was born in Pomona, California in December of 1949; pianist, singer, composer and actor, famous by its songs of rough tone, inspired by writers like Charles Bukowski and others of the Beat generation, especially Jack Kerouac.

In 1967 he began to work in cabarés of Los Angeles, atmosphere that influenced much to him for the songs of its first record, 'Closing Time' (1973), although this album was eclipsed by The Eagles and Tim Buckley, but was with the album 'Heart of Saturday Night' (1974) that presented his personal style. Later in 1975 with the disc 'Nighthawks at the Diner' combines very personal songs (among them 'Better off without a wife') with entertained introductory monologues.

After 'Small Change' (1976), their following discs were not able to be placed in the lists of successes. In those years it interpreted small papers in films as 'Hell kitchen' (1978) or Hunch (1981, of Francis Ford Coppola), for which also it composed music. It returned to the lists of sales in the decade of 1980 with 'Swordfishtrombones' (1983), 'Rain Dogs' (1985) and 'Frank's Wild Years' (1987), discs in which came together a great variety of styles from the blues to the tango, that gave to his songs a special atmosphere that ensured the success sales and the acceptance to the great public. Also it participated in films as 'Under the weight of the law' (1986, of Jim Jarmusch), Drácula (1992, of Coppola) and 'Lives crossed' (1993, of Robert Altman) papers of more importance than in his previous incursions in the cinema. Also, 1991 composed music of the film 'Night in the Earth' (, of Jim Jarmusch) and the following year, it records Bone Machine (1992). A year later collaborated with William S. Burroughts in the humorous opera of sinister character The Black Rider.

The disc that FOH presented this occasion is ' Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years' . Tracks originating of 6 albums that go from 1980 to 1992, that is to say: ' is a compilation 'Swordfishtrombones' , ' Frank' s Wild Years' , ' Big Time' , ' Bone Machine' and ' The Black Rider'.

An excellent record for those who like to listen trompets with dampers, a completely original voice of suburb and good compositions.

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