Sad news that Richard Wright, keyboardist and founding member of Pink Floyd has died today at the age of 65. Rick, your vibes are unmatched by anyone, your mellow synth will be sadly missed. I'm marathoning Floyd and Wright songs as a memorial… :-(

That Much Closer To The Sun. The grooves on this album are simply infective. I love the way each track flows together, and if you haven't heard Nightwalker, you are in for a treat. The chilled out guitar riff from All Along The Watchtower that plays through is perfect. One of the absolutely best tracks I've heard in years.

So I'm hooked on Signs of Life and Carnival of Rust. Both have gotten heavy play from me this past week. It took forever to get my copy of CoR, but it was well worth waiting for. The songs aren't quite as instantly catchy the way Late Goodbye or Stay are, but they have the same hypnotic melodies, soaring vocals, and impressive sound for a 3 man group.

Also playing a lot of Laugh Now, Cry Later and Taking The Long Way. Perhaps an odd combo, but that's the way my tastes run. Both are well worth repetition…

Was just listening to Chord Sounds and Maya Gold and the breath-y ambience of both brought back a short memory. A few years ago, a friend asked me why Pink Floyd? He was mostly into urban music, such as funk and hip-hop. The obvious answer was "I just love the music", but I could really say that about a lot of artists. So, why Pink Floyd.

As I later explained to him, it really comes down to the music being more than just an organized series of tones, rhythms, and words. There is an 'organic' quality that Floyd songs have…

Neat post by Wil up earlier, thought I'd share it with you. He picks my second favorite album from Pink Floyd, Animals.

Link

Smoke Two Joints

(she was living in a single room with three other individuals.
One of them was a male and the other two, well, the other two were females.
God only know what they were up to in there.
And furthermore susan, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to learn that all four of them
Habitually smoke marijuana cigarettes… reefers)

I smoke two joints in the morning.
I smoke two joints at night.
I smoke two joints in the afternoon, it makes me feel alright
I smoke two joints in time of peace, and two in time of…

A little known project (outside of folk/alt-rock guru circles) called The Thorns brought together a tasty combination of Shawn Mullins, Matthew Sweet, and Pete Droge in 2003. A bit more laid back on the whole than Mullins' or Matthews' usual sets, it still has a nice folk-rock feel to it with crisp acoustic work and well-placed vocal harmonies. The remake of Blue is well done, though little different in style than the original.

I just found out yesterday that Mullins has a new album out as of February, 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor, which I hope to pick up…

Had a sinus headache all day, so I've been mostly unproductive. Maybe a bit of a 'hangover' of sorts after four days of basketball. Regardless, did get some things accomplished.

Been mostly in a chill-out mood, so I gotta thank SubWolf for turning me on to Chill Out, which I mixed in with David Gilmour, Paul Oakenfold, and some random downbeat trip-hop I'd collected.

Just rediscovered an album I've had stashed away for awhile and which was forgotten. Thunderball – Ambassadors of Style is a dub down-beat, trip-hoppy collection of chill music and effects. Quite nice as background tracks for most any mood, but especially those for when you're buzzed on your favorite vice.

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