Amazing Nails

So these days I mostly play the acoustic guitar, and hardly ever use a plectrum at that. Plectrums are for pussies! Fingerpickin’s where it’s at. This is where rudimentary manicure comes into play. As a right-handed player, you’ll want your left hand fingernails to be neatly cut, while your right hand nail-counterparts will need to outgrow their respective finger tops by at least a couple of millimeters. Bit of a chore that. Amazing Nails 4 Guitarists to the rescue! More guitarist fingernails tips available at Music Thing.

Born Dropped Out

The Hippie Kid Stories:

Unedited interviews of children of hippies displayed as short video clips that you choose how to view. Participants answered the same 20 questions with no interviewer prompting them as they looked at the camera. Hippie kids, now in their 30s and 40s, were chosen as an example of how an interesting subject could be explored in a way that encouraged viewers to explore media and come to their own conclusions.

When asked what was good about her childhood, one participant says: “I was high-priestess at my dad’s second wedding.” That pretty much nails it. 🙂

George Duke — My Soul (4CD-Box Set)

Just received my 4CD-compilation box set of George Duke jazz fusion from Promising Music: My Soul — The Complete MPS Fusion Recordings. This compilation includes the original MPS albums “Faces In Reflection”, “Feel”, “The Aura Will Prevail”, “I Love The Blues, She Heard My Cry” and “Liberated Fantasies”…plus the two recordings “The Inner Source” and “Solus”, that could originally be found on a double vinyl album set entitled “The Inner Source”.

Track list:

CD 1
1. Au Right 3:23
2. Love Reborn 7:21
3. Peace 7:29
4. So There You Go 5:11
5. The Followers 5:13
6. Solus 9:00
7. Nigerian Numberuma 2:45
8. My Soul 4:39
9. The Inner Source 6:10
10. Life 5:44
11. Sometime Ago 5:07
12. Feels So Good 6:57
13. Manya 3:33
CD 2
1. Sweet Bite 3:29
2. Twenty-Five 4:57
3. Always Constant 6:49
4. The Opening 3:19
5. Capricorn 5:07
6. Piano Solo No.1 1:16
7. Piano Solo No.2 1:07
8. Psychocomatic Dung 5:04
9. Faces In Reflection No.1 3:41
10. Maria Tres Filhos 5:09
11. North Beach 6:19
12. Da Somba 6:18
13. Faces In Reflection No.2 2:23
14. Funny Funk 5:18
15. Love 6:05
16. The Once Over 4:43
CD 3
1. Feel 5:38
2. Cora Jobege 2:47
3. Old Slippers 5:37
4. Theme From The Opera “Tzina” 2:01
5. Yana Aminah 4:34
6. Rashid 3:36
7. Statement 1:16
8. Chariot 2:59
9. Look Into Her Eyes 3:24
10. Sister Serene 4:33
11. That’s What She Said 4:29
12. Mashavu 1:48
13. Rokkinrowl, I Don’t Know 3:25
14. Prepare Yourself 5:26
15. Giant Child Within Us – Ego 6:37
16. Someday 2:41
17. I Love The Blues, She Heard My Cry 5:26
CD 4
1. Dawn 4:57
2. For Love (I Come Your Friend) 4:41
3. Foosh 3:11
4. Floop De Loop 6:46
5. Malibu 4:06
6. Fools 4:35
7. Echidna’s Arf 3:35
8. Uncle Remus 5:11
9. The Aura 1:26
10. Don’t Be Shy 3:00
11. Seeing You 4:32
12. Back To Where We Never Left 6:27
13. What The… 0:33
14. Tryin’ & Cryin’ 5:47
15. I C’n Hear That 5:18
16. After The Love 2:32
17. Tzina 2:32
18. Liberated Fantasies 9:22

While the packaging is certainly a no frills affair (4 discs inside one fold-out hard plastic case, which includes a booklet of liner notes outlining all the various musicians involved in the recording of each song on each one of the albums), the remastered sound of these tracks is absolutely outstanding. Compared to the only other compilation which had been available on the market before now, Three Originals, there simply is no comparison. An absolute must have for any 70s jazz fusion fans.

Update from Promising Music Infodesk — Monday, July 7th, 2008:

a) The George Duke — My Soul (4CD Box Set) is not a Promising Music release, but done by Universal Germany (hence the “standard packaging”). We just included it as a “service title” in our web shop.

b) Universal Germany raised prices (they call it “adjust”) on their box sets, so it’s no longer at 25plus Euros, but 30sth Euros for non-EU fellows (inside EU VAT has to be added, making it 36 flat) by now.

Keep it up!
Your promising music team

The Tubes — Space Baby, 1975

Latest offering from The Tubes Project, an ongoing archiving process in preparation for the eventual release of a documentary outlining the musical history of The Tubes.

Recorded at the Record Plant, w/Bill Spooner on lead vocals. This video opens with rare instrumental featured in the Tubes live set at the time. Originally part of The Beans space opera, “Acension of the Motherload.” Appeared on the Tubes first album produced by Al Kooper.

“Tube” Mural/Shirts and “Space Baby” costume by Michael Cotten and Prairie Prince.

Zappa – One Shot Deal. Status: Released.

Hello and welcome to another episode of “thank god for those unofficial fan blogs we sent cease & desist letters to, because otherwise us ZFT pumpkins would never get our new releases out in the public proper – {chuckle}”:

Zappa - One Shot Deal

One Shot Deal @ zappa.com
One Shot Deal @ Barfko Swill
One Shot Deal ZFT Newsletter Announcement

Update 14/06: Now with tracklist! Amazing.

  1. Bathtub Man (5:43)
  2. Space Boogers (1:24)
  3. Hermitage (2:00)
  4. Trudgin’ Across the Tundra (4:01)
  5. Occam’s Razor (9:11)
  6. Heidelberg *1987 (4:46)
  7. The Illinois Enema Bandit (9:27)
  8. Australian Yellow Snow (12:26)
  9. Rollo (2:57)