Calculare.

It's been a strange few days around here. First a day hot enough to make beads of sweat roll down my back, followed by a day of cold and rain. Right now, breaking up the silence, are fat and heavy raindrops hitting the roof and deck. I'm in the mood for things that are quiet on the whole, and suit the strange weather outside, as well as the strange weather inside my head.


From the Shore by In the Country

Afron by Adeaforon

Voices by Gary Peacock, Marilyn Crispell & Paul Motian

You Remind Me of Frank by Erwin Vann, Dré Pallemaerts, Jozef Dumoulin & Michel Hatzigeorgiou

Parallel World by Francisco Mela

Aqa Jan (Bass Solo) by Renaud Garcia-Fons

Heavy Cairo Traffic is an album with some jazz influences, built up around impressions of Cairo, by Martin Schütz (electric cello, electronics), Hans Koch (clarinet, saxophone), and Fredy Studer (drums, percussion). It was recorded in Cairo, Egypt (June 1995) and mixed in Lucerne, Switzerland (February 1996). It's not a particularly challenging collection of tracks, and probably conforms to a lot of stereotypes, but it makes for a nice escape when I'm taking the train home at night.


Tulli Men el Maschkabeia

18, Maamal el Sokar

Qissa

Heavy Cairo Traffic

Belly Button Rave

From the album Birth of the Cool recorded by the Miles Davis nonet in 1949-1950. The arrangements are strongly inspired by classical music, and are considered to be highly influential in the history and development of cool jazz (as the title of the album implies). While the band members varied over the two years, although each track contains nine, four appear in every track: Miles Davis (trumpet), Bill Barber (tuba), Lee Konitz (alto saxophone), Gerry Mulligan (baritone saxophone).


Move

Moon Dreams

Venus de Milo

Deception

Boplicity


Reinventing Axl Rose was Against Me!'s first full length album. They're a punk band, and they're my ideal type of pub music; perfect for a place where beer is consumed in copious amounts and the smoking ban doesn't apply.


We Laugh At Danger and Break All the Rules

Jordan's First Choice

Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious...

Baby, I'm an Anarchist!

Eight Full Hours of Sleep

I tried to avoid all the hype around District 9 since that can really kill a movie in my mind before it has even begun. So, I went in with very few expectations, and only a vague idea of what it was all meant to be about. I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw; this was by no means a perfect or mind-blowing movie, but it was definitely one of the more enjoyable and memorable ones I've seen this year.

( You are not welcome here. )

Overall, I had a good time watching this movie. Not once did I sit there and think about anything that was outside the space of the movie (e.g. about my washing, or what I was going to have for dinner, or the latest headlines; major issues I debated while viewing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince). I'd recommend seeing it on the big screen while you can, as the impact and scale of some of the scenes probably won't translate very well to the small screen.

Buddy Tate Meets Abdullah Ibrahim was recorded in 1977, and was something of a collaboration between Buddy Tate (saxophone) and Abdullah Ibrahim (piano). The idea was for Ibrahim to teach Tate some of his tunes, and for Tate to teach Ibrahim some of his in return, with other standard tunes completing the album. The recordings also include Cecil McBee (bass) and Roy Brooks (drums). These tracks just make for some easy mid-week listening to carry you through another day.


Goduka Mfundi

Heyt Mazurki

In a Sentimental Mood

Doggin' Around

Just You, Just Me