Kosmik Radiation Radio - December 2, 2011 Playlist


CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
The Beatles "The Beatles" (aka "The White Album") 1968 (UK)

The theme of this month's special is MAXIMALISM. What is that? Why, it's "the opposite of minimalism" of course! Although there is a book on the subject as it relates to music, I have never read it, but like the idea of what that word represents. The musicians that fascinate me the most are the ones who seem to jump between and join together so many different styles without regard to "the rules", that their music becomes almost unclassifiable. As is the case with so much of late 20th century music, a legendary quartet from Liverpool plays a central role in the story. By 1968 the Beatles were an unquestioned cultural force who could do no wrong, yet the group was already beginning to disintegrate due to internal pressures. The album they released that year was a baffling collection of disparate songs -- folk, country, rock, blues, ballads, ska, metal, swing, strings, schmaltz, in-jokes, and even a notorious avant-garde tape collage. The notion that a "pop group" would even be allowed to release such an unfocused double album was outlandish enough, but even crazier still it became the Beatles' best-selling album of all time! Indeed, this record was so against the grain of what "pop albums are supposed to be" that to this very day critics will often refer to any new "challenging" or "sprawling" or "unclassifiable" record as being that artist's "white album".
The Beatles stopped performing live in 1966, so they pioneered the use of "music videos" (or "promotional films" as they were then known) as a way of letting their fans "see" what they were up to -- in fact the group's biggest hit song was recorded during the sessions for the "white album", although "Hey Jude" was released as a non-album single. Here's some more promotional material for the Beatles' other major undertaking of 1968, the launch of their own Apple records company; also, a 10 minute interview with John and Paul. Other genre-defying maximalists featured on our show this week include the angelic but deeply weird crooner Scott Walker, iconoclastic fuser of rock-jazz-n-classical Frank Zappa, and the immortal Sun Ra who explains his maximalist approach to music making.

(N) = New Release

Artist	Song	Album	Year	Country
Emerson Lake & Palmer	Take A Pebble	Emerson Lake & Palmer	1970	UK
Magma	Ork Alarm	Köhntarkösz	1974	France

The Beatles	Helter Skelter	The Beatles (White Album) CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK	1968	UK
The Beatles	Piggies / Rocky Raccoon	The Beatles (White Album) CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK	1968	UK
The Beatles	Revolution 9	The Beatles (White Album) CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK	1968	UK

Buffalo Springfield (Neil Young)	Broken Arrow	Buffalo Springfield Again	1967	USA/Canada
Neil Young (with the London Symphony Orchestra)	A Man Needs A Maid	Harvest	1972	Canada
Neil Young	Don't Cry	Eldorado EP	1988	Canada
Neil Young & The International Harvesters	Get Back To The Country (live)	A Treasure (N)	rec. 1984-85 (2011 Reprise)	Canada/USA
Joni Mitchell	The Jungle Line	The Hissing Of Summer Lawns	1975	Canada

The Walker Brothers (Scott Walker)	The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore	A-side 7" single	1966	USA/UK
Scott Walker	Next (Jacques Brel)	Scott 2	1968	USA/UK
The Walker Brothers (Scott Walker)	The Electrician	Nite Flights	1978	USA/UK
Scott Walker	Track Three	Climate Of Hunter	1984	USA/UK
Scott Walker	Jesse	The Drift	2006	USA/UK

Sun Ra & His Myth Science Arkestra	Interplanetary Music	Interstellar Low Ways	rec. 1960, rel. 1966	USA
Sun Ra	Crystal Spears	Crystal Spears	rec. 1972, rel. 2000	USA
Yochanan (with Sun Ra & His Arkestra)	The Sun Man Speaks	A-side 7" single (Rocket Ship Rock Sun Ra CD compilation)	1957	USA
Rahsaan Roland Kirk	Freaks For The Festival	The Case Of The Three-Sided Dream In Audio Color	1975	USA
Alice Coltrane	My Favorite Things	World Galaxy	1972	USA

Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention	Inca Roads	One Size Fits All	1975	USA
Frank Zappa	Little Umbrellas	Hot Rats	1969	USA
Frank Zappa (Ensemble Modern)	Dog Breath Variations / Uncle Meat	The Yellow Shark	1993	USA
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band (produced by Frank Zappa)	Hobo Chang Ba	Trout Mask Replica	1969	USA

Miles Davis	Full Nelson	Workin' With The Miles Davis Quintet	1957	USA
Miles Davis	Saeta	Sketches Of Spain	1960	USA
Miles Davis	Honky Tonk	Get Up With It	1974	USA