Catching up: some recent reviews, August-present

I'd like to draw attention first to the two recent live reviews that ran at Popdose, as well as my most recent Popdose Guide:

SEPTEMBER 4, 2008:
Making a Joyful Noise: The Happy Hollows @ The Knockout, San Francisco
This has got to be the best band in L.A. right now. Check out their fearless leader Sarah Negahdari's blog. The girl's a riot and a half!

AUGUST 28, 2008:
L.A. ’s Best-Kept Secret: The Parson Red Heads @ Kimo’s, San Francisco
This is also the best band in L.A. Seriously, between the Happy Hollows and the Parson Red Heads, my musical soul has been given a major jump-start.

AUGUST 18, 2008:
The Popdose Guide to Juliana Hatfield
Her entire catalog reviewed. Book review coming soon...

- - -

...and here's the heap of analysis I've contributed to Bullz Eye since August. Maybe you can find some early Xma$ shopping ideas in here somewhere:


OCTOBER 17, 2008:
The Clash "Live at Shea Stadium"
John Coltrane "Soultrane" (vinyl edition)
Dressy Bessy "Holler and Stomp"

OCTOBER 10, 2008:
David Gilmour "Live in Gdansk"
Bill Evans "Waltz for Debby" (vinyl edition)
Yusef Lateef "Eastern Sounds" (vinyl edition)
Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (vinyl edition)
Sonny Rollins "Saxophone Colossus" (vinyl edition)

OCTOBER 3, 2008:
The Replacements "Pleased to Meet Me (Deluxe Edition)"
Santana "Multi Dimensional Warrior"
Do You Remember the First Time? (This is a fun little feature in which the Bullz Eye staff recall their first concert experiences.)

SEPTEMBER 5, 2008:
Joseph Arthur "Foreign Girls"

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008:
Jimmy Witherspoon featuring Robben Ford "Live at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival"
Shirley Horn: Live at the 1994 Monterey Jazz Festival
Cal Tjader: The Best of Cal Tjader Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival

AUGUST 29, 2008:
The Verve "Forth"
Pork Pie "Transitory"

AUGUST 15, 2008:
Juliana Hatfield "How to Walk Away"

AUGUST 8, 2008:
The Parson Red Heads "Owl and Timber"

AUGUST 1, 2008:
The Beach Boys "U.S. Singles Collection: The Capitol Years 1962-1965"
Heart "Playlist: The Very Best of Heart"

R.I.P. Richard Wright, Pink Floyd keyboardist

I had no idea he was battling cancer. He sounded great on David Gilmour's solo tour a couple years back. Here's the story from the Associated Press:

Pink Floyd member Richard Wright dies age 65

By MEERA SELVA, Associated Press Writer

LONDON - Richard Wright, a founding member of the rock group Pink Floyd, died Monday. He was 65.

Pink Floyd's spokesman Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist, said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He says the band member's family did not want to give more details about his death.

Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason in college and joined their early band, Sigma 6. Along with the late Syd Barrett, the four formed Pink Floyd in 1965.

The group's jazz-infused rock and drug-laced multimedia "happenings" made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and their 1967 album, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," was a hit.

In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright, along with Barrett, was seen as the group's dominant musical force. The London-born musician and son of a biochemist wrote songs and sang.

The band released a series of commercially and critically successful albums including 1973's "Dark Side of the Moon," which has sold more than 40 million copies. Wright wrote "The Great Gig In The Sky" and "Us And Them" for that album, and later worked on the group's epic compositions such as "Atom Heart Mother," "Echoes" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond."

But tensions grew between Waters, Wright and fellow band member David Gilmour. The tensions came to a head during the making of "The Wall" when Waters insisted Wright be fired. As a result, Wright was relegated to the status of session musician on the tour of "The Wall," and did not perform on Pink Floyd's 1983 album "The Final Cut."

Wright formed a new band Zee with Dave Harris, from the band Fashion, and released one album, "Identity," with Atlantic Records.

Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and Wright began recording with Mason and Gilmour again, releasing the albums "The Division Bell" and "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" as Pink Floyd. Wright also released the solo albums "Wet Dream" (1978) and "Broken China" (1996).

In July 2005, Wright, Waters, Mason and Gilmour reunited to perform at the "Live 8" charity concert in London — the first time in 25 years they had been onstage together.

Wright also worked on Gilmour's solo projects, most recently playing on the 2006 album "On An Island" and the accompanying world tour.