Lively Lady Lexi’s Lovely Little Listening Log

[Guybrush]

^Gentle Giant are great 🙂 so much fun music. To my mind, they have at least 8 good studio albums with Free Hand being my favorite. The best song on that album isn't necessarily On Reflection, but I do think of it as one of those tracks that showcase so many of the things they were able to do.

Nothin At All is beautiful, though I've wondered why they put that long, noodly part in there (roughly from 4:20 to 7:40) with the weird drums 🤔

[Lexi of the Dawn]

^Gentle Giant are great 🙂 so much fun music. To my mind, they have at least 8 good studio albums with Free Hand being my favorite. The best song on that album isn't necessarily On Reflection, but I do think of it as one of those tracks that showcase so many of the things they were able to do.

Nothin At All is beautiful, though I've wondered why they put that long, noodly part in there (roughly from 4:20 to 7:40) with the weird drums 🤔

For sure! I think their entire run from the debut through Interview is stone cold classic, and The Missing Piece has its moments as well.

As far as Free Hand goes I think the title track is my my go-to pick for my favorite, but yeah On Reflection is certainly a masterwork of their more medieval esque style.

[Lexi of the Dawn]

Oh, ye gods! My alliteration is RUINED!


Klaus Schulze - Mirage (1977)

I only got about three hours of sleep last night, so I decided to put on an album that has always given me a dreamlike vibe. I first heard this in the fall of 2010, smack dab in the middle of my journey into 1970s electronic music that had begun with Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. The first of the two massive 30 minute tracks is hauntingly wistful, with synthesizer squeals that echo like foghorns into the ocean of glistening sound waves. The second half of the track introduces a twinkling sequence that really reminds me so much of some kind of acid-tripped music box lullaby. The second track still blows me away with how futuristic it must have sounded back in 1977, with its layers of dancing synth bloops and pings underpinned by fuzzy undulating bass tones. This was very high up in my possibly-ill-fated 100 list, and my favorite Schulze album. Masterpiece.

[Nimbly9]

My favorite Gentle Giant album has always been Acquiring The Taste.  As the title implies though...it is a bit out there at times even for prog fans I think. The debut and Free Hand are both stone cold classics too of course. 

[Lexi of the Dawn]

My favorite Gentle Giant album has always been Acquiring The Taste.  As the title implies though...it is a bit out there at times even for prog fans I think. The debut and Free Hand are both stone cold classics too of course. 

I love Acquiring the Taste a lot! It's an album that really did live up to its name as something that grew on me over time, probably more so than any of their others. Wreck is one of my absolute favorite GG songs.

[Guybrush]

I also think Acquiring the Taste is among their better albums. I probably like Free Hand, Octopus, Acquiring the Taste and their debut the most.

[Lexi of the Dawn]

Five months later, I am now once again working 20 hours a week, which means more early morning listening and the resurrection of this journal.


Lunar Womb - The Sleeping Green (1999)

Some pretty nice classic dungeon synth for this morning. The first half of the album isn't really anything special, but the tasteful use of medieval style chant vocals on the fourth track is a joy to behold and helps elevate this album a lot in my estimation. The last track is another highlight, with the the Enya-esque pizzicato plucks, haunting piano arpeggios and understated wailed vocals serving as a dynamic mix of textures.

As much as I miss being able to work more at my own pace, it's nice to be able to have a tranquil morning like this again.

[Lexi of the Dawn]

Madonna - Madonna (1983)

One of my favorite straight up pop albums of the 80s, and probably the only Madonna album of the ones I've heard in full that has no filler or momentum-killing ballads. It's a no-frills pop album that does everything it needs to, just 8 dancefloor heaters. For me, synthy pop and dance music from the early to mid 80s has more of a simple but distinctive charm to the production than that of the latter half of the decade when digital gear like DX7s and samplers became in vogue, and this album is a great example of that. And even though I've heard the singles plenty over the years, they're not overplayed enough to have their luster reduced one bit to my ears.

[Lexi of the Dawn]

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality (1971)

Blasted this on the way back from taking my mom to a medical appointment. I love 70s proto/metal so much, and early Sabbath  is the cream of that crop. I sometimes have trouble picking a favorite Ozzy Sabbath album, it's always between this one, Paranoid and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. I don't know if I've ever said this on here, but in early 2020 I attempted to start a synths + drums stoner metal band that was basically guitarless Sabbath worship. We were called Goatwitch and jammed once before the lockdown ruined it all. C'est la vie.

[Shhon]

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality (1971)

Blasted this on the way back from taking my mom to a medical appointment. I love 70s proto/metal so much, and early Sabbath  is the cream of that crop. I sometimes have trouble picking a favorite Ozzy Sabbath album, it's always between this one, Paranoid and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. I don't know if I've ever said this on here, but in early 2020 I attempted to start a synths + drums stoner metal band that was basically guitarless Sabbath worship. We were called Goatwitch and jammed once before the lockdown ruined it all. C'est la vie.

Im going to jam to this album now. Black Sabbath is one band that I've listened to so much their songs have been over played in my brain.