Lively Lady Mrs. Waffles’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 🤔

[Mrs. Waffles]

^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.

[Mrs. Waffles]

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.