week's end playlist & porta xmas action

on repeat this week:

Chuck Prophet - Soap and Water between Green On Red, who i saw at the old old Cat's Cradle back in the mid-80's and 2002's No Other Love, i lost track of Chuck Prophet, but i'm glad i stumbled back upon him because his voice & songs are great, this is the newest.
Ken Vandermark 5 - A Discontinuous Line this was recorded back in 2005 but i'm always playing catch up with Vandermark since he makes so many records in so many formations. Kessler / Daisy rhythm section nailing it as usual.
Robert Wyatt - Comicopera Wyatt's records feel timeless even when they sound deliberately dated (like Old Rottenhat), and this new album on Domino is typically beautiful, sad, happy, lots of things at once.
Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series 1-3 seeing Todd Haynes' fantastic film I'm Not There this week has driven me to lots of Dylan listening. the movie, while long, i think is really great, though in the theater i did find myself thinking, "if i wasn't already fascinated by Dylan what would i be making of this movie?" The soundtrack is really good as well; Sufjan takes all the desolation out of "Ring Them Bells", while other versions seem unnecessarily faithful, but with more hits than misses, an unusual ratio on a tribute-style comp like that, it's worth a listen.

and after a bit of a child-induced layoff, i'll be playing a few songs at Trekky Records' annual "Christmas At The Cradle" show, a benefit for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Lots of NC artists getting together and kicking out some Winter jams...here's some details, with more to come:

Date: December 19, 2007
Time: Doors: 7PM, Show: 7:30PM
Venue: Cat's Cradle
Tickets: $7 advance/$10 day of