ihatemusic

recommend some derek bailey to me.

i am not a complete derek bailey virgin so just list some of your favorite albums that he's played on

well if you've heard some, why don't you talk about those first?

i'm never good at favorites, but discs i would recommend would have to include 'playbacks' (the second and more succesful derek vs beats album), 'dart drug' (vs. jamie muir) and a solo album, which is hard call for which, but my pick would be 'takes fakes and dead she dances', largely for derek accompanying himself reading a poem.

there's a ton of other good bailey, and also a threshold where you have to slow down and listen to less bailey, because he starts to sound kind of repetative. more unusual (for derek) albums like 'string theory' or 'ballads' might help one recover from a bailey overdose without giving up on the man.

m

forgot to mention that i'm pretty excited about the possibility that derek will record something awesome with the young musicians he's playing with/against in barcelona, as descibed in the recent wire article.

i have high hopes.

m

hmm. rumor I heard was that before he moved from london you could show up to his studio with 100 pounds and exit with a cd-r of material with him. other arrangememnts to be made if intended to be released.

this was from someone who has played with him but who knows maybe that person was just pulling my leg. otherwise you can hope those young musicians have some cash. Ferran is a really cool guy though and he mentioned him in that interview...

I find that a lot of my favorite recordings of his are from 1978-1982:

Aida
Music and Dance
New Sights, Old Sounds
Duo and Trio Improvisation

discography:

http://www.shef.ac.uk/misc/rec/ps/efi/mbaileyr.html" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;

i really like bailey when he plays acoustic guitar.

Drop me off at 96th - the guitar sound on this is so great

Cyro - and of course it has Cyro

Lace

i haven't heard much though, must admit. maybe because when he plays electric i don't like him as much.

As for solo recordings:

Aida
Drop Me Off At 96th
Solo Guitar Vol.1
Improvisation

With collaboration:

Vortices & Angeles: With John Butcher, but only the first half of the album
Duo & Trio Improvisations
Cyro
With The Ruins-Saisoro
Barcelona
...

I could really continue on with collaboration discs! Bailey is one of my most favoroite musicians & guitarists of all time! So it is quite difficult to recommend some material. It depends on the instrumentation that you are interested in.

can't say I've heard a lot of his work, but the best I have heard is definitely "Aida."

really enjoyed his duo 2LP with anthony braxton on emanem - i'm not quite sure if it ever got a decent CD reissue but the vinyl is worth tracking down.

i remember walking into downtown music gallery in 1991 and asking bruce what the best derek bailey record was, or at least what a good entry point would be... even back then his eyes got all wide and he just sort stared at me blankly, pointed to the bailey "section" (which at that point was 20 lps, 10 cds deep).

i walked out with solo guitar vols. 1 & 2 on cd, the music improvisation company lps on tangent and ecm. i still believe i made the right choice(s). esp. the solo discs, as they show a considerable amount of range, moreso than you'd expect (i still, to this day, play the gavin bryars piece to folks to see if they can guess who's playing it... so far no one (aside from the initiated) have guessed correctly).

of the recent discs, string theory is pretty grand, as is that limescale group. and the ignaz schick one. right, and i forgot about the jamie muir duo, that's a good one from the chest (former king crimson metal-sheet beater). the original "topography of the lungs" lp is a wallop if your wallet/sleuthing skills are fat. rumored this will never see the lite of day again due to the spat betwixt the 2. crying shame...

djhekla wrote:the original "topography of the lungs" lp is a wallop if your wallet/sleuthing skills are fat.

or filesharing capabilities. it's around. and yeah, it's awesome. for those unfamiliar with the record, this is the bailey/bennink/parker trio that (i think?) launched the incus label.

m

djhekla wrote:and the ignaz schick one.

is this real, or are you confused? I'd love to hear it if it exists, that would be a cool combo...

ingar zach?

m

mudd wrote:

djhekla wrote:the original "topography of the lungs" lp is a wallop if your wallet/sleuthing skills are fat.

or filesharing capabilities. it's around. and yeah, it's awesome. for those unfamiliar with the record, this is the bailey/bennink/parker trio that (i think?) launched the incus label.

m

That is very true. I consider Topography of The Lungs to be one of the best improv albums ever.

mudd wrote:

djhekla wrote:the original "topography of the lungs" lp is a wallop if your wallet/sleuthing skills are fat.

or filesharing capabilities. it's around. and yeah, it's awesome. for those unfamiliar with the record, this is the bailey/bennink/parker trio that (i think?) launched the incus label.

m

yeah but the dude ripped it wrong and cut side A in two. ans side B also.

jon abbey wrote:

djhekla wrote:and the ignaz schick one.

is this real, or are you confused? I'd love to hear it if it exists, that would be a cool combo...

yep, it's a bailey/perlonex disc, recorded in the c.u.b.a. space in münster in 2001. pretty ace. schick, zeger, beins, bailey... i believe the name of the label is "music is the healing cosmic force of the universe and the things you'd be by now if you were alvin lucier's daughter's mother"

...

fucking w/you. my bad. ingar zach it is... i've got their names X'd in my head. i'd love to hear a zeger/bailey set personally...

Topography of the lungs is indeed wonderful. Also very good from the same era is Iskra 1903, a trio with Barry Guy and Paul Rutherford. Still available from Emenem ( three disc set though ).
I prefer his early, mid seventies stuff ( Vol 1, Taps, etc ) though Aida and Music and Dance are very cool.

cunnilingus wrote:yeah but the dude ripped it wrong and cut side A in two. ans side B also.

there is accurate rip around (as my friend told me). he told me user "DVD-RW77" owns "right" rip.

just come across this page (Henry Kaiser's recommendations on Derek Bailey):

http://www.henrykaiser.net/bailey.html" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;

Just read this thread for the first time.

Bailey has bored me to tears for several years now, an extraordinary presence live, but of little interest to me musically these days.

My favourite solo Bailey moments are Aida and Drop me off at 96th, but as collaborations go I am surprised that noone has mentioned 'Playing', his 1992 duo with John Stevens, in my opinion amongst the top few old school EFI discs ever.