I’ve only sort of vaguely heard of Mike Baggetta, though had heard of Jim Keltner in hearing stuff about some stuff regarding The Traveling Wilburys, and seriously loved Mike Watt’s playing in the Minutemen album I listened to relatively recently. I was pretty excited to see this album after hearing Mike Watt’s playing, and then I remembered the few things I knew about Jim Keltner, and got even more excited. That being said, this ought to be a really exciting jazz album to listen to. With that, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Hospital Song (Into)” has a very soft, gentle acoustic intro with the guitar and the bass slowly lifting the song to different places. I’m guessing Keltner is using the synth-sounding instrument and really laying out the edges to the song. Very peaceful intro.
“Hospital Song” really drops right into things, picking up a lot of steam from the intro track. Wow, this one is absolutely awesome. I’m in love with the tone of both the bass guitar and the drums. The electric guitar sounds like some sort of strange mash-up that would be played as the intro sequence to a movie about surfing set in the 1960s – not necessarily surf rock by any means, but it’s got a really wavey vibe to it. Oh wow, the song really picks up steam with the drums at times. It sounds like there’s almost a little acoustic guitar in the track, not sure if there is or not, which is laying down some sort of rhythm with the strumming. Watt’s bass gets deep and low, really serving as the heart of the song that starts picking things up and again. Honestly this song is super cool; it’s really got a nice vibe to it that’s hard to put words to, but is quite enjoyable. There’s some sort of reverse-synth-like effects in the background that really are catching my ear, and I can’t help but listen even closer as the song progresses.
“Blue Velvet (Solo)” has almost a bit of desperado sort of feel with the acoustic guitar, though things become a bit more jazz-like as the song sort of progresses. It’s so delicate and deliberate with what’s being played – it sounds like there’s a whole lot of thought going into each note being played, with a whole lot of feeling behind it all. It’s a very beautiful piece of guitar-work. I could listen to 40 more minutes of this; it’s meandering, yet thoughtful, and delicate, yet deliberate. I’m digging it.
Oh wow, “I Am Not a Data Point”, starts out with some super big bass and a feeling like it’s almost going on some sort of psychedelic voyage with the wails from the guitar and the non-traditional sound of the drums. The guitar really picks up that waviness again and combined with the bass and drums really creates an awesome spectacle of sound in my opinion. Oh wow, there’s some sort of keyboard or synth in it that really squeals out some tones, not unlike the guitar. This is pretty experimental, and I’m super into it. Oh wow, this jam gets super out there, and Mike Watt’s bass has some sort of river-in-the-jungle vibe, and it’s the only thing keeping the sound grounded. This has an almost psychedelic feel to it, but I think it’s probably more experimental than anything, but regardless, it’s absolutely awesome. It really does feel like some sort of strange journey down a musical river of sorts, and almost reminds me of a Dr. John song of his album, The Sun, Moon and Herbs (1971). Wow, what an awesome song.
“Of Breads and Rivers” feels like a very natural follow-up, almost hinting at the journey on that musical river that was the last song, and reminds me a bit of Pink Floyd’s album, The Endless River (2014). There’s a sort of wandering peacefulness in the song that really flows well, with very little edge to it, that naturally gets washed away into the song as it progresses – really awesome. The song meanders about itself in a very (mostly) forward way. Honestly it’s so peaceful to listen to – it’s definitely a good song to listen to at the end of the night. Absolutely serene.
“Dirty Smell of Dying” changes things up a bit with some distortion right out of the gate. I’m honestly reminded of The Asteroid No. 4’s album, Introducing… (1998), quite a bit on this playthrough, especially with a lot of the experimental, almost psychedelic sounding parts. This track feels like it’s almost unraveling that serenity from the previous track, and is super awesome. I’m really digging the guitar work from Baggetta, which gets super out there at times, but seems to meander its way back to a center eventually. The percussion in the track almost makes it feel like it’s some sort of strange voyage again, though possibly at some part where the current in the river picks up a bit. Honestly, time has flown by while I’ve been listening to this album. Each moment in the song feels fresh from the previous, and I’m really keen on continually listening closer and closer. Super interesting song.
“Blue Velvet” has the most classical jazz sounding intro, or at least what I think to be classical jazz, with some nice, gentle, spaced-out high hats and soft kick drums, and some milky electric guitar coming through the mix. The guitar on this one kind of reminds me of something like Wes Montgomery playing in space with its tone and some of what’s being played. It’s definitely a really interesting song, and definitely echos to the solo acoustic version of the song from earlier in the album, where it sort of meanders around in a delicate and deliberate way, though the electricity breathes a different vibe into what’s being played, in my opinion at least.
“Wall of Flowers” feels like it’s slowly bringing things to a conclusion – the guitar echos a lot of things played throughout the album, but has a more resolving feeling this time around. The bass is so gentle, yet rocking at the same time. The drums have a very nice tone to them, with the sort of airy high hats, and spaced out snares giving a really nice feel to the mix. Wow, when Mike Watt comes through with the bass on some notes, the taste is absolutely delicious. I’m super digging the guitar from Baggetta right now too, pretty experimental still, but definitely tying things together with a nice jazz feel to it all. I’m definitely going to check out more of Mike Baggetta’s work soon. Oh wow, when some of these notes are left to just hang out there by Baggetta and Watt, the song really catches a different perception from me, and really emphasizes the conclusory feeling of the track. Honestly the drums in this one almost remind me of the build up parts of “Oh Sweet Nuthin'” by The Velvet Underground in both the tone and style of what’s being played. The outro is absolutely superb, everything feels completely tied up, and it feels like such a natural conclusion to the album. Absolutely awesome.
Wow. This album was one amazing song after the next, with a whole lot of range, and quite dynamic throughout. I think experimental rock listeners might enjoy this one a bit, and this is definitely an interesting album for jazz traditionalists. Though if you like Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew (1970), you might also dig this one – though you’ll have to do without the horns. This album was very entertaining to listen to, and the 42 minutes absolutely flew by like nothing. I’m also excited to check out more work by each of the artists, Mike Baggetta, Jim Keltner, and Mike Watt, very soon. If you do decide to give this one a listen, I sincerely hope you enjoy it at least as much as I did.