Log #169 - The Other Side Of God's Favorite Customer

As I come to the end of the year and thoughts turn towards my year end review there are two or three albums in this list this week that will probably make the short list for Album Of The Year. They are the Tord Gustavsen, the Father John Misty, and the KLF.

KLF Chill Out

Father John Misty God's Favorite Customer

Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water

Bill Laswell Imaginary Cuba

Tord Gustavsen The Other Side

Ketil Bjornstad and David Darling Epigraphs

Taking each in turn we have The Tord Gustavsen Trio's The Other Side which is a simply beautiful album of wistful chilled jazz piano. Gustavsen takes a minimalist approach yet the melodies are Debussyesque. Themes repeat and return throughout the album's 12 tracks, something I did not notice before I had fully absorbed the album several times.

I don't know where this sort of music sits in the jazz pantheon (jazz experts may consider it easy listening or light weight?) but I know I love it and find it much more satisfying than the often too frantic classical solo piano (see Log #166 ) or even the minimalist chamber piano of Bjornstad and Darling's Epigraphs album. It's effortless flow is closer to Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert and Philip Glass's Solo Piano album.

Father John Misty's God's Favourite Customer (English spelling there) album could also be considered slightly on the light weight side but the sheer brilliance of the melodic songs pulls it through. Father John Misty is a cross between Elton John and John Grant.

I can't decide if KLF's Chillout has nothing going on or a helluva lot. Whatever, it remains a fascinating and atmospheric listen - one where you hear more the more you listen. Save for a jumpy number towards the end, the album is essentially a concept piece played out over one continuous 45 minutes of ambient sound effects and samples.

One timeless classic and a pretty nondescript non event make up the numbers this week and we have our 6.