MM: Yeah‚ we get quite a few records in the mail.
RB: Yeah‚ I imagine you guys must get swamped up there.
MM: Yeah‚ we get quite a few‚ but it's getting to the point where I can't keep track of it anymore. It used to be easy‚ but now it's like all blending together as one band (laughter). It's like you get an email and then a week later you get a disc in the mail‚ and then another one comes a few days later. It's like‚ "Where are you guys from?" I don't know...I wish I had more time to listen to all of them thoroughly. I might listen to it once and then forget about it‚ you know?
RB: Yeah‚ and sometimes you want to forget that they sent it to you (laughs).
MM: Right‚ right‚ well‚ unfortunately…
RB: Well‚ yeah‚ I'm not ragging on anybody‚ but it's the truth.
MM: It is‚ but who am I to say‚ "You shouldn't be doing this." (Laughter)
RB: You're entitled to not like everything.
MM: But‚ then again‚ a lot of stuff is really good. I mean it's cool to hear a young aspiring band's first attempt making an album. Some of them stick out more than others‚ but shit‚ more power to them.
RB: Well‚ what are you listening too?
MM: Keith Jarrett's At the Blue Note has been kicking my ass - just loving it. It's a piano trio album that someone recommended to me; I picked it up and I can't get enough.
RB: Yeah‚ that guy's just off the page. No doubt about it.
MM: The funny thing with Keith Jarrett‚ well‚ like you were saying with Albert King telling those stories and you start repeating it and you can get into that frame of mind (laughs)‚ but I find myself doing the Keith Jarrett moan. If you listen to it you'll hear him play a sick line and the mic will pick him up making an "Ohhhhh" sounding moan. It's subtle‚ but if you really go with it and really get into the communication that's happening with the trio you totally feel it. So‚ you know‚ that's my new thing and I've been feeling like that a lot; if I hear something that's really tasty I let out a Keith Jarrett-inspired moan (laughs).
RB: You have to do that when you're standing in line at the bank. (Laughter)
MM: Right‚ right. So that one has been…
RB: So you've been digging on that one.
MM: Yeah‚ love that stuff. And then I've been listening to a lot of jam stuff‚ like Raq's new album‚ Carbohydrates.
RB: I haven't heard that yet.
MM: I think it's really good. They're a band playing in the bars where they play really loud and this is them putting out something really polished where you can hear some of the intricacies of their compositions. It's a fifty-minute album and it's really captivating.
RB: I've got to check that out.
MM: Those guys get a lot of shit‚ but I love them.
RB: Right‚ who cares?
MM: Yeah‚ exactly. Every time I see them live they tear my nuts off. But they get plagued by the quartet-from-Burlington-thing. You know‚ Phish comparisons.