miles davis tutu

Obviously it's Miles's least amazing decade, but some of those 80s records are great, including Tutu and You're Under Arrest. YUA is prominently displayed in Prince's bathroom in Under the Cherry Moon, which is all the recommendation I need.

@butalsofuckyou your book on electric Miles is great.

although i'm not really into tutu, i will nevertheless highly recommend paul tingen's book on electric miles, which covers his 80s period with deep respect and understanding. i used to be one of those "BUT FUCK MILES IN THE 80S" people, but after reading that book, i actually went back and listened to everything with the newly gained insights and i've changed my thought on that period pretty radically. it's not my favorite era or anything (and i still don't like you're under arrest or decoy), but i've come around on a lot of that stuff after reading that book.

80s stuff has a lot more hip cachet than it used to, probably in a similar place now the 70s stuff was a couple of decades ago. all the things that certain types of peoplr would once have considered obviously bad/embarrassing about it (gated drums, orchestra hits, other pop/r&b/smooth jazz trappings, cyndi lauper) would be fetishised now by them or their equivalents

I used to hear “he was good until the 80s” and I assume people used to say the same about the 60s or 70s, now i come across a fair bit of “he was always good” sentiment (maybe excluding doo-bop - idk if that one has or will ever have many defenders)

Oh yeah I've heard the Tingen book is really good. Thanks for the recommendation.

Not into Doo-Bop. Aura is another great one though.

always thought we want miles should be considered nearly as cool as agharta. don’t really think it is

even a lot of ppl who liked 70s miles used to draw a v strict line between “good fusion” which was that & a handful of other mostly-related stuff, and “bad fusion” which was basically everything else including 80s miles. fusion backpackerism - i used to think like this too, it was bullshit, a lot of the “bad” stuff turned out to be very good, including the miles & other late-career electronic stuff from older jazz musicians that still tends to be written off by critics. the book sounds v good btw

Aura is another great one though.

― three of the doctor's valuable bats are now dead (broom air), Saturday, July 24, 2021 9:03 AM

i know this isn't really the topic for campaigning non-tutu stuff, but good god DAMN aura is fantastic! i have genuinely loved that album from the very first time i heard it. it's so weird and oddly beautiful. definitely one of the most distinct things miles ever did.

Yea aura is good. That was actually recorded before tutu and amandla and from what I understand is the reason why he left Columbia — its non release for several years

I don’t think the orchestra hit / gated drum thing is just about hip cachet tho yes it is more on trend now. Again there just isn’t other music that sounds like this. You can listen to Marcus miller’s solo albums (which people at the time claimed was clearly the “real” driving force, like miles was just noodling on top of them) and they sound nothing alike. There’s an itch this stuff scratches that you simply can’t get elsewhere. To me that’s more than just like, oh hipsters love orchestra hits

What did you guys think of rubber band? The stuff that wasn’t tremendously altered (which was lame) sounded pretty cool to me. I think the sound on tutu/amandla era feels a bit more subtle / sophisticated

What do lovers of this Miles era think of the Ornette Coleman albums of the era, like Virgin Beauty and Tone Dialing?

virgin beauty is sick

What do lovers of this Miles era think of the Ornette Coleman albums of the era, like Virgin Beauty and Tone Dialing?

I'm not a big fan, but even 70s Prime Time does little for me, except for Of Human Feelings, which rules.

i did not like the rubberband material at all. i only listened to it once, but i remember thinking "yeah, there's a good reason some stuff doesn't get released."

I thought Rubberband was about half good, but I have to admit I haven't listened to it since it came out.

Makes a great wall poster:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_Dialing#/media/File:Tone_Dialing_(album).jpg

Tone Dialing, that is.

Idk I think the unaltered stuff is pretty cool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WfYZM0NhgA

i also love amandla

I scared my neighbors with this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq8pVreJ_7E