Last Gasp Before Sleep

I thought I would do something stupid and try and stay awake until the release of Limbo this evening. I've been doing some forum surfing during the waiting period (between rounds of Alien Swarm) and it seems as if the 1-2am release time has been missed quite frequently as of late. Please don't misunderstand me... I'm not upset; feeling anger over not being able to play a game at 2am is ridiculous. I'm just disappointed.  
 
I went on a bit of a bender and bought a full three music albums the other day. I picked up Orchestrion, from Pat Metheny; Compass, from Joshua Redman; and VOCAbuLaries, from Bobby McFerrin. As is often the case, the two albums I was expecting to buy are the ones I've spent the least amount of time listening to. So far, I've spent a lot of time digesting the material in the Bobby McFerrin album. To date... Bobby has never let me down. =) 
  
Bobby's latest album is a bit of a return in a sense, and a departure in another. Many of his albums are stuffed to the brim with adventurous improvisation and solo vocal virtuosity. In the case of this latest work, the music on this disc is-in my opinion-some of the easiest for listeners at large to grasp. There are just some really good tunes on this disc... and the songs are made up of actual WORDS (if you've listened to a lot of his music... you'll know that this is a rarity). The experimentation in this case is the vocal arrangement's that are wrapped around the tunes. There are some really complicated and intricate harmonies that go along with the these tunes, and with as many as 50 voices on some of the songs, they sound incredible.  
 
Compass from Joshua Redman is a really interesting saxophone album. In the EPK that you can find on youtube, he talks about the interesting arrangement of recording with a double trio, and that he feels that this kind of thing hasn't been done before. Right off the bat... I can tell him it has. The Bloomdaddies are an excellent example of a group that played with 2 sax players, 2 bass players (on occasion), and 2 drummers. Add into that some crazy effects work to create their soundscapes, and you have a band that is arguably just as adventurous as this one. Where this group stands out however is their dedication to really pushing the boundaries of improvisation and form. These guys are on the top of their game... make no mistake. 
  
Orchestion is an album I was dubious about from the get-go. Please make no mistake... I'm an enormous fan of Pat Metheny (though in recent years, I find myself listening to his music less and less). The primary conceit of this album is that he has rigged a plethora of instruments with solenoid's, and then is then triggering them to play by some means (I don't know how) so that he is, in effect, at the helm of a giant one man band. The concept and execution is impressive... this is undeniable. The problem I am having is that I am not feeling a great deal of attachment to the actual music. As many people will likely say... there is a bit of a formulaic or robotic quality to some of his music. His creating a giant touring acoustic drum/harmonic machine that bends to his will does nothing to alleviate this notion. Pat is an impressive player... and I am desperately looking for another reason to feel some emotion about his music again (I'll take another Beyond the Missouri Sky any day of the week). 
 
That's about it. The time is almost 3am... if Limbo isn't up I'm doing the smart thing and going to bed. (actually... the smart thing would have been to go to bed hours ago. Cut me a little slack on this occasion though please. It's really hot in here)