Mellotronists

The definition of the word "jazz" never was conclusive in my mind...I
could never find a description of the term I deemed as satisfying.
Jazz defined in a dictionary doesn't make mention of a big horn
section, but implies some kind of cacophonious assault. Return To
Forever, Soft Machine, Pekka Pohjola...would this be filed under jazz
at a record store? I dropped flippant references to Steve Fisk and
South when mentioning the opening track, and implied the track was
jazz perhaps merely because Blue Note is predominantly a jazz record
label--until recently Blue Note was as traditionist a jazz label as I
ever thought a label could be. 

It doesn't matter...I feel confident I know good music from bad music,
and what I've heard from MM&W (right down to the 12" remixes) is
material that will hold up to repeated listenings way down the road.
For me, that's what makes any recording substantial. Mellotrons
certainly help, but those two Wobbler mp3's on the nearfest.com site
will rock my world anyway.

And speaking of Steve Fisk, he popped up out of the blue on the new
comeback Wedding Present CD I just got in the mail yesterday. Deep
choir 'tron on at least two of the tracks and strings on a third from
what I caught during the initial listen. That's good to know...I was
scheduled for an interview with him shortly after Levels Of Undo came
out, and then the Olympia/Tacoma earthquake struck and I was told some
of his vintage studio gear was damaged, cancelling the phoner.