One of my favorite bands has long been The Talking Heads, the great late 70's/early 80's punk-new wave group fronted by the ever erudite David Byrne. I never tire of them, not after all these years of semi-constant rotation. I could blither on about the musical reasons that this is so, and then engage in arguments over "who is better? The Talking Heads, The Clash, The Ramones, or Blondie"? But I never have much steam for these debates. I still obsess over the Talking Heads because of the odd abstractions of the lyrics, the driving [...]
I'm not saying I'm a John Denver fan. Really. I'm not. When I hear that nasal whine, I really want to duck and cover. Sort of. Look, I live in Denver now. He's our native son, the naive train that smacks into the tree; he crops up in the most peculiar places. A hip coffee shop, a road sign, the park in Aspen. John Denver's mom died today, I read in the Denver paper—actually, John Deutschendorf's mother died—and it turned out she'd gone to a nearby Presbyterian church and of course did [...]
Having no special tickets to get me into the "special musical events" for the "special" people at the Democratic Convention (the conventioneers and those who are connected to them and those who donated lots of money or those who are just paying close attention to the parties), I didn't see Sheryl Crow or Stevie Wonder or the Drive-By Truckers playing for the Montana party or any of the other people who performed in the exclusive events. But I didn't really want to...much. I was even too tired to try for the Rage Against the Machine tickets, in part because I [...]
Denver, where I live, is swarming with people here for the Democratic Convention. Fifty thousand or so, say the papers. It's like a big party out there, even the protesters and cops smiling until they got into the pepper spray. Booths selling Obama dolls (made to look suspiciously nappy-headed) and Arbonne Cosmetics and sno-cones and of course lots of T-shirts, buttons, stickers, banners. It's like going to the State Fair without the cows and where everyone is pretty much like you. White is mostly the color of the day here (from skin to t-shirts), and the attire ranges anywhere from [...]
Back in my last post I said some stuff about Mexican music. About how in San Miguel in Mexico I hadn't heard any rap and rowdy music on the streets because the town was so small & quaint, etc. etc. Most of those ideas had to be changed the next night when the neighbors next door had a crazy pool party. Or maybe it was the neighbors. Actually, we think it was probably some of teenagers who were doing construction on the house, which to that point consisted primarily of a concrete [...]
I find myself in San Miguel Allende, a Mexican town in the center of the country. I'm lucky to be here, putting in my pesos to stay with my friend Sharon Solwitz. She is renting for the month; Paige (my daughter) and I for only ten days. I understand now the desire for a month of writing time in this place. Although there are internet cafes and even (if you really really want one) a Domino's pizza, the place is relatively separate from the kinds of traffic and noise and strip mall clutter [...]
Cheb Mami's Rim Lachoua I'm going to pop up some thoughts about individual world songs once in awhile, thereby placing my blog into that category known on the web as the "mp3 blog." Rather than pick new things, I thought I'd pull from songs that I have that, for some reason or another, stick with me [...]
Cheb Mami's Rim Lachoua I'm going to pop up some thoughts about individual world songs once in awhile, thereby placing my blog into that category known on the web as the "mp3 blog." Rather than pick new things, I thought I'd pull from songs that I have that, for some reason or another, stick with me & serve as an example of what a particular interesting artist is up to. I'm beginning by talking about the song "Rim Lachoua" by Cheb Mami , the Algerian raï-pop-African punk singer. He's one of my [...]
There's a subculture out there. You know there must be, there are so many others. I knew them even before the days of the internet, back when suggestions were swapped at Appletree counters, trades made in the dusty, dark upstairs of the parents' used furniture store. Then, the collectors kept them in pristine in sleeves, [...]
There's a subculture out there. You know there must be, there are so many others. I knew them even before the days of the internet, back when suggestions were swapped at Appletree counters, trades made in the dusty, dark upstairs of the parents' used furniture store. Then, the collectors kept them in pristine in sleeves, lined in rows like shiny machines, perfectly alphabetized. They filled basement shelves, praying for the absence of rain. Quality maintained by dehumidifiers. By the care you'd give to rare plants. Who [...]
I want to like folkie bluegrass music. I really do. I love the artistry, love the sound of the mandolin. I'm impressed by virtuoso playing. I like the melancholia. I love Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, the old farts. I like old country, The Carter Family, even Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn. I want to like what's [...]
I want to like folkie bluegrass music. I really do. I love the artistry, love the sound of the mandolin. I'm impressed by virtuoso playing. I like the melancholia. I love Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, the old farts. I like old country, The Carter Family, even Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn. I want to like what's coming out now. I keep trying, I do. But I keep getting bored. I feel like I'm betraying my roots to say so. [...]
Anybody remember The Fleshtones? Anybody heard of The Fleshtones? This roots garage band from the late 70's/80's/today gets an interesting and extended profile in Joe Bonomo's book Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, out on Continuum Books. The story might be best expressed in this way: the band's best two albums, Hexbreaker! and Roman Gods, is still not [...]
Anybody remember T he Fleshtones ? Anybody heard of The Fleshtones ? This roots garage band from the late 70's/80's/today gets an interesting and extended profile in Joe Bonomo's book Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones , out on Continuum Books. The story might be best expressed in this way: the band's best two albums, Hexbreaker! and Roman Gods, is still not out on CD, not available to download as mp3's, and here's a book about the band itself, out by a major publisher. Why isn't anybody awake? [...]
While sitting at Noa-Noa coffeeshop in Golden, Colorado I heard a terrific contemporary bluegrass band come over the speakers, Crooked Still. I asked the barista (who is himself a musician, prone to paying the bluegrass guitar on his breaks) about the group, and found out they're from Cambridge, Massachusetts. What is it about roots groups, that [...]
Last night, on one of my insomniac binges, I put on my latest Netflix movie, Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built. Turned out to be one of those PBS American Masters series, so it had that standard sincere TV documentary structure that almost means that the music clips get cut right before they hit [...]
My brother turned into a radio patter rock jockey whenever he was talking into a Hot Wheels car. Later, once we got the microphone to the tape player, he laid it all down even better. My voice overs weren't nearly to par-though, being older, I started it all. I became the spinner, the one who [...]
I got an email from a friend with a Denver University connection. She's involved in many things Jewish and helped to bring to Denver the musical group Divahn: all women, playing Middle Eastern music on authentic instruments. Knowing my interest in world music, she thought it would be one for me. I think it was-although I [...]
Your blogger has been busy lately, traveling. I went to an eight thousand person writer's conference, AWP, held this year in NYC. Since I was only there a few days, there was little time to do anything but wander the corridors of the hotels, going to all of the book [...]
DeVotchKa, Gogol Bordello, Balkan Beat Box, Little Cow and even a quirky coffeeshop-they're all enticing me into some melancholy funky string-laden mystical-goofy trance. But you know: this is the United States, this is Denver, Colorado, what's the deal? Oh, I'd like to say it's some genetic homesickness, but I'm afraid that would have to be handed [...]
Rhythm Participle
James Blake – Live Album
Circo Voador anuncia shows de The Kooks, Foster The People, Friendly Fires, Gogol Bordello e mais
The Kills on Letterman (Video)
New single from Gemini Club
