I am listening to the Cleaners From Venus, which is good Sunday music… – Andrew Hamlin
Best Album: Manraze, PunkFunkRootsRock. Take guitarist Phil Collen from Def Leppard and team him up with drummer Paul Cook from The Sex Pistols and add Simon Laffy, the bassist from Phil’s former Glam band, Girl (because every power trio needs a bassist), and you’ve got a record that sounds, well, like a raunchier version of …
Dogbones are one compelling live prospect. Enough that having seen them just the once before, a matter of weeks ago, I found myself taking a day off and spending 12 hours travelling to see a 53 minute set, considering it a very decent return on investment. This is pure punk, or at least what passes …
Of all the great choral works of Christmas, the many compositions of “O Magnum Mysterium” including those by Poulenc and Victoria stand apart in their power and beauty. But Morten Lauridsen’s more recent composition of “O Magnum Mysterium” has an inner emotional strength and beauty that I’ve seldom experienced in sacred music. This is a …
Over the decades and centuries of Western culture no other holiday music has proliferated or endured like Christmas music. From old English carols to the present favourites, Christmas music can make up a considerable portion of your average collection, which is such the case with my own. When we’re all tired of hearing the same …
My favorite is this one – Robert Shaw, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Great tempos, terrific soloists. http://www.amazon.com/Handel-Complete-Oratorio-George-Frideric/dp/B000003CT7 And I’d also mention this one, for a big chorus version – Otto Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra of London. This version played in our house at Christmas, growing up in Chicago. http://www.amazon.com/Messiah-George-Frideric-Handel/dp/B000002S20 And finally for a good version with period …
How about 20? (it was hard to narrow it down to 10, and I could have added a few more great ones). I don’t have time to comment about them I’m afraid (we’ve been at work all day getting ready for Black Friday). These are all stunningly good, many of them classics. If I were …
On Thanksgiving Eve I ventured out to Seattle’s University District to Landmark Theater’s Varsity Theater to view The Other F Word. The movie is a documentary about punk rockers (mostly from California) and what it’s like for the ultimate rebels to be fathers. The movie begins with Art Alexakis (Everclear), Fat Mike (NOFX), Jim Lindberg …
Tomorrow is the 35th Anniversary of The Last Waltz. According to the Wik, “The Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Last Waltz was advertised as the end of The Band’s illustrious touring career,and the concert …
I’ve been kinda missing Wye Oak, so as a reminder, here is the lovely video for Holy Holy. Beautiful video too. – Mike Hughes Wye Oak – Holy Holy from Merge Records on Vimeo.
I so like this lot. I thought their last single was risking being a bit too heavy for the sake of heavy, but ‘Hate Smile’ is completely on the money from the 2 Sarahs and what appears to be a lazy-susan array of drummers. Blissed out, grunge, Ms Rose’s vocals floating in the wash. I …
I was thinking yesterday, “Wouldn’t it be nice to see a production of Handel’s Messiah this year?” Maybe. This clip is probably enough. No one has to hear the whole thing after seeing this clip which is described as, “A small church’s well-meaning but disastrous production of Handel’s Messiah.” http://youtu.be/dErA4RBFoik
The Neptune Theater in Seattle’s University District only just recently was converted into a live music venue. I’d been in it many times when it was a movie theater. The venue lends itself well for hosting live music. The seats on the main floor were removed making a large dance floor and the very back …
Being at a Peter, Bjorn and John concert reminds you of early Who or Kinks on Shindig or Beat Club. Music for the shimmy and the jerk. They’re very popular, but I don’t know why they’re not one of the most popular bands in America. – Steve Stav
Music historians rarely mention the Rats except when listing bands that Portland singer/songwriter/guitarist Fred Cole played in before Dead Moon. In fact, the Rose City’s alternative music scene of the early 1980s is mostly regarded as a footnote to the hype generated in Seattle a decade later. When former Dead Moon drummer Andrew Loomis invited …
Meet England’s newest hitmakers. Love it because it’s so over the top:
She’s back. It’s horrible, of course, but I do like the phrase, “crime scene on the dance floor.”
This is one of my fave tunes from The Staxx Brothers recent album, Jungle Cat, and I’m glad to see that it has a video now:
When I walked into the legendary Showbox across from the Pike Place Market, last Sunday night the first band of the Pop Punk’s Not Dead show was already on stage and in full swing. This Time Next Year is a Bay Area pop/punk five-piece that play a very poppy sound with punk thrown in and …
Of all the American songs that came out of World War II, Hitler Blues is one the very few that blames Hitler for his mistreatment of the Jews. This gritty 1942 recording by Huddie William Leadbetter (Lead Belly) is the definitive version, but is not the original. Hitler Blues– it’s actually not a blues but …
From the publicist – “Amanda “Fucking” Palmer, who recently wrapped a west coast tour with husband Neil Gaiman, has been visiting Occupy sites around the country, making stops at Occupy sites in L.A., Oakland, Portland, Vancouver, and Seattle, in addition to her recent stops in Boston and Occupy Wall Street. “One of the most fascinating …
Gosh. A very early listen to a new single from FOE that will be out in January. I like it lots. It still has a skewed and twisted theme, but compared to say ‘Tyrant Song’ or ‘Genie’ it’s… dare I say it… almost a bit more mainstream? And, there is news on the album Bad …
We have all seen and heard Video Games by now, possibly the best single song I have heard performed in the last year. I was desperate to get to this gig and couldn’t, even with shall we say ‘certain connections’ it wasn’t going to be, and I’m still sad. So I was grateful to see …
I loved the last Peter Gabriel album, where his transcendent cover (cocreation? PG supplied the melody) of Lou Reed’s “The Power of the Heart” (which somehow quotes “Ol’ Man River” in a love song to Laurie Anderson) almost balances out the Lou-Metallica combo/car crash. Speaking of Lou, James Wolcott’s memoir of NYC in the 70s …