A month ago I watched the San Francisco Giants get thrashed 9-0 in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. Except for a few delusional optimists, all of us who were there that night believed that we had witnessed the final game at AT&T Park for 2012. I cannot overstate the depressing sense of …
Trane and Monk (Tip of the hat to Mike Hinton for bringing this to our attention.)
Wild Belle is a sibling duo from Chicago which produces timeless psychedelic-pop with hints of jazz, reggae, and R&B. They recently embarked on their first North American tour and lead singer Natalie Bergman captured images from the band’s life on the road and cobbled those images together into the following retro-coolish video: The duo’s debut …
New York band MEN, with JD Samson, Michael O’Neill and a collective of collaborators, has released a new video for the song “Let Them Out Or Let Me In” written in solidarity with Pussy Riot and includes iconic images of Pussy Riot protests. MEN’s JD Samson has been an active member and spokesperson of the …
The right and ability to vote is the most fundamental component of freedom. It took a handful of years for white people in the colonies to secure this and other liberties from oppression; for the rest of those living in America, tyranny took a bit longer to overcome. Today seems like the most appropriate of …
In 1975, Frida of ABBA fame released a Swedish language cover of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars.” Here it is (Tip of the hat to Pat Thomas for bringing this to our attention.):
This must be a record, nearly a month to post a gig review. I have my reasons for the ‘slight delay’ and I will post this and be damned, given that the raison d’etre for this blog was always supposed to be as my own gig diary and compendium. Anyone who wants to glance over …
My church arranged speakers over the four Sundays preceding the national election to facilitate discussion concerning “Christian Faith and this Year’s Election Issues.” Last Sunday, retired North Park University Professor of New Testament, Dr. Cal Katter, focused on the dire economic issue of America’s widening gap between the rich and everyone else. Dr. Katter emphasized …
http://www.ledzeppelin.com
Monday night on Halloween eve’s eve, Seattle’s Triple Door hosted the illustrious and legendary Robyn Hitchcock. Although Hitchcock was posted as the headliner, this really was a stellar line-up of bands, all of whom are legendary in their own right (such as the Young Fresh Fellows, who are local legends). Peter Buck (of REM fame …
After our High Noon show at the Keystone Berkeley in late July, 1981, Mickey Hart told the rest of the band “Anyone who wants to go, we’re heading over to the Hell’s Angels’ clubhouse in Oakland”. I followed the others in a caravan to somewhere in Oakland. We all pulled into a corner parking lot. …
Tomten’s new video for the single “So So So” from the album Wednesday’s Children. Directed by Jacob Rosen.
In his first official (legally licensed) cover, L.A.’s underground Hip-Hop-meets-everything dynamo Anacron takes The Virgins breakout hit “Rich Girls” to new heights; re-working the producing, playing, and performing of the hit tune in a typically atypical fashion that’s already been labeled “better than the original” by many. Wrangling every live instrument and programming tool within …
After she left Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll recorded a solo album in 1969 (also titled 1969) with Chris Spedding on guitar, future husband Keith Tippett on piano, and Soft Machine‘s horn and woodwind players. Recorded by Eddie Offord, it’s a delightful slice of English progressive pop/jazz. – Pat Thomas is the author of the recently …
I love a cat in a uniform… – John Petkovic and his band, Cobra Verde, enjoy life to the fullest in Cleveland, Ohio.
Happy Birthday to Sylvia Plath, one the literary obsessions of my youth, Steve Wynn turned me onto Peter Laughner decades ago, he said “this guy’s songwriting reminds me of you” and handed me a cassette of Laugnhers’s solo LP. I’m a little less obsessed with Plath these days, but I did buy a CD of …
Not that I have anything against bluegrass (a lot of which I love), but this banjo riff is closer to something you might hear from Andy Partridge and XTC than Union Station. Another terrific acoustitristic song from my favorite brother, Mark Horton. – Rich Horton
One of the most popular videos in Sweden today.
In some ways, this video for “Amigos” reminds me of the classic old short film, Baptism: Sacrament of Belonging. Sure, there’s more tequila in the new version, more heaving bosoms and squirming thighs, but the message of acceptance is essentially the same.
Steve Gans has said “there are two kinds of music: the kind you’re introduced to as a teenager, and everything else.” Quite true. I’ve been watching musical guests on SNL for decades, from the beginning to the present, and the two most memorable for me are still performances by Elvis Costello and the Specials which …
Youngblood Hawke’s upcoming show at The Crystal Ballroom on November 20th is a 94/7 “I Saw Them When” event, and the show only costs $.94! The band is on tour in support of their self-titled debut EP which came out in August. A full-length album will follow early next year. http://youngbloodhawke.tumblr.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH1caVBApj4
Midnight Magic is gearing up to release their debut LP, Walking the Midnight Streets, on 11/13. They’ve earned praise from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, SPIN, KCRW & more, and have shared stages with the likes of The Rapture, Cut Copy, and Holy Ghost. Members of Midnight Magic have also played in various DFA bands, including the …
This video has a ponderous history lesson at the start, but be patient, because this Hendrix-like version of “Ghost Riders in the Sky” is worth the wait. http://www.dickdale.com/
This vid too has taken the country by storm.
This video was trending hot in the US today:
The Serious Scoop. Having flung my share of sarcastic links and comments onto this forum, I want to take time to say something really heartfelt and serious about this upcoming election. There has been a lack of thoughtful discussion so I’d like to change that, at least about myself. Here goes. I support President Obama …
“You Don’t Own Me” was a great pre-feminist pop nugget from 1964. But it’s ironic now, nearly 50 years later, that we need reminders from a song this old. Then again, Lesley Gore was ahead of her time. – Rich Horton