-
Recent Posts
300 in 10?
I need to write
36 posts in
32 days.Subscribe
Get email notifications of new posts You know, don't you, that I'd never misbehave with your contact info, right?
Monthly Archives: November 2008
Frontier Ruckus
usical oddities twang relentless. Miniature concerti on the strings of the holler. Multiple musicians stretch lyrics taut over the bones of memory and loss and hope. Minor keys, major melodies.A quavering voice driving earnestly before the musical buzz of flexing hardware and jangly picking. Continue reading
Blown to Smithereens
had forgotten how very much I like jumping up and down to nearly everything The Smithereens have done. Pure simple crunchy rock, the way folks did it way back in the 60s.Watching Pat DiNizio play the guitar, it doesn’t even look like he’s trying, belying the enormous sounds that result. Though so many of the songs have desperately sad lyrics, Pat always sounds so hopeful, as if somehow, some way, it’s all gonna be okay. Continue reading
The City is a Washing Machine
r so says Marvelous Toy.I think this has always been my theme song (one of them, at least) and I just had to wait 40 years for someone to write it. More assertive than folk, less aggressive than rock, more intelligent than pop. Retrobilly, maybe. Continue reading
Yes Buggles Drama
uggles central characters Trevor Horn, vocalist, and Geoff Downes, keyboard player, were recording next door to Chris Squire, Steve Howe, and Alan White while they were recording the beginnings of the Yes album Drama. Horn and Downes were invited to fill the gaps left by Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, who were busy elsewhere.As much as I love Yes, oddly enough Drama is one of my favorites. The Buggles brought just enough difference to spark some amazing stuff. Continue reading
Journey Down the Nile
roving once again that it’s not just a river in Egypt, J. D. Souther’s Journey Down the Nile is my new intentional earworm.I think it’s a samba. I’ve forgotten most of the little I ever knew about Latin rhythm, but I think it’s a samba. With little machine-gun drum fills and a bass that knows how to samba. Or whichever dance it is. Apparently the horn section was recorded live, sliding in behind the languid vocals and wrapping around the piano which, like the bass, dances to whatever Latin rhythm that is. The trumpet solo defies the subtlety of the other instruments, blaring over the top, holding one long wavering note while they all change chords underneath. It’s one of those little musical witticisms I love. Continue reading
