Archive for August, 2008

The Friday Morning Listen: Southside Johnny with the LaBamba Big Band - Grapefruit Moon: The Music of Tom Waits

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Southside has been teasing us with this project for years. First it was a rumor. Then the recording dates were a rumor. Then the completion was a rumor. I really never thought it was happen, to be honest with you.

But hey, I don’t mind admitting that I was wrong, especially when the results are this fabulous.

I’ll be writing up a proper review of Grapefruit Moon for next week (and a track will be going up at jazz.com too). For now, I’m just reveling in how great a summer closeout record this is.

Music Review: Lindsay Buckingham - Live at the Bass Performance Hall

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

One of my favorite classic rock albums is Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. It stands second only to Richard & Linda Thompson’s Shoot Out The Lights for amazing records to come out of the crucible of screwed up (and imploding) relationships.

In my youth, it took me a while to realize that Lindsay Buckingham was a fabulous guitar player. Some of that might have been hidden on Mac records like Tusk. If you want to see what he’s all about, check out this terrific live album.

Jazz.com Reviews: August 27, 2008

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

I am currently working through the backlog…not sure if I’m “winning” yet or not but progress is being made. So here’s some more interesting reading (I hope!) and listening for hungry ears.

The latest batch:

Donny McCaslin: Late Night Gospel

Bobby Streng Sexemble: Streng Theory

Tim Kuhl: Dr. Doom

Jay D’Amico: Improvviso

Fieldwork: Pivot Point

Web News: Blogcritics.org purchased by Technorati

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Well, it’s been a long time coming. From Blogcritics humble beginnings to what it has become today, all of the hard work has finally payed off as Web indexing giant Technorati has decided to push further into the content game.

Congratulates to Eric Olsen and Phillip Winn. They truly deserve it.

What does this mean for BC’s writers and editors? I have no idea. Stay tuned.

The Friday Morning Listen: Nine Inch Nails - Broken

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Sometimes, I think too much. Other times, I just stay up too late trying to get too many things done.

What’s cool about it is that music is almost always involved…and it mixes things up in odd ways.

The Friday Morning Listen: Yes - Fragile

Friday, August 15th, 2008

The great thing about living far away from suburbia is that you get to view the news not only with your eyes & ears but also via the local newspaper.

Out our way, one of the recent “big” stories is the new supermarket that’s going in. That, and the evil roundabout right in front of it.

Let the bitching begin!

Jazz.com Reviews: August 11, 2008

Monday, August 11th, 2008

OK, so it’s been quite a while, but I have finally gotten my act together and written some jazz.com reviews. It’s not like I didn’t have any material to go through. I mean, my house is just about buried in it!

The good news is that there really is some interesting music out there. Don’t listen to the curmudgeons. Listen to me!

Here’s the latest batch:

Tim Collins: Joyride

Totem>: Blooming Ore

Melvyn Price: Voodoo Love Dance

Joe Gilman: Contusion

Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog: When We Were Young and We Were Freaks

The Friday Morning Listen: Ry Cooder/The Hold Steady

Monday, August 11th, 2008

It is the rarest of events…the planets have aligned properly, the stock market is operating smoothly, Joan Rivers is between plastic surgeries: It’s time for a guy’s weekend!

It seems like opportunities to get together with old friends (without the associated spousal units) become more scarce as we get older. So when the time comes, we try to make the most of it.

The Friday Morning Listen: Pat Metheny Group - Travels

Monday, August 4th, 2008

The draw of a particular geographic region is a mysterious thing. I’ve lived the majority of my adult life in the state of New Hampsire, yet it doesn’t feel like home. In never has. I can’t really explain this except to say that a part of me has always lived in Maine. That part has exerted its will in many ways, which is why you almost always read that I’m taking a vacation in that state.

Well, here’s yet another example. This weekend, we’re going home.