tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327388002024-03-17T20:01:48.711-07:00Apropos of Nothing...random thoughts on music, film, television, sports, or whatever else pops into my head at any given moment.Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.comBlogger3267125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-59344207893221030342024-02-18T15:54:00.000-08:002024-02-18T15:54:38.143-08:00Remembering Scott Kempner and the Del-Lords<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Jor7IIy8gpN9MDKJ2l8tF2DGarvbR_Xt4i8h_usF9vBMpiMugJExYH9ERhakBi46RNN7EvLC_hXwaXAP4F3ilrIb3cAwTGULLtFtgfRc0s9NUv9MmCs_trjqGpWKhmnW2VI9C4q0rpqroESsqjs90yreeuq1SznH4Xrus0gIr15KEWuSs52W/s4032/Frontier%20Days.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Jor7IIy8gpN9MDKJ2l8tF2DGarvbR_Xt4i8h_usF9vBMpiMugJExYH9ERhakBi46RNN7EvLC_hXwaXAP4F3ilrIb3cAwTGULLtFtgfRc0s9NUv9MmCs_trjqGpWKhmnW2VI9C4q0rpqroESsqjs90yreeuq1SznH4Xrus0gIr15KEWuSs52W/s320/Frontier%20Days.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>The news that Scott Kempner - guitarist, songwriter, and co-lead vocalist of the Del-Lords - had died last November, after having been diagnosed with dementia in 2021, had completely escaped me.<p></p><p>The name is probably not one that will be known to a lot of people, and it seems highly unlikely that the band that he led in the 1980s will be enshrined in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Having said that, both Kempner and the Del-Lords deserve at the very least a footnote in the history of the genre. </p><p>Pictured in the photo at left is <i>Frontier Days</i>, their debut (and best) album. It's straight-forward rock and roll with plenty of Byrds-like guitars, and a dash of country thrown in for good measure. It more or less stuck out like a sore thumb in 1984. The second British Invasion was in full swing, synth-pop was the order of the day, and I can't think of a single time that I heard one of the album's songs on the radio. That the band stayed together long enough to record three more good albums by decade's end was a testament to their commitment and the overall quality of their work.</p><p>There are two songs on <i>Frontier Days</i> that are right up there in my own "personal pantheon juke box." One is the album's closer, "Feel Like Going Home," one of the best songs ever written about the vastness of this imperfect country we call home, and the longing for one's loved ones while out on the road. The second is the song that opens Side Two, "Burning in the Flame of Love." The song has been a staple of my collections for years, whether they were in the form of a mixtape, a CD, or a playlist. </p><p><i>But I know what comes next</i></p><p><i>All the promises that will one day be broken</i></p><p><i>Hearts will be broken</i></p><p><i></i></p><p><i>And, ain't I the perfect fool</i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Cause I know what love can do but I still need to touch the fire</i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>I still need to stand in the fire</i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>But as time goes by and the seasons turn it's a lesson I'll never learn</i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Cause in my heart I knew that when </i><i>I got next to you that </i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>I'd b</i><i>e burning in the flame of love</i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Once again I'm burning in the flame of love</i></p><p>R.I.P., Scott Kempner. You led a really great band. In my book there are few better epitaphs than that.</p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-39510816275014724122024-01-19T10:40:00.000-08:002024-01-19T14:39:58.613-08:00Just Another Hall of Fame Band from East L.A.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYZc7yIqXNA4-NgA4MOIa3qGp2jA0t451NdiZr4lfUE5HeK1mEVOGUMvfIS5FgM9sdc-_ZnwLDXKDz-Uk2FWWZhbZNV0KbBqXEJxJwuplauIOah-nqfQOnzWTSGnZ2DVtkBTP_3c5H6dwyi7Uc9SjLGBH2nK5-qhrcJAnOpc7YUF1VBYDAFCwg/s2780/Lobos.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2631" data-original-width="2780" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYZc7yIqXNA4-NgA4MOIa3qGp2jA0t451NdiZr4lfUE5HeK1mEVOGUMvfIS5FgM9sdc-_ZnwLDXKDz-Uk2FWWZhbZNV0KbBqXEJxJwuplauIOah-nqfQOnzWTSGnZ2DVtkBTP_3c5H6dwyi7Uc9SjLGBH2nK5-qhrcJAnOpc7YUF1VBYDAFCwg/s320/Lobos.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In 1993, Slash Records released a Los Lobos anthology album with the title, "Just Another Band from East L.A." While accurate as far as it goes, that's a little like calling The Beatles "just another band from Liverpool." <p></p><p>Los Lobos have of course never come close to matching the popularity of the Beatles, nor have they had the cultural impact with the general public the way those lads from Liverpool did. In a perfect world it would be a different story, and Los Lobos would be one of the most popular bands in the world. </p><p>Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom and the first partner Jennifer Siebel announced this year's inductees into the California Hall of Fame, and along with fellow L.A. icons The Go-Go's (whom I'll write about in a separate post), Los Lobos was on the list.</p><p>The announcement sent me down a deep Los Lobos rabbit hole. As it turns out, I own 12 of their albums on physical media - 3 on vinyl, 9 on CD - and I've spent the last week giving them all a listen. First, it was a very enjoyable experience. Second, I left the exercise (well, it's probably not quite over yet) with the following observations:</p><p>- Los Lobos have never made a bad album. Sure, some are better than others. And while that may not sound like such a big deal, there really aren't a lot of artists you can say that about. For example, Bob Dylan has made a bad album (several, in fact). Neil Young has made a bad album (Neil has had bad decades, for that matter!). R.E.M. made a bad album. Prince made a bad album (although to be fair, the guy was so damn prolific that with him, it's not <i>that </i>bad). The Rolling Stones? Historically great. Numerous bad albums. Don't despair - these are all members of various Halls of Fame; it just comes with the territory. </p><p>- The band's masterpiece, to these ears, is 1992's <i>Kiko</i>. But there are others that come close: <i>How Will the Wolf Survive?</i> (1984), <i>The Neighborhood</i> (1990), and <i>Colossal Head</i> (1996) are all a solid A (on the Christgau scale), and <i>By the Light of the Moon</i> (1987), <i>The Ride</i> (2004), and <i>The Town and the City</i> (2006) are an A-. The rest? Somewhere between A- and B+, and every single one features at least one track that's an absolute killer.</p><p>- The Lobos have been self-producing their albums for a while now, but it's fascinating to compare their earliest work with T. Bone Burnett at the helm to their middle (and probably best) period, where Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake really took the bad in directions that few bands are capable of going. If you look at the band's Wikipedia page, it lists <i>eight </i>genres that the band's work falls under: Chicano rock, Roots rock, Latin rock, Tex-Mex, Country rock, Americana, Heartland rock, and Cowpunk (which I admit is a new one for me). And it's really not a stretch.</p><p>Heartiest of congratulations to Los Lobos - David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozaano, and Steve Berlin - on their achievement. And thank you for more than four decades of incredible music. If you're interested, head on over to my Spotify page (I think you can find your way) for my 60-song tribute to the band.</p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-56642816850554511902024-01-13T11:53:00.000-08:002024-01-13T11:53:45.542-08:00Resurrection Walk, Michael Connelly<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheGdSSeQ_np_i79R7Adto55qlB_EEG-T2LBWf0fZEupAtjCH80wIPSqq6PNIL_RESE7K2iiOyq47ZKJuUt3to10MT0Mf0wH_H_S5a8etmd0LrkzkzWaFl8WrSQJPA8R5R7myHmNx391jDVwNMDuE-09uki0WQfB5MltC0ASvgzLfrM1yvk65_T/s4032/Resurrection%20Walk.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheGdSSeQ_np_i79R7Adto55qlB_EEG-T2LBWf0fZEupAtjCH80wIPSqq6PNIL_RESE7K2iiOyq47ZKJuUt3to10MT0Mf0wH_H_S5a8etmd0LrkzkzWaFl8WrSQJPA8R5R7myHmNx391jDVwNMDuE-09uki0WQfB5MltC0ASvgzLfrM1yvk65_T/s320/Resurrection%20Walk.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>The "resurrection walk" referred to in the title of Michael Connelly's 38th (!) novel is a reference to the moment at which someone who has been unjustly imprisoned one again tastes freedom. The book begins with Mickey Haller, "the Lincoln Lawyer," having successfully achieved such a walk for one of his clients. Flush with that success and always on the lookout for a potentially lucrative addition to his practice, Haller decides to try and find another "needle in the haystack," as he puts it, among the many letters he's received from prisoners claiming that they've been imprisoned unjustly. <p></p><p>Though billed as "A Lincoln Lawyer Novel," Harry Bosch makes an appearance in the book's very first chapter, having agreed to assist his half-brother in finding that needle, and then helping Haller thread it through the legal process towards the elusive walk to freedom. Bosch finds a case that might fill the bill - Lucinda Sanz, in prison for the past five years for killing her ex-husband, a sheriff's deputy. Something about the case and its investigation doesn't add up for Bosch, and before too long Haller and Bosch are working with Sanz to secure her freedom.</p><p>Of course, if proving her innocence were easy there wouldn't be much of a story, and before long numerous roadblocks present themselves. First, the case has to be tried in federal court, where in the words of Haller, "defense cases went to die." This does provide Connelly with the opportunity to introduce a new character, Judge Ellen Coelho, who brooks no nonsense from any of the attorneys trying the case. There are mysterious suspected break-ins at the residences of both Haller and Bosch. And before long, we find out that what happened involved rogue cops, sheriff's gangs, and even the FBI. The game is on.</p><p>Connelly has been on quite a roll lately. I haven't watched either of the television productions of his two main characters, but I've read every one of his books. What I've enjoyed in his recent work is that he's allowed his characters to age, and to change over time. Unlike some other series that I've enjoyed over the years (Crais' Elvis and Joe books, Coben's Win and Myron series) you get the sense that Bosch won't last forever. He's never been a superman, but his mortality has now become a character of its own. Where will it all lead? It will be really sad when he is gone, but it seems inevitable. </p><p>In the meantime, Connelly's work over the past three decades is a landmark in detective fiction. Enjoy it while you can.</p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-65043430674381206742023-12-28T12:20:00.000-08:002023-12-28T12:20:26.156-08:00"The Ties That Bind" ("The River" Reimagined)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGIZytOM7ShBeXixdhcPKE6xEt7vHc7Rb-05hFEAQyloFd9fC18S_yfBjUOKLcLf3EScIHsSQxvQLGWcr7HBtqm4ASM-wM-gx6RQW7wy7sLyxXVt7pFustmpG2oRbHCan-9JyYG7o4H1xIjbWetQATLlFUu4CKJuP-8iU6qj-F8q2v7D7eAXkz/s4032/The%20River.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGIZytOM7ShBeXixdhcPKE6xEt7vHc7Rb-05hFEAQyloFd9fC18S_yfBjUOKLcLf3EScIHsSQxvQLGWcr7HBtqm4ASM-wM-gx6RQW7wy7sLyxXVt7pFustmpG2oRbHCan-9JyYG7o4H1xIjbWetQATLlFUu4CKJuP-8iU6qj-F8q2v7D7eAXkz/s320/The%20River.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>The second in a series begun by my online friend Larry, where double albums are winnowed down to one strong, two-sided album.<p></p><p><b><i>October 1980 - Berkeley, California</i></b></p><p>Upon entering UC Berkeley as a transfer student in September 1980, I thought I was doing a noble thing by leaving my stereo and record collection at home. It took me about two weeks to realize what a bad decision that was, and when my parents and brothers visited in early October they brought the stereo as well as a couple of dozen records to tide me over until Winter Break. Even then, my entire collection would have been a little too big for the dorm room - Rob, Han Song and I were in a "triple," with a bunk bed, a regular bed, three desks, a couple of dressers of drawers, and a closet. Tight quarters, and if memory serves the stereo ended up in part of the closet. </p><p>At that time I was a Bruce fan, but had never seen him live. As fate would have it, he was scheduled to perform two shows in late October at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. As fate would further have it, Rob was a huge Springsteen fan, and along with some of his friends who drove up from Southern California, was planning to sleep overnight in the Arena parking lot in order to buy tickets. That's how it was done in those days, unless one was willing to shell out the big bucks to a scalper. And because Rob was a great and very cool guy (as an aside, he would go on to become an Assistant Deputy Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs), he was happy to score two tickets for me without me actually having to stay up all night for them.</p><p>Over the years, I would end up seeing Bruce 10 times. It would be next to impossible for me to choose my favorite among those ten concerts. The <i>Tunnel of Love</i> tour show I saw in 1988 at Shoreline Ampitheatre is widely considered to be the best of that tour. The October 1999 Reunion Tour show at the [new and mostly improved] arena in Oakland was amazing, if for no other reason that it was far from certain whether we'd ever have the chance to see Bruce play with the E Street Band again. Seeing the final leg of that tour at Madison Square Garden the following June...Bruce at MSG?!? You've got to be kidding me. And taking my parents to see him at the late (and sometimes lamented) Arco Arena in Sacramento (the <i>Magic </i>tour) was also a highlight.</p><p><b><i>"The River" </i></b></p><p>My introduction to "The River" was not to hear the song, but to read about it - in Greil Marcus' review of <i>No Nukes</i>, the documentary about the 1979 concerts organized by MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy). Marcus, to put it mildly, did not care for the film: "As a film, it's second-rate. As music and politics, it's a study in puerility." Springsteen was a late addition to those shows, and it seems possible (if not likely) that he was invited to ensure that the shows would sell out. </p><p>So what did Greil think about Bruce's portion of the show? Not much:</p><p><i>"Which leaves, as far as No Nukes in concerned, one overriding question: what about Bruce? It's Springsteen's picture in the ads that's bringing the crowds into the theaters, and it's his performance - or his mere appearance - that has the fans cheering. Well, he's all right. He sings "The River," the title tune from his soon-to-come album; it's a well meant tale of working-class defeat, but "Up Shit Creek" might better describe both the fate of the song's characters and the song itself. He performs "Thunder Road" messily and closes with a spirited "Quarter to Three," which is sabotaged by atrocious sound. He was far more exciting tossing out a bit of "Rosalita" in last year's TV special Heroes of Rock 'n Roll - but that was a far more exciting film."</i></p><p>It's clearly an important song to Bruce - over the course of his career, he's played only 15 songs more often. Surprisingly (at least to me), played "The River" more often than "Jungleland," "Growin' Up," "Spirit in the Night," "Backstreets," "She's the One," "Cadillac Ranch," and "No Surrender." But is it a <i>great </i>song? On the plus side, the E Street Band sounds magnificent on it. And musically, it's beautiful. Unfortunately, and it took me a long time to get there, Marcus' opinion is more right than wrong. It's difficult to articulate, but forty years on, it comes across as "Springsteen-lite." There's little in the song to suggest the depth of emotions and the exploration of the human condition that jumps out of the grooves of later songs such as "Nebraska," "Mansion on the Hill," "Born in the USA," "The Ghost of Tom Joad," or even "The Rising."</p><p>So the most difficult question in this reimagining was answered: "The River" would not be a part of the "new" album.</p><p><b><i>"The Ties That Bind" - 1979 Version</i></b></p><p>As originally recounted in Dave Marsh's 1981 update of his first Springsteen biography and confirmed decades later when the original album was included as part of "The River" box set (which was called "The Ties That Bind"), Bruce had an album set for release in 1979, hot on the heels of his incendiary 1978 tour. To be titled "The Ties That Bind," the album would include five songs that would show up on "The River" - The Ties That Bind, Hungry Heart, The River, The Price You Pay, and I Wanna Marry You. The album would have included alternate versions of Stolen Car (a good, but not approaching the greatness of the version that ended up on The River), You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) done up rockabilly style (tough call on which version is better), and three songs that would never appear on any album outside of compilations - Cindy (no great loss), Be True (great song, was the B-side of Fade Away), and Loose Ends (a real shame this version never ended up anywhere, but the mix is definitely superior to the version that ended up on "Tracks" in 1998).</p><p>As an aside, another song whose success has always mystified me is "Hungry Heart" - it just never worked for me, so it does not end up on my reimagined version. And because I wanted to stay as true to the original as possible, none of the alternate versions or "substitute songs" make it on either. Which brings us to...</p><p><b><i>"The Ties That Bind" - 2023 Version</i></b></p><p><u>Side One</u></p><p>The Ties That Bind<span> </span><span> </span><span> 3:33</span></p><p><span>Out in the Street<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> 4:17</span></span></p><p><span><span>You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)<span> </span><span> 2:35</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>Jackson Cage<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> 3:03</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>Stolen Car<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> 3:52</span></span></span></span></span></p><p>Whatever you call the album you put it on, "The Ties That Bind" is the perfect opener. "Out in the Street" and "You Can Look" continue the generally upbeat vibe, until "Jackson Cage" and especially "Stolen Car" give us a hint that Bruce's thinking is taking a darker turn.</p><p><u>Side Two</u></p><p>Point Blank<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> 6:06</span></p><p><span>I Wanna Marry You<span> </span><span> </span><span> 3:26</span></span></p><p><span><span>Two Hearts<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> 2:42</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>Cadillac Ranch<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> 3:03</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>The Price You Pay<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> 5:26</span></span></span></span></span></p><p>The second side begins with another song that is frankly somewhat terrifying; I can still remember being transfixed the first time I heard it (on a live radio broadcast of one of his legendary Winterland shows in December 1978). We begin to ascend from the darkness with "I Wanna Marry You" and "Two Hearts" (are better than one, after all), and bring the album to a close with one of Bruce's greatest rockers and what has always felt to me like a vastly under-appreciated gem.</p><p>There you have it, only four months after I began working on this. You might say I overthought it. But I'm also OK with where it ended up.</p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-45067408609212869042023-07-20T11:58:00.002-07:002023-07-20T15:16:29.596-07:00The Double Album Challenge #1: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John<p><i><b></b></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8mOUmkXSokr89-7sEMFsUbjchxw_Hf2Jtx8-elYGvvrD2heVtlJBGkW_mmSqVWE5OrY62oKy7PdeyYb5X0CKbMgZjRDdaWjRg6tLxWVQX1C3ssIwYUrFTQe7ZowIUQeiy_mX_FT6w4hMnnxeCwSOExjauSMXxapQLH4AU0yBDEgnRLVUdF5Nq/s4032/Goodbye%20Yellow%20Brick%20Road.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8mOUmkXSokr89-7sEMFsUbjchxw_Hf2Jtx8-elYGvvrD2heVtlJBGkW_mmSqVWE5OrY62oKy7PdeyYb5X0CKbMgZjRDdaWjRg6tLxWVQX1C3ssIwYUrFTQe7ZowIUQeiy_mX_FT6w4hMnnxeCwSOExjauSMXxapQLH4AU0yBDEgnRLVUdF5Nq/s320/Goodbye%20Yellow%20Brick%20Road.jpg" width="240" /></a></b></i></div><i><b>Prelude - 1992</b></i><p></p><p>Remember the early days of the Internet? I can't pinpoint the exact day when the Internet became a reality for me, but it would have been sometime in early 1992, when I was working for the California State University's Office of Governmental Affairs. Because the main CSU Chancellor's Office was in Long Beach and our office was in Sacramento (across from the State Capitol), we were always the last to get the new technology. When I began working for CSU in June 1991, the office was in the dark ages of computer technology, outfitted with a Wang computer system (does that company even exist today?). For the first few months, I didn't even have a desktop computer, because the office had been told that fancy Apple computers were on the way. So whenever I needed to write something (which was fairly often, since writing was a pretty big part of my job), I had to use the terminal in the kitchen. This led to a lot of jokes when visitors from Long Beach were in town (<i>"So Jeff, I guess you're still on probation?"</i>), but it also taught me something which was worth its weight in gold - the ability to focus on the task at hand, while tuning everything else out.</p><p>When the blessed day arrived, our IT person hooked me up first - which I think was my reward for having suffered for so long. I even remember his name - Dan DuBois. And when Dan set up my new system, he told me about this really cool thing called the World Wide Web. My initial reaction was probably along the lines of "yeah, ok, can you just get this set up so I can start writing these bill letters?" Little did I know that the biggest challenge to my focus was about to enter my life. This was long before anyone had ever talked about toxic social media, and the need to shelter children from it. Long before the days of computer viruses, long before Facebook, long before Twitter, long before guys like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk became household names. No, back in those days, the Internet was fun. Want to read the latest edition of Blue and Gold Illustrated for the latest analysis of Notre Dame football? Check. Want to read special versions of Peter King's football columns? Check. Stuff about movies? Check. Internet only music publications like <i>Addicted to Noise?</i> Just about every kind of weird stuff you can possibly imagine, arcane but entertaining? Check. You could even access <i>Playboy</i>, including the centerfolds (but I only read it for the articles, I promise).</p><p>But for me, the most fun part about the early days of the Internet were the connections you could make. You could find people with like interests from all over the country (or beyond). You could find someone like <a href="https://www.sheilaomalley.com/" target="_blank">Sheila O'Malley</a>, who on her blog wrote brilliantly (and still does today) about film and acting, about Elvis (some of the best Elvis essays this side of Greil Marcus, Dave Marsh and Peter Guralnick), about James Joyce, about her "dead boyfriend" Alexander Hamilton, about family and many other things. You could find someone like the late <a href="http://undercoverblackman.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">David Mills</a>, who wrote for great TV shows like <i>NYPD Blue</i>, <i>ER</i>, and <i>Treme </i>(I once recommended a record store in New Orleans to David). You could find someone from Berkeley, who like yourself loved Bruce Springsteen, and then actually run into that person at a Bruce concert and introduce yourself (that would be <a href="https://begonias.typepad.com/srubio/">Steven Rubio</a>). And you could engage in online conversations with them, at least some of the time wondering why they would even give you the time of day. It was pretty damn cool. After a few years of reading blogs by others and commenting on their posts, in 2006 I started this blog, which for a while was very active. Not so much today. Why? Let's just say that life has a way of taking one down some interesting and unexpected paths. </p><p>I have to admit I don't remember exactly how and when I connected with Larry Aydlette. I'm guessing it was probably through comments on Sheila's blog or Facebook page? But no matter. We've never met in person, but if and when we do, I think we'd have a pretty good conversation. We have similar tastes on a lot of different fronts, and even though we live on opposite sides of the country, I suspect we might share similar views on a lot of "topics of the day," shall we say. Like me, Larry is a big music fan, and on that front we also share similar (but not identical) tastes.</p><p>On his Substack, Larry came up with the idea of exploring double albums (a concept which probably makes sense only to persons of a certain age), and the question of whether all of them would be better as a single album. And for nearly all of them, the answer is probably "yes." Off the top of my head, I can think of three albums where I'd argue to the death that removing even a single song would be blasphemy: The Rolling Stones' <i>Exile on Main St.</i>, <i>London Calling</i> by The Clash, and <i>Blonde on Blonde</i> by Bob Dylan. The rest, even the ones I love (e.g. Bruce Springsteen's <i>The River</i>), are fair game.</p><p>Larry's first choice was Elton John's <i>Goodbye Yellow Brick Road</i>. In this post, I take up the challenge. But before we get there, let's take one more journey into the WayBack Machine.</p><p><b><i>First Listen - Summer of '74</i></b></p><p>In 1974, Elton John was my musical hero. My music listening habits to that point had been honed by a steady diet of AM Top 40 Radio, which at the time was exhilarating and exasperating in equal measure. At any given moment, you could hear one of the greatest songs ever written, followed by a song that made you feel embarrassed for everyone involved in its creation. </p><p>Elton was a hit machine in those days, and that May his 1972 album <i>Honky Chateau</i> was the first album that I bought with my own money. <i>Goodbye Yellow Brick Road</i> had been released the previous fall, and of course I'd heard the hits (the title track, and almost 50 years later I'm still pissed that the execrable "Top of the World" kept it from hitting #1; and the still amazing "Bennie and the Jets," which did hit #1), but I'd always loved "Rocket Man," and being a single album it was less expensive.</p><p>I remember exactly when I heard GYBR for the first time in its entirety - it was at Jeff Bickford's 14th birthday party, about a week after 8th Grade promotion. I even remember everyone who was at the party - Craig Kreeger, Thomas Schroeder, and the late Mike Gowen on the male side; and Karen Koch, Laura O'Donnell, Alisa Craft, Lori Asbury, and Ellen [last name escapes me] on the female side. It was the first party I'd ever been to where both boys and girls were invited. And yes, we played Spin the Bottle; I was pretty good at the bottle spinning part of the game. When Jeff B. put the album on the stereo, I can even remember saying, upon the first notes of "Funeral For a Friend," something along the lines of "wow, this sounds like something you'd hear at a funeral." Smart kid, my 14-year old self was.</p><p>I knew right away that I had to get the album, right away. Probably mowed a few additional lawns that week to pay for it. And I loved it. I still love it but concede that, as with all Elton albums from that golden period, there are a handful of tracks that are...let's just say dispensable.</p><p>With all that background history out of the way, let's dive in.</p><p><b><i>Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Aydlette version)</i></b></p><p>I would encourage everyone to read Larry's great write-up <a href="https://larryta.substack.com/p/should-all-double-albums-be-singles?fbclid=IwAR0Hj7f9Sciq5dW997btFdw3BZzTttkWwcSt9WwbIZu3-_stVFhRNJK2kNI">on his Substack</a>. But for those without the time, here is his version:</p><p><i>Bennie and the Jets</i></p><p><i>Grey Seal</i></p><p><i>Jamaica Jerk-Off</i></p><p><i>The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)</i></p><p><i>All the Girls Love Alice</i></p><p><i>Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'N Roll)</i></p><p><i>Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting</i></p><p><i>Roy Rogers</i></p><p><i>Social Disease</i></p><p><i>Candle in the Wind</i></p><p><i>Goodbye Yellow Brick Road</i></p><p><i>Harmony</i></p><p><b>Total Time: </b>48 minutes</p><p><b><i>Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Vaca version)</i></b></p><p>My approach was a bit different than Larry's. What he appears to have done is to pare the original album down to roughly standard CD length. I decided to pare it down even further, with the goal of ending up with a 40-minute album, while being mindful of having two sides of roughly the same length. Having created mixtapes, "mix-CDs," and now Playlists for more than four decades now, pacing and flow are important to me. You can have two great songs that don't necessarily sound good back-to-back. So every transition was tested, and I think it works. Lastly, I tried to cast off and anchor each side (i.e. first and last cuts) with very strong songs.</p><p>Here we go:</p><p><i><u>Side One</u></i></p><p><b>Bennie and the Jets.</b> Larry had more or less announced from the get-go that this was going to be his opening track, and at first I was determined not to use it. But there really is no other choice. As Todd Rundgren wrote in his liner notes for <i>Something/Anything</i>, he put "I Saw the Light" first because it was the obvious hit. So he did exactly what Motown used to do on their albums, which was to put the hit first. That is very much the case here. No question that it's an oddball song, but it's also an all-time classic. And yes, much like Larry, I and my friends would frequently make "electric boobs" jokes. As an aside, one of my aforementioned friends was convinced that drummer Nigel Olsson was a woman, and I was sure to remind him of that at one of our high school reunions. I can be nasty that way.</p><p><b>Harmony</b>. A little bit of a down-shift after the opening track. Both Elton and Larry used this as the album closer, but I like it here. </p><p><b>Roy Rogers</b>. This may be the best ear-worm on the entire album. I've lost track of the times that apropos of nothing, it suddenly appeared in my brain, which naturally means that it has to be sung out loud. I'd love to hear a version of this by Jason Isbell, with Amanda Shires singing harmony. If anyone out there knows Jason, please let him know.</p><p><b>Goodbye Yellow Brick Road</b>. Admittedly, this is an odd place for the title track, but as Larry noted, it's got to be on the album somewhere. I do like the song, but I'm not sure I'd classify it as top-tier Elton. My parents liked it when it was on heavy radio rotation, which was a good thing because my dad had a quick trigger-finger on the car radio if a song came on that he didn't like. Trust me, there were many songs falling into that category.</p><p><b>All the Girls Love Alice.</b> So let's end Side One with a banger, which I promise is not something I'd ever say in real conversation. In his piece, Larry does an excellent job of laying out the problematic nature of the lyrics. He wonders aloud whether Bernie Taupin may have been "trying to depict the horror of self-absorbed, monied-class abusers," but I have to wonder whether that could have been done just as effectively (not to mention more accurately) in a song called "All the Rich Men Love Alice." But there's no denying the musical chops of the song, and as Larry also notes, at least it's not as bad as "Dirty Little Girl."</p><p>While we're on the topic, the misogynist nature of much of 70s rock is something that I think about fairly often. Once Elton cooled off (which is putting it mildly) in 1976 with the horrible <i>Blue Moves</i>, the band that moved into the slot of being my favorite rock artist was the Stones. Let's face it, and it is all well documented, the Stones during their tours of 1969, 1972, 1975 and 1978 engaged in a lot of very bad behavior, including towards women. I admit it, it all sounded pretty cool to my 15-17 year old self. One of my favorite rock books is "On the Road With the Rolling Stones" by the late Chet Flippo, who covered the '75 and '78 Stones tours for <i>Rolling Stone</i> magazine. It's all in there, and when I read it now, I cringe from time to time. But <i>Exile on Main St. </i>is still my favorite album, and <i>Some Girls</i> is one of the Stones' very best (if you're not familiar with the song, read the lyrics of the title track sometime). Should I feel guilty about that? Honestly I don't, but it is something that I think about.</p><p><i><u>Side Two</u></i></p><p><b>Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting.</b> This may be Elton's finest rocker. I'm not really sure there's anything else to say. It's the perfect song to lead off Side Two.</p><p><b>The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34).</b> Fully agree with Larry on this one - this is one of Elton's best songs, and some of Bernie's best lyrics. It's also a great showcase for Elton's piano playing, and for once Gus Dudgeon's production is perfect, and not overwrought. Nor really a "rocker" per se, but it keeps the momentum going from the previous track.</p><p><b>Jamaica Jerk-Off. </b> I hated this song for a really long time. And it's still dumb. But it is very catchy, and fits in with the flow of Side Two.</p><p><b>Grey Seal. </b> Another great showcase for Elton at the keyboards, and a chance for the entire band to shine. Davey, Dee and Nigel would come and go on a number of occasions during the course of Elton's career, but they really were a great band. </p><p><b>Candle in the Wind. </b> After this many years of being overplayed, and especially after the post-Diana tragedy rewrite, everyone must have an opinion about this song. In that regard, it's got to be right up there with songs like "Stairway to Heaven" and "Free Bird." For me, this is essential Elton. It's a beautiful song, and it's the perfect song to close out the album.</p><p><b>Total Time:</b> 40:49</p><p>So there you have it. I was sorry to have to leave "I've Seen That Movie Too" off the album, because I do think it's one of Elton's best ballads. I'd like to think that this version of the album would have gotten at least an A- from Christgau. </p><p><b><i>Future Choices?</i></b></p><p>Will Larry and I turn this into a regular gig? Only time will tell. In his piece he mentions <i>The Beatles (White Album)</i> as a possible candidate, and there are several others that come to my mind:</p><p>Bruce Springsteen - <i>The River</i></p><p>Led Zeppelin - <i>Physical Graffiti</i></p><p>Stevie Wonder - <i>Songs in the Key of Life</i></p><p>Fleetwood Mac - <i>Tusk</i></p><p>Prince - <i>Sign 'O the Times</i></p><p>Todd Rundgren - <i>Something/Anything</i></p><p>The Clash - <i>Sandintista! </i>(OK, that's a triple album, but certainly one that could use some trimming)</p><p>Stay tuned! </p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-32739022688298622452022-12-16T11:40:00.005-08:002022-12-16T11:54:07.172-08:00Top Albums and Songs of 2022<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp0wXIU2etcfF28eGolkvwiaTH7xGONjAjXavmrovZDi60GR_zGUwdG5JiqaQnppNb0BHC7nziGM7I5ljyXgdFBPDO5UlFeAi6j2k4-SKNIwku2TaT1M5IjQ95Fcq1H69sZN1dctqWcT1Uu1gz2Dc1eWFuATXC_Umkwl-UQ24Dh0D2Ms_mAQ/s3022/Bey.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2614" data-original-width="3022" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp0wXIU2etcfF28eGolkvwiaTH7xGONjAjXavmrovZDi60GR_zGUwdG5JiqaQnppNb0BHC7nziGM7I5ljyXgdFBPDO5UlFeAi6j2k4-SKNIwku2TaT1M5IjQ95Fcq1H69sZN1dctqWcT1Uu1gz2Dc1eWFuATXC_Umkwl-UQ24Dh0D2Ms_mAQ/s320/Bey.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">A couple of
years ago, I was accepted into a Facebook Group called “Village Voice Pazz
& Jop Rip-Off Poll,” which for someone like me – a guy who dreamed at age
15 of becoming the record reviews editor of Rolling Stone magazine – was like a
dream come true. For the uninitiated,
Pazz & Jop was begun by Robert Christgau in 1971, took a couple of years
off, and then ran in the Voice annually from 1974 through the late 2010s,
whenever it was that the once-great periodical finally bit the dust for
good. An indispensable archive of poll
results can be found <a href="http://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/index.php">on Christgau’s website</a>.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The way that
P&J worked, each participant had 100 points to distribute to 10 albums,
with a maximum per-album allocation of 30 and a minimum of five. During the time that Greil Marcus participated
in the poll , he was always open about the fact that he’d award 30 points to an
album (for example, Bryan Ferry’s 1978 <i>The
Bride Stripped Bare</i>) just to give it a boost in the final rankings. Others took the “10 albums, 10 points each”
approach, and a third group would painstakingly attempt to assign the exactly
appropriate number of points to each of the albums on their list. People who know me well will not be surprised
to hear that I fall into the third group.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This year
was <i>really</i> hard. In 2021, I had difficulty coming up with 10
albums that truly fit the definition of what I would normally call a Top Ten
candidate, but this year there were probably two dozen albums that fit the
bill. Complicating matters, SZA had to
go and release one of the year’s best records A WEEK AGO, which required some
additional thought on my part. But without
further ado, presenting my Top Ten Albums of 2022:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Beyoncé, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">RENAISSANCE</i> – 20 points</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mountain
Goats, <i>Bleed Out</i> – 17</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amanda
Shires, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Take It Like a Man</i> – 12<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Lizzo, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Special</i> – 11<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">SZA, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">SOS</i> – 10<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wet Leg, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">S/T</i> – 8<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Drive-By
Truckers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Welcome to Club XIII</i> – 7<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kendrick
Lamar, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers</i>
– 5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miranda
Lambert, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Palomino</i> – 5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Paranoid
Style, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For Executive Meeting</i> – 5</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Random
thoughts on the Top Ten:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->From
the very first time I listened to the new Beyoncé, I suspected that it would be
my #1 – but I didn’t realize how close an album would come to pushing it out of
the top spot, which <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bleed Out</i> nearly
did.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Mountain
Goats, like Drive-By Truckers before them, is a band to which I’m a late
convert, but now I realize that I’ve <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i>
given them short shrift over the years.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Amanda
Shires has been great for a while, but she really took a quantum leap forward
on the new album.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->It
is nearly impossible to resist the overall positivity of the Lizzo experience,
and in doing so one can have a few laughs along the way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Wet Leg and The Paranoid Style both made me feel like I was back in Cheney Hall at
UC Berkeley (Spoiler Alert: it was a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">long</i>
time ago).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Miranda
Lambert continued the groundbreaking (and I’d argue under-noticed) work she’s
been doing for well more than a decade now.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->DBT
had scored in recent years with a series of acutely political albums, and it
was a bit of a relief to hear them take the foot off that gas pedal for a bit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->And,
last but certainly not least – I don’t know I’ve spoken to or read anyone who
thinks <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr. Morale</i> is Kendrick Lamar’s
best album, but the highs are incredibly high (see below for evidence of that).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The next
ten, which in another year might have easily cracked my Top Ten:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Willie
Nelson – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Beautiful Time<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bruce
Springsteen – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Only the Strong Survive<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Maren Morris
– <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Humble Quest<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Beach Bunny –
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Emotional Creature</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Taylor Swift
– <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midnights</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Danielle
Ponder – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Some of Us Are Brave</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Laura
Benitez and the Heartache – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">California Centuries</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Soccer Mommy
– <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sometimes Forever</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Arcade Fire –
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">WE</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sunny
Sweeney – </span><i style="font-family: georgia; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Married Alone</i></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And some
honorable mentions, in no particular order:</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Big Thief – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dragon New Warm Mountain</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Black
Keys – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dropout Boogie<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Harry Styles
– <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harry’s House</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jack White –
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Entering Heaven Alive</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dylan
Triplett – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who is He?</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The
Vandoliers – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">S/T</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Loudon
Wainwright III – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lifetime Achievement</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Chris
Canterbury – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quaalude Lullabies</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Courtney
Marie Andrews – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loose Future</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ashley MacBryde Presents: Lindeville<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Plains – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Walked With You a Way<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Carly Rae
Jepsen – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Loneliest Time</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Angel Olsen –
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Big Time</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Chris Isaak –
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everybody Knows It’s Christmas<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Since I’m on
a roll, my Top Ten Songs of 2022:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kendrick
Lamar (feat. Beth Gibbons) – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mother I
Sober</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Triumphant transformation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Taylor Swift
– <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anti-Hero</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The earworm and catch phrases of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Lizzo – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">About Damn Time</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out on the dance floor – now!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wet Leg – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chaise Longue</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Would you like us to assign someone to worry
your mother?” was the line of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Laura
Benitez and the California Heartache – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Plaid
Shirt</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just your everyday instant
classic country breakup song.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Beyoncé – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Virgo’s Groove</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NSFW, and I learned that the hard way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Drive-By
Truckers – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Driver</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In seven minutes, a distillation of
everything they do best.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bruce
Springsteen – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Night Shift</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How had I forgotten what a great song this
is?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Angel Olsen –
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All the Good Times</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dusty Springfield, meet Tammy Wynette.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">SZA – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blind</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also NSFW, but quite likely the best verbal interplay of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And what the
heck, since I never got around to posting it this year, here’s my Top Ten of
2021:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1.
James McMurtry, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Horses and the Hounds</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2.
Liz Phair, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Soberish</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">3. Alison Krauss
& Robert Plant, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Raise the Roof</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">4. Aimee Mann, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Queens of the Summer Hotel</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">5. Lana Del Rey, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blue Banisters</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">6. Sleater-Kinney,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Path of Wellness</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">7. Courtney Barnett,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Things Take Time, Take Time</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">8. Hayes Carll, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You Get It All</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">9. Jason Isbell
& the 400 Unit, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Georgia Blue</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">10. Mickey
Guyton, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Remember Her Name</i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rock
on! See you in 2023.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-34182901145570796502022-07-17T12:30:00.002-07:002022-07-17T12:30:35.689-07:00The Duke<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLy9MXgvo8sQ8pGW4ReAk9DvsoQXzAjghOa7amu5RCh7vuj3USbLIHqCM4RxCa0w8kUmkQJZJIk18lTkwALY9Zg1lArIKljK53uHOq94bal8-v2vrpIQ-0YAfDewfToRKCjRNvndXEr_wyRzBD0eN1Dc_N0I1r6wPf4oAkEFuEzth82Sztlg/s4032/Duke%20Elllington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLy9MXgvo8sQ8pGW4ReAk9DvsoQXzAjghOa7amu5RCh7vuj3USbLIHqCM4RxCa0w8kUmkQJZJIk18lTkwALY9Zg1lArIKljK53uHOq94bal8-v2vrpIQ-0YAfDewfToRKCjRNvndXEr_wyRzBD0eN1Dc_N0I1r6wPf4oAkEFuEzth82Sztlg/s320/Duke%20Elllington.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>It's been a long time since I've gone down the Duke Ellington rabbit hole. Last week, what sent me down was a tweet (a retweet, actually) from a music writer whose name I can't even recall off the top of my head, with his list of the 30 Greatest Big Band Jazz Albums of all time. I figured there had to be a Duke album on the list, and the writer did not disappoint. The album in the photo at left was not the album on the list, but we'll come back to that in a moment. <p></p><p>I knew who Duke Ellington was from an early age, but my first real exposure to his music came in the late 1970s. My then-girlfriend's father was a jazz fan, and he owned the indispensable collection, <i>The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz</i>. My own tastes in music were starting to expand around that time, and he was kind enough to loan me the album, which I promptly recorded on cassette. I still have one of the tapes, Memorex no less, but its useful, listenable life is long past.</p><p>I don't know that the Smithsonian Collection remains available today, but it has been re-created on Spotify by enterprising listeners, and the same is probably true for the other major streaming services. It's a treasure trove, and particularly useful in helping to determine exactly what types of jazz music are palatable to a listener's ears. For me, the two major discoveries were Ellington and Charlie Parker. Going back through the Spotify playlist, it is striking how well the curators did with their selections of Ellington tunes for the collection:</p><p><i>East St. Louis Toodle-Oo (two versions, and yes, the Steely Dan version of the song was the first I'd heard)</i></p><p><i>Creole Rhapsody</i></p><p><i>Harlem Air Shaft</i></p><p><i>Concerto for Cootie</i></p><p><i>Cotton Tail</i></p><p><i>In a Mellotone</i></p><p><i>Ko-Ko</i></p><p><i>Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue</i></p><p><i>Blue Serge</i></p><p>Brilliant songs all, and brilliant selections, considering there are better known tunes in the Ellington pantheon.</p><p>Back to the album pictured above - also a Smithsonian collection, a Christmas gift in 1980 from the same then-girlfriend. However, by then I had gone to school in Berkeley and she had gone to UCLA, where she met her husband-to-be the first week she was there. The gift exchange at Christmas might have been a bit awkward - I don't remember what I bought for her, but I'm quite confident it wasn't as nice as what she gave me.</p><p>The 1940 version of the Ellington Big Band is remembered today as the absolute pinnacle of his career. It's come to be known as the "Blanton-Webster" version of the band, after the brilliant young bassist Jimmy Blanton (who would tragically succumb to tuberculosis at age 23) and the equally great tenor saxophonist Ben Webster. Six of the ten songs listed above were recorded by the Blanton-Webster band, and there are at least a dozen others on the two-record set that are equally good. It's that good.</p><p>Fortunately, the songs all exist today - the album to seek out on your streaming service is Never No Lament - The Blanton-Webster band, which collects all of the tunes the band recorded together. Listening to it today, it's obvious why Ellington is considered one of the great musical artists in American history. A rabbit hole well worth going down. Besides, it's cooler down there.</p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-62320438030772906362022-01-31T11:07:00.000-08:002022-01-31T11:07:07.732-08:00"Maus" and Why It Matters<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZhqUGtLAAyqML-5Ed-pi4w98DJJ6H0gyVRfwcH9zo9om008l-tx4Mxb94gt-ZTBqtk1MiYnr_UX81AsyTtW88aYmDOIQVMJpysEe-p-N2gM2mMJdO6xSy76RvhitUZHeoPVOB2vTqJ18w9txtUsOpaJ6KO8PUoq9ACzeAKNHnPN-h605BVQ=s3405" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2556" data-original-width="3405" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZhqUGtLAAyqML-5Ed-pi4w98DJJ6H0gyVRfwcH9zo9om008l-tx4Mxb94gt-ZTBqtk1MiYnr_UX81AsyTtW88aYmDOIQVMJpysEe-p-N2gM2mMJdO6xSy76RvhitUZHeoPVOB2vTqJ18w9txtUsOpaJ6KO8PUoq9ACzeAKNHnPN-h605BVQ=w320-h240" width="320" /></a></div>The first political science course I took in college (at American River College, here in the Sacramento area) was taught by a gentleman who had lived in Tennessee until he graduated college, after which he and his wife moved to California. During his lectures, he frequently referred, in a sarcastic manner, to his birth state as "enlightened Tennessee."<p></p><p>Dr. Striplin is no longer with us, but "enlightened Tennessee" has been all over the headlines this month, courtesy of the decision by the McMinn County Board of Education to remove "Maus" from the curriculum. In a statement released on Thursday, the Board said that it voted to remove the graphic memoir from the county's schools "because of its unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide." The statement goes on to note that school administrators have been asked to "find other works that accomplish the same educational goals in a more age-appropriate fashion."</p><p>The question that comes to my mind is this: what could be more age-appropriate for young learners than an historically accurate, well-written depiction of the Holocaust in the graphic format? Yes, it is a book filled with pain and suffering - how could it not be? - as well as one that demonstrates in stark fashion how the impact of the Holocaust crossed entire generations. But what are we afraid of here, exactly? And how about we show a little respect for those young learners, who I can't help but think have a greater capacity to understand challenging topics than is assumed by the McMinn board of education.</p><p>In the face of this nonsense, of course I had to re-read the book. The first part of Spiegelman's story was released in 1986 (on the left in the above photo), and though the exact circumstances of my first encounter with it are lost to the mists of time, I'm guessing that it was the <i>Village Voice</i> that alerted me to its existence. </p><p>The genius of Maus is in the way that author Art Spiegelman makes the modern-day story of learning from his father just as compelling as the horrifying tale that his father is telling. Spiegelman is brutally honest, even painfully so, about his father Vladek. Vladek's experiences during the Holocaust were incredible, without question. As Art himself comments in one scene depicted in the book, Vladek's ability to survive the horrors of that time was due in large part to luck, but also to his father's remarkable resourcefulness and present-mindedness. That comes through powerfully throughout. But while Vladek survived, something of his humanity did not. The older Vladek is petty, often irrational, and as depicted in a memorable scene when Art's wife Francoise picks up an African-American hitchhiker with Vladek also in the car, is quite the racist. </p><p>For me, Maus is a landmark book. And while I've seen some write that it is inaccurate to say the book is being "banned," for me "removing from the curriculum" is at the top of the slippery slope that leads to banning. It seems unlikely to happen, but here's hoping that the McMinn County Board reconsiders their decision.</p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-78728838557505271422022-01-09T11:33:00.000-08:002022-01-09T11:33:02.471-08:00Notable Albums of 2021 (Memorializing)<p> Not a bad year at all.</p><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25em;"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over The Country Club</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi - They're Calling Me Home</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Eric Church - Heart</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Eric Church - Soul</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Tom Jones - Surrounded by Time</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Black Keys - Delta Kream</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Chrissie Hynde - Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Leftover Feelings - John Hiatt</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Lula Wiles - Shame and Sedition</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Liz Phair - Soberish</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Sleater-Kinney - Path of Wellness</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Lucy Dacus - Home Video</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Allison Russell - Outside Child</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Leon Bridges - Gold-Diggers Sound</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Jackson Browne - Downhill from Everywhere</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Rodney Crowell - Triage</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">David Crosby - For Free</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Sarah Jarosz - Blue Heron Suite</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview on Phenomenal Nature</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Los Lobos - Native Sons</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Yola - Stand For Myself</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Emily Duff - Razor Blade Smile</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Jade Bird - Different Kinds of Light</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Kalie Shorr - I Got Here By Accident</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">James McMurtry - The Horses and the Hounds</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Sturgill Simpson - The Ballad of Dood & Juanita</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Lorde - Solar Power</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Madi Diaz - History of a Feeling</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Kacey Musgraves - star-crossed</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Felice Brothers - From Dreams to Dust</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Mickey Guyton - Remember Her Name</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Natalie Hemby - Pins and Needles</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Carolyn Wonderland - Tempting Fate</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Lilly Hiatt - Lately</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Georgia Blue</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Hayes Carll - You Get It All</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Pistol Annies - Hell of a Holiday</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Snail Mail - Valentine</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Aimee Mann - Queens of the Summer Hotel</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Amanda Shires - For Christmas</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Taylor Swift - Red (Taylor's Version)</li></ul>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-4433161505847376012022-01-09T11:21:00.006-08:002022-01-09T11:21:54.149-08:00Songs of the Year, 2021: A Little Soon To Say, Jackson Browne<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/obCEL088SJw" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>Jackson Browne earned his spot in the Hall of Fame a long time ago, so it's OK that his late-career albums fall short of the standards he set early on. None of them have been bad, don't get me wrong. But you can always be sure you will get 1-2 political songs that are just a little too obvious (and probably a verse or two too long), and a couple of rockers that sound (more or less) like an old guy trying a little too hard to recapture his youth. </div><div><br /></div><div>But you can also count on 3-4 songs that can stand right up there as part of Browne's pantheon. "A Little Soon to Say" is one of those songs, and with this one I'd go a bit further - this is one of the best songs he's ever written, one that perfectly captures the tone of our times. </div><div><br /></div><div><i><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I wanna see you holding out your light</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I wanna see you light the way</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Beyond the sirens in the broken night</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Beyond the sickness of our day</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">And after all we've come to live with</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I wanna know if you're ok</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I wanna think it's gonna be alright</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">It's just a little soon to say</span></i></div><div><br /></div><div>It's distressing - amazing, really - that this is where we find ourselves at this point in our history, but this is where we are. I too wanna think it's gonna be alright. Only time will tell.</div>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-45492841787228000312021-12-30T15:41:00.005-08:002021-12-30T15:44:12.079-08:00Songs of the Year, 2021: Hard Drive, Cassandra Jenkins<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/eW8XoovSlsM" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>There is a LOT going on in "Hard Drive." It's got a definite Laurie Anderson feel to it, almost as if it were a lost track from 1989's "Strange Angels." Each verse tells a different micro-story, featuring a diverse cast of characters: the security guard, the bookkeeper, the driving teacher, and Peri. The thread binding each of the stories together is what Jenkins addresses in her spoken intro - "our spirit, our humanity, our sense of self."</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The emotional payoff, from both a narrative and a musical perspective, comes in the final verse:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="ReferentFragmentVariantdesktop__Highlight-sc-1837hky-1 jShaMP" style="background-color: #e9e9e9; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding: calc((((1.5em - 1.125rem) / 2) - 0.0625rem) - 0.75px) 0px calc((((1.5em - 1.125rem) / 2) - 0.0625rem) - 0.25px);"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i></i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 0px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 0px; z-index: -1;" tabindex="0"></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 0px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 0px; z-index: -1;" tabindex="0"></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 0px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 0px; z-index: -1;" tabindex="0"></span></span>I ran into Peri at Lowell's place<br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Her gemstone eyes caught my gaze</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">She said, "Oh, dear, I can see you've had a rough few months</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">But this year, it's gonna be a good one</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I'll count to three and tap your shoulder</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">We're gonna put your heart back together</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">So all those little pieces they took from you</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">They're coming back now</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">They'll miss 'em too</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">So close your eyes</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I'll count to three</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Take a deep breath</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Count with me"</span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">It's an extraordinary song.</span></span></div>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-61758609357590417412021-12-29T13:34:00.003-08:002021-12-29T13:34:49.969-08:00Songs of the Year, 2021: Calling Me Home, Rhiannon Giddens + Francesco Turrisi<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/3YqUUqH8tZI" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>The music that Rhiannon Giddens has made on her last two albums with Francesco Turrisi cuts like a scythe, slashing through fields of grain. The emotional power of her voice combines with the miraculous but spare instrumentation from both artists to create an emotional power that more or less wipes every other song off the map. When you listen, it's as if time is standing still. </div>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-62014825916233496392021-12-28T10:20:00.003-08:002021-12-28T10:20:48.202-08:00Songs of the Year, 2021: Tom Jones - I'm Growing Old<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/0LHnN8tSF-M" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>Over the next few days, in preparation for posting my Top Ten Albums of 2021, I'll be posting some of my favorite songs of the year from the albums that were Honorable Mentions.</div><div><br /></div><div>First up, the great Tom Jones. Still making great music, and in a sense reinventing himself, at the age of 80. At the same time, recognizing his mortality.</div>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-25089121267366676722021-12-27T11:04:00.002-08:002021-12-27T11:06:47.283-08:00...Ring in the New<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRk5W2qdgCLo6AQ4ZKR300F02b-x1yUkYCuPY0CWVnIV9HOUZicOlvVBAPNz2VcVqXlOiwFjilXLnSBCDY6L5YYCSFEEwVYg1z3fAF4N2IcNHSfw-IfLKw4KOeBeMNC9tTIz8KKCnwriDuyAGPQbmDF2YHxJphBsD5KD36Z4ix8LYgooBIxQ=s4032" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRk5W2qdgCLo6AQ4ZKR300F02b-x1yUkYCuPY0CWVnIV9HOUZicOlvVBAPNz2VcVqXlOiwFjilXLnSBCDY6L5YYCSFEEwVYg1z3fAF4N2IcNHSfw-IfLKw4KOeBeMNC9tTIz8KKCnwriDuyAGPQbmDF2YHxJphBsD5KD36Z4ix8LYgooBIxQ=s320" width="240" /></a></div>And that bad boy in the middle now holds the place of honor previously occupied by the Technics Receiver.<p></p><p>So yeah, I no longer have the ability to listen to the radio, but considering I can't even remember the last time I listened to the radio, I think I'll survive.</p><p>So this should last me well into my 90s...</p><p>And what better CD to test it out than a little classic Steely Dan?</p><p>BTW, many thanks are due to my 31-year old son, without whom this would probably be sitting in its box for some period of time to be determined, given dad's lack of prowess with anything having to do with technology installation.</p><p>Happy New Year!</p><p> </p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-19303396683295174292021-12-27T11:02:00.004-08:002021-12-27T11:20:53.836-08:00Ring Out the Old...<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiz4H-YXvS_4tg49X5Pp-p6MJIqWpZQLpq1pkoDGEwRHmKggP9Bmml4k1OkSJRHhX7XQ0yXZehWwAPywJh1xq_vKYaW0a45x5tBewK1eD3Ldv6iz3P1arZ9VFzgjYZ0geUPVwpdMa6L-106_kET-iS9CrtN33zsjBXD0tU9CHzkuAuEqH68jA=s2181" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1640" data-original-width="2181" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiz4H-YXvS_4tg49X5Pp-p6MJIqWpZQLpq1pkoDGEwRHmKggP9Bmml4k1OkSJRHhX7XQ0yXZehWwAPywJh1xq_vKYaW0a45x5tBewK1eD3Ldv6iz3P1arZ9VFzgjYZ0geUPVwpdMa6L-106_kET-iS9CrtN33zsjBXD0tU9CHzkuAuEqH68jA=s320" width="320" /></a></div>This bad boy served me well for close to 40 years, but it was well past the time to say farewell. Little did I know that the frustrating glitches in my recent stereo listening experience were due, not to faulty speakers or speaker wires, but to the fact that this guy was just tired.<p></p><p>But hey - considering that among the first CDs I played with this setup were Springsteen's "Born in the USA" and Madonna's "Like a Virgin," I think I got my money's worth. </p><p>R.I.P.</p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-55027933836173163802021-11-14T10:12:00.004-08:002021-11-14T10:12:50.166-08:00Memorializing<p> 2020 was the year that I made the transition from buying CDs (I've bought two this year) to listening to music almost exclusively via streaming. It's scrambled my brain a bit, to be honest. I've had to force myself to dedicate time to listening to full albums, because it's so enticing to come up with another playlist; another quest for the perfect segue between songs. There are albums on the list below where I can't remember a single song. That's not great, obviously - so for my 2021 sidebar list, I'm going to include only those albums that truly sunk in, that I've gone back to on a regular basis. </p><p>The 2020 list:</p><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25em;"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Starting Over - Chris Stapleton</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Generations - Will Butler</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Hey Clockface - Elvis Costello</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Love is the King - Jeff Tweedy</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Uncivil War - Shemekia Copeland</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">On My Own - Lera Lynn</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Letter to You - Bruce Springsteen</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Serpentine Prison - Matt Berninger</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Cuttin' Grass, Vol. 1 - Sturgill Simpson</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Speed, Sound, Lonely kv (EP) - Kurt Vile</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Good Luck With Whatever - Dawes</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">As Long As You Are - Future Islands</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Alone Together Sessions - Hayes Carll</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The New OK - Drive-By Truckers</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">What Is There - Delta Spirit</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Aftermath - Elizabeth Cook</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Hearts Town - The War and Treaty</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Daughter - Lydia Loveless</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Ascension - Sufjan Stevens</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Shore - Fleet Foxes</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Long Violent History - Tyler Childers</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Shallow Graves - India Ramey</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Blackbirds - Bettye Lavette</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Die Midwestern - Arlo McKinney</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Beautiful Madness - Jerry Joseph</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Twelfth - Old 97's</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Total Freedom - Kathleen Edwards</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Xoxo - The Jayhawks</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Dirt and the Stars - Mary Chapin Carpenter</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Such Pretty Forks in the Road - Alanis Morrisette</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Made of Rain - The Psychedelic Furs</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Balladeer - Lori McKenna</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Old Flowers - Courtney Marie Andrews</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">folklore - Taylor Swift</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Hate for Sale - Pretenders</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Waterfall II - My Morning Jacket</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Gaslighter - The Chicks</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">All the Good Times - Gillian Welch, David Rawlings</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">That's How Rumors Get Started - Margo Price</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">What's Your Pleasure? - Jessie Ware</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">On the Road: A Tribute to John Hartford</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Women in Music Part III - HAIM</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">No Dream - Jeff Rosenstock</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Homegrown - Neil Young</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Rough and Rowdy Ways - Bob Dylan</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Punisher - Phoebe Bridgers</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Built to Spill Plays the Songs of Daniel Johnston</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Self Made Man - Larkin Poe</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Introduction, Presence - Nation of Language</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">All Visible Objects - Moby</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">World on the Ground - Sarah Jarosz</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Dreaming Again - Lizzy Long</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">RTJ4 - Run the Jewels</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Spider Tales - Jake Blount</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Folk 'n Roll Vol. 1 - J.S. Ondara</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">A Different War - Daniela Cotton and the Church Boys</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Danzig Sings Elvis</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Neon Cross - Jaime Wyatt</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Tessy Lou Williams</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Dedicated Side B - Carly Rae Jepsen</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Chromatica - Lady Gaga</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Cold Water - Medhane</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Copy That - Sara Evans</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">how i'm feeling now - Charli XCX</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Going to the Movies - Mark Fredson</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Reunions - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Beautiful and Strange - Chelsea Williams</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Bad Luck - Sylvia Rose Novak</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Way It Feels - Maddie & Tae</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Invisible People - Chicano Batman</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">We Still Go to Rodeos - Whitney Rose</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Alphabetland - X</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Lamentations - American Aquarium</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Walking Proof - Lilly Hiatt</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Fetch the Bolt Cutters - Fiona Apple</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The New Abnormal - The Strokes</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Mama's Biscuits - Kirby Heard</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Never Will - Ashley McBryde</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Family Songbook - The Haden Triplets</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Saint Cloud - Waxahatchee</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Gigaton - Pearl Jam</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Anybody Out There - Sadler Vaden</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Your Life is a Record - Brandy Clark</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Expectations - Katie Pruitt</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Dream - Hailey Whitters</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Saturn Return - The Secret Sisters</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Honeymoon - Beach Bunny</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">color theory - Soccer Mommy</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Open Book - Kalie Shorr</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Miss Anthropocene - Grimes</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">The Unraveling - Drive-By Truckers</li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px;">County Squire - Tyler Childers</li></ul>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-84236594336133116772021-02-13T11:24:00.003-08:002021-02-13T11:31:50.018-08:00Top Ten Albums of 2020<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C4GZEG-MmNE/X-5MtxxuX0I/AAAAAAAAEjA/MZy4Le5_VxgnpsUksfY1_wD5GqnfH7h-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Shore_%2528Fleet_Foxes%2529.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C4GZEG-MmNE/X-5MtxxuX0I/AAAAAAAAEjA/MZy4Le5_VxgnpsUksfY1_wD5GqnfH7h-ACLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h200/Shore_%2528Fleet_Foxes%2529.png" width="200" /></a></div><b>1. Fleet Foxes - <i>Shore</i>.</b> Over the years I've toyed around with the concept of what I call "Autumn Albums." Not necessarily albums that were released in the fall, but ones with a signature sound that evokes the feel of the season. Linda Ronstadt's <i>Simple Dreams</i> is an Autumn Album; I wrote about about it <a href="https://of-nothing.blogspot.com/2010/10/autumn-albums-simple-dreams-linda.html" target="_blank">here</a> (dear Lord, more than ten years ago now). George Winston's <i>Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi</i> is an Autumn album, as is Frank Sinatra's <i>Where Are You? </i> Bruce Springsteen's <i>The Ghost of Tom Joad</i> is another, having been released two days before Thanksgiving in 1995. Great albums all. Autumn Albums. When it comes to Autumn Albums, however, it's doubtful that anything that came before it or anything yet to come will ever match <i>Shore</i>. Having been released at the exact moment of 2020's Autumnal Equinox, <i>Shore </i>literally is an Autumn Album. <p></p><p>In and of itself, being the quintessential Autumn Album would not be enough to justify ranking it at #1. What allows it to land here is the fact that from first cut to last, over the span of 54 minutes and 29 seconds, it is absolutely gorgeous music. There isn't a weak cut or any filler on the entire album, and from day to day it's difficult to choose what is the album's best song. Today I'd probably say "Thymia," tomorrow I might think it's "I'm Not My Season," and the day after that it could be "Maestranza." And just keep repeating daily, adding a new track until you've fully absorbed the record. <i>Shore </i>is only their fourth album over the course of twelve years, but it's their best. A wonderful record.</p><p><b>2. Lilly Hiatt - <i>Walking Proof.</i> </b> Hiatt's previous work has all been excellent, but with <i>Walking Proof </i>she has fully developed a sound and approach that sounds unmistakably her own. The album features great rockers ("Some Kind of Drug," which according to Spotify was the song I listened to more than any other in 2020, "P-Town") great mid-tempo ballads ("Rae," the title track, "Drawl", several others), and as <a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lilly-hiatt-walking-proof/" target="_blank">the Pitchfork review</a> put it, "winds through moments of incandescent joy, gentleness, cathartic noise, and even unease." </p><p><b>3. Dua Lipa - <i>Future Nostalgia</i></b>. I might have this one a little high, but then again I might not. What I'm comfortable saying is that it reminds me a lot of Madonna's debut, and for me that's high praise indeed. The album title was well calculated - the record would have sounded new and fresh in each of the past four decades, so you really can feel as if you're delving into nostalgia while wondering if this might just be the sound of the future. And you can dance to it.</p><p><b>4. Letter to You - <i>Bruce Springsteen.</i></b><i> </i> Speaking of "future nostalgia." If a couple of these songs sound as old as anything he's ever written, it's because they are - I've been hearing about "Janey Needs a Shooter" for more than 40 years now, and "If I Was the Priest" was one of the songs he sang in his audition for John Hammond all the way back in 1973. And if one song in particular sounds transparently Dylanesque, well then Bruce can do anything he darn well pleases in this phase of his career. And if you can have fun deciding which previous album each of these songs would best fit on, well that's OK too. Overall, <i>Letter to You</i> is as good as anything he's recorded in this century, and better than at least some of the albums he recorded before then. The E Street Band sounds as good as it ever has, Ron Aniello comes up with a beautiful sound, and "Ghosts" can stand proudly with any Bruce songs you might pick for your own personal pantheon. It's that good.</p><p><b>5. The Unraveling - <i>Drive-By Truckers</i></b>. In <a href="http://of-nothing.blogspot.com/2020/02/drive-by-truckers-fighting-good-fight.html">my January review of the album</a>, I called it "relentless and unforgiving." I also called it their bravest album. They were depicting a world on The Unraveling that felt as if it were about to fall apart. What we didn't know at the time is that it was.</p><p><b>6. how i'm feeling now - <i>Charli XCX</i>.</b> Not surprisingly, there were numerous artists who released "pandemic albums" in 2020. My favorite was Charli XCX's, because it was so obviously homemade, and perfectly conveyed the fractured nature of the year. But at the same time, there were several tunes that were as catchy as anything she's ever recorded. A fractured fairy tale.</p><p><b>7. Reunions - <i>Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit</i>. </b> Even though I have this album rated lower than <i>The Nashville Sound</i>, the band's previous effort (which I tabbed as the best album of 2017), there's no question that Isbell grows as an artist with each succeeding effort. The standout track is "What've I Done to Help," a 7-minute magnum opus that poignantly poses a question that we should probably all be asking ourselves right about now. </p><p><b>8. Shallow Graves - <i>India Ramey.</i></b><i> </i> My favorite country music album of the year, from an artist I had not heard of when the year began. She called the record a "post-apocalyptic western," and in sound it carries - especially on "The Witch" and "You and Me Against the World" - a sense of menace that would fit right in during <i>Unforgiven </i>or <i>The Revenant</i>. My favorite song is "Montgomery Behind Me," in which she leaves behind a town, a bad relationship and quite possibly the remains of someone who richly deserved his fate. </p><p><b>9. Run the Jewels - <i>RTJ4</i>.</b> Not for the faint of heart. Come to think of it, "relentless and unforgiving" would work as well as a description for RTJ$ as it did for DBT. Robert Christgau, who gave the album a rare A+, wrote, "the gangsta sonics that power El-P and Killer Mike's inchoate aggressiveness will feel tonic to anyone with both an appetite for music and a political pulse (you can put me down for both). The album closer, "a few words for the firing squad," matches in its intensity any music that I've heard in recent memory, and well beyond that. The rest isn't far behind.</p><p><b>10. Sarah Jarosz - <i>World on the Ground. </i></b> It wasn't easy to decide which album would fit into the final spot this year. Jarosz is another artist with whom I was not familiar when the year began, but fortunately there are numerous online publications that focus on the broad category of "Americana." The album was produced by John Leventhal, who I've criticized at times for softening the rough edges around his partner Rosanne Cash. That's not the case here - the sound and the accompaniment are perfect for Jarosz' spare vision.</p><p>OK, so there it is, and now it's time to play <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazz_%26_Jop">Pazz & Jop</a> - 100 points, divided among the 10 albums, with no more than 30 and no less than 5 awarded to any of them.</p><p>1. Fleet Foxes, <i>Shore</i><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> <span> <span> </span><span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></span>20</span></p><p>2. Lilly Hiatt, <i>Walking Proof </i><span> <span> <span> </span><span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span>15</span></p><p>3. Dua Lipa, <i>Future Nostalgia</i><span> <span> <span> </span><span> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span>13</span></p><p>4. Bruce Springsteen, <i>Letter to You</i><span> <span> <span> </span><span> </span></span>12</span></p><p><span>5. Drive-By Truckers, <i>The Unraveling</i><span> </span><span> 10</span></span></p><p><span><span>6. Charli XCX, <i>how i'm feeling now</i><span> </span><span> </span><span> 8</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>7. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, <i>Reunions</i><span> 7</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>8. India Ramey, <i>Shallow Graves</i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> 5</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>9. Run the Jewels, <i>RTJ4</i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> 5</span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span>10. Sarah Jarosz, <i>World on the Ground</i><span> </span><span> 5</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p>And as alluded to above, narrowing the list to 10 this year was a bear. Here are some of the albums that I hated to leave off (in alphabetical order):</p><p>Ashley McBryde, <i>Never Will - </i>Not quite at the level she showed on her debut, but still strong.</p><p>Beach Bunny, <i>Honeymoon - </i>"Promises" was right up there with my favorite songs of 2020.</p><p>Bob Dylan, <i>Rough and Rowdy Ways - </i>The epic "Murder Most Foul" was the song of the year.</p><p>Chris Stapleton, <i>Starting Over - </i>Country soul. </p><p>Drive-By Truckers, <i>The New OK - </i>Cooley's "Sarah's Flame" right up there with his best.</p><p>Emma Swift, <i>Blonde on the Tracks - </i>Right up there with Bettye Lavette's as the best Dylan cover album. Maybe women make the best Dylan covers?</p><p>HAIM, <i>Women in Music Pt. III - </i>Their strongest album yet.</p><p>Jayhawks, <i>Xoxo - </i>Still sounding great after all these years.</p><p>Kathleen Edwards, <i>Total Freedom - </i>A very nice comeback.</p><p>Lydia Loveless, <i>Daughter - </i>I feel like I've yet to fully plumb the depths of this one.</p><p>Ondara, <i>Folk 'n Roll Vol. 1: Tales of Isolation - </i>Addressing the isolation we've all felt over the past 11 months.</p><p>Soccer Mommy, <i>Color Theory - </i>An album that seemed to foresee the isolation we'd begin to feel a month after it's release.</p><p>Sylvia Rose Novak, <i>Bad Luck - </i>Ready for a fight.</p><p>Taylor Swift, <i>Folklore, </i><i>evermore - </i>Don't ever underestimate a force of nature.</p><p>Coming soon (?), the songs of 2020.</p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-15493337689814958632020-12-29T13:53:00.002-08:002020-12-29T13:53:30.663-08:00NFL Memories and "The Football Book"<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RP_JCZ4SI4Y/X-pioNIaLNI/AAAAAAAAEi0/B0vr1rvXRcEIwWGuBeW2QXcUqeDUk0CSQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Colts%2Bv%2BPackers.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RP_JCZ4SI4Y/X-pioNIaLNI/AAAAAAAAEi0/B0vr1rvXRcEIwWGuBeW2QXcUqeDUk0CSQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Colts%2Bv%2BPackers.jpg" /></a> A few years ago, one of my Christmas "stocking stuffers" was a coffee table book on the history of the NFL. Cleverly titled "The Football Book" and published by Sports Illustrated in 2006, the book includes article excerpts from several of the great football writers who graced the pages of SI, including Paul Zimmerman, Peter King, Dan Jenkins and Michael Silver, as well as the great feature writers George Plimpton, Gary Smith, Frank Deford, and S.L. Price. The book also includes Dr. Z's (how Zimmerman was known to his biggest fans) indispensable All-Decade Team choices, which are guaranteed to be the perfect argument starter. </p><p style="text-align: left;">But as good as the writing is, the highlight of the book is the photography, which shouldn't come as a shock given that the "Illustrated" part of SI was always key to its enormous success. The photograph at left was taken by Neil Leifer, who, over the course of a career that spanned several decades, earned the right to be called a legend. It's a wonderful photo that evokes both the effort and grace that is involved in the game of football, but is also evocative of the atmosphere at Lambeau Field, longtime home of the Green Bay Packers.</p><p style="text-align: left;">What made this photo of particular interest to me is that it comes from the first NFL game that I have a memory of watching. The game was played on Saturday, December 7 in 1968 (the year the Colts went 13-1, and were then upset by the Joe Namath-led New York Jets in the Super Bowl). My dad drove over to a friend's house to watch it, and for some reason brought me with him. I'm not exactly sure why I remember all this, but that's the strange way my mind works sometimes.</p><p></p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-72159293498599463252020-12-12T15:45:00.000-08:002020-12-12T15:45:08.564-08:00Albums of the Year: Finalists<p>With the help of Spotify, there's no question that I listened to more new music this year than ever before. On the one hand, that's a great thing. On the other, it did make me wonder if there was such a thing as "too much music." It's my own fault, but I found myself too often reaching for the shiny new object (i.e. that week's new releases), and not spending enough time doing a deep dive into those albums which I enjoyed the most.</p><p>By the end of the year, I think I'd figured it out. But there are still going to be a lot of 2020 albums that end up on my "subjects for further research" list. </p><p><b>This </b>list is the list from which my year-end Top Ten will come. That will be, and this is a promise that will be kept, sometime during the holiday break - and definitely sometime before year's end.</p><p>My picks for the best of 2020, with further refinement to come:</p><p>Ashley McBryde, <i>Never Will</i></p><p>Beach Bunny, <i>Honeymoon</i></p><p>Bob Dylan, <i>Rough and Rowdy Ways</i></p><p>Bruce Springsteen, <i>Letter to You</i></p><p>Charli Xcx, <i>how i'm feeling now</i></p><p>Chris Stapleton, <i>Starting Over</i></p><p>Courtney Marie Andrews, <i>Old Flowers</i></p><p>Drive-By Truckers, <i>The Unraveling</i></p><p>Drive-By Truckers, <i>The New OK</i></p><p>Dua Lipa,<i> Future Nostalgia</i></p><p>Emma Swift, <i>Blonde on the Tracks</i></p><p>Fiona Apple, <i>Fetch the Bolt Cutters</i></p><p>Fleet Foxes, <i>Shore</i></p><p>HAIM, <i>Women in Music Pt. III</i></p><p>India Ramey, <i>Shallow Graves</i></p><p>Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, <i>Reunions</i></p><p>Jayhawks, <i>Xoxo</i></p><p>Kathleen Edwards, <i>Total Freedom</i></p><p>Lilly Hiatt, <i>Walking Proof</i></p><p>Lydia Loveless, <i>Daughter</i></p><p>Ondara, <i>Folk 'n Roll Vol. 1: Tales of Isolation</i></p><p>Run the Jewels, <i>RTJ4</i></p><p>Sarah Jarosz, <i>World on the Ground</i></p><p>Soccer Mommy, <i>Color Theory</i></p><p>Sylvia Rose Novak, <i>Bad Luck</i></p><p>Taylor Swift, <i>Folklore</i></p><p>Taylor Swift, <i>evermore</i></p>Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-61102490211869675842020-07-07T14:58:00.001-07:002020-07-07T14:59:33.021-07:00Summer 2020 Album Diary: "Either/Or," Elliott Smith (1997)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"Either/Or" is enjoyable enough as music, but it's impossible to separate the album from the circumstances of the artist who created it.<br />
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For anyone unfamiliar with Elliott Smith, he died in 2003 from two stab wounds to the chest, and it doesn't appear to have ever been fully determined whether it was suicide or homicide. His life had not been an easy one.</div>
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A lot of the album is reminiscent of some of Sufjan Stevens' work, but after a couple of listens I'm not sure it's anywhere as musically interesting. The standout track is "Cupids Trick," which takes the same general approach but adds a dash of mystery to the proceedings (not to mention some additional instrumentation).</div>
Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-43700458322103681842020-07-06T16:36:00.002-07:002020-07-06T16:36:38.468-07:00Summer 2020 Album Diary: "The Belle Album," Al Green (1977)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When Greil Marcus reviewed <i>The Belle Album</i> for <i>Rolling Stone</i> in late 1977, he wrote "...we may someday look back on <i>The Belle Album</i> as Al Green's best..." After more than half a decade of hit singles (and outstanding albums) that one could rightly call "legendary" without engaging in hyperbole, that was a heady claim to make. There were no hit singles from this one, and I honestly don't recall ever having heard any of the album's songs over the course of the 40+ years since its release.<br />
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The shocks I felt when listening to the album for the first time were all happy ones. At first, it felt a little disorienting to hear synthesizer and clavinet on an Al Green record - this was the first album he recorded without longtime producer Willie Mitchell at the helm, and the first without the fantastic crew of Memphis musicians (Al Jackson Jr., Wayne Jackson, several others) who came to represent the "Al Green sound." And then, lo and behold, there's Al Green himself playing a quite mean acoustic guitar!<br />
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And when the album's fourth song, "Georgia Boy," rolled around I realized that it was simply foolish to have waited so long to dive into this one. This certainly fits my definition of a great album. Whether it's his best, as Marcus speculated might be the case in 1977, is a question worth contemplating.Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-67565860505432716372020-07-05T16:07:00.000-07:002020-07-05T16:07:47.747-07:00Summer of 2020 Album Diary: Pacific Ocean Blue, Dennis Wilson (1977)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The point of this project is to write, at least a little bit, about a notable album from the past that I've never listened to all the way through, until setting up a Spotify account.<div>
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Kicking off the series is Dennis Wilson's "Pacific Ocean Blue," released in the late summer of 1977. It was the summer of <i>Star Wars. </i>I was working six days a week at McDonald's, getting ready to begin my senior year of high school. My musical tastes were beginning to expand a bit, mostly with the help of the <i>Rolling Stone</i> Records review section. 1977 was the year I bought my first albums by Talking Heads, Blondie, Ramones and Elvis Costello, but my purchases that year also included <i>Hotel California, Rumours, Aja</i>, and admittedly more than a few albums that are probably best categorized as "forgettable."</div>
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I <i>almost </i>bought this one. It received an excellent review in RS by Billy Altman, who called it "a wonderful and truly touching album." Because I remember this sort of thing, I do remember picking it up in the record store, and perusing the packaging, and mulling it over. For whatever reason, I never ended up walking out of the store with it.</div>
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Listening to it now is a bittersweet experience, because we know how his story ended - Brian would end up being the tortured Wilson brother with a happy ending, not Dennis. But this is excellent work; you can really hear the promise behind Wilson's songs. You can hear the influence of The Beach Boys, but this is not a Beach Boys record. His gravelly voice has a lot of depth, and on songs like "Pacific Ocean Blues," "River Song," and "Rainbows," you can hear both artistic and commercial potential. You can definitely hear why the album has gained supporters in the decades since its original release.</div>
Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-40276655903966948412020-07-03T12:47:00.002-07:002020-07-03T13:13:32.996-07:00Albums of the Half Year: 2020<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here we are in July, which seems impossible. There are times when I can't believe we're coming up on four months since the shutdown began; other times it feels as if the time has flown by. My hair is the longest it's been in my entire life. We celebrated my 60th birthday in April, but needless to say the big party we were planning never quite got off the ground. If it's possible to have a daily out-of-body experience, that's what the first six months of 2020 felt like.<br />
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That feeling could be applied to the year in music as well. The year that is now half over has seen the biggest change in my music listening habits since the mid-1980s, when the vinyl record bins in music stores began to make way for the CD racks. I'd already started buying a lot fewer CDs in the months leading up to 2020, for the simple reason that most of the record stores (yeah, I still call them that) in Sacramento have closed up shop. With the exception of a handful of CDs I bought in the Fall, most of my purchases were MP3 purchases, which went straight into the hard drive and the iPod.<br />
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In February, at the urging of my sons, I finally made the leap to the streaming world, and signed up for a premium Spotify account. The floodgates opened, and haven't closed since. Accustomed to physical media that can be held onto, it's been strange. On the one hand, I haven't bought a single CD since the year began. On the other hand, I've listened to more music in the past six months than, quite possibly, any other time in my entire life. There are times when the sheer volume of availability is overwhelming - <i>what should be listened to today?</i> An old Joni Mitchell or Beach Boys album that I've never heard all the way through, or the new releases by Run the Jewels or Bob Dylan? Or maybe the incredible quarantine playlist from Questlove, which then just sends me down another deep rabbit hole? But if you're going to have a problem, then I suppose this is a good one to have.</div>
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By my count, I've listened, at least once, to 45 newly released albums all the way through. Quite a few of those are records that demand greater attention, and may very well end up in a year-end Top Ten. But for now, I've selected twelve albums that stand above the rest. When, God willing, we look back on this time from a space of normalcy, these are the ones that I'll remember for speaking to the moment.</div>
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In alphabetical order:</div>
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<i>Honeymoon</i>, Beach Bunny. Sounding like the GoGos filtered through "Rocket to Russia," this has been my go-to album when a respite from the real world was most needed. The hook-to-minute ratio is off the charts.</div>
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<i>how i'm feeling now</i>, Charli XCX. Recorded entirely in quarantine, revealing once again that with this artist, there is a lot to be found under the surface.</div>
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<i>The Unraveling</i>, Drive-By Truckers. When I wrote about this album in February, I called it their bravest yet. Little did I know how prescient it would be. </div>
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<i>Rough and Rowdy Ways</i>, Bob Dylan. His first album of original tunes since 2012, and worth the wait. He gave us a taste in the early spring with the almost 17-minute "Murder Most Foul," a musical chameleon - it can be anything you want it to be (sort of like Dylan himself). The rest of the album doesn't quite stand up to that lofty standard, and it will take me a while to fully figure it out, but for now I'm comfortable saying that it's somewhere between "very good" and "epic."</div>
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<i>Walking Proof</i>, Lilly Hiatt. Trinity Lane, her last, was outstanding - but Walking Proof is a quantum leap above anything she's ever done. The entire record is instilled with a sense of confidence on every song - it's probably my #1 album of the year, so far.</div>
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<i>Reunions</i>, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. He and his band just keep getting better and better. And without question, the absolute funniest musical artist to be found on Twitter.</div>
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<i>World on the Ground</i>, Sarah Jarosz. It's hard for me to describe what it is that I find so appealing about this record - there's something about the music that just feels filled with mystery. </div>
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<i>Future Nostalgia</i>, Dua Lipa. It may be going too far to call this one of the best dance records since Madonna's debut, but then again, it may not be.</div>
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<i>Bad Luck</i>, Sylvia Rose Novak. Country punk? Outlaw country? Americana rock? Call it what you will, but it's a great album. </div>
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<i>Folk 'n Roll Vol. 1,</i> J.S. Ondara. Armed with a great backstory, Ondara has written the diary of the first two months of the quarantine, right up until May 25. Here's hoping that Vol. 2 deals with the aftermath of that dark day.</div>
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<i>RTJ4</i>, Run the Jewels. Quoting Robert Christgau here, who gave the album an A+: "Who knows whether this would feel so right absent a historical moment when trying to distinguish rage slavery from righteous anger is a waste of emotional wisdom? With trap on its opiated treadmill, the gangsta sonics that power El-P and Killer Mike's inchoate aggressiveness will feel tonic to anyone with both an appetite for music and a political pulse."</div>
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<i>Color Theory</i>, Soccer Mommy. An emotional maelstrom, from the very first chords.</div>
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And what the heck, here's a few Honorable Mentions that could find their way closer to the top before this dumpster fire of a year is over: <i>Punisher</i>, Phoebe Bridgers; <i>Danzig Sings Elvis</i>; <i>Fetch the Bolt Cutters</i>, Fiona Apple; <i>Saint Cloud</i>, Waxahatchee; <i>Women in Music Part III</i>, HAIM; <i>Chromatica</i>, Lady Gaga; <i>Invisible People</i>, Chicano Batman; <i>Never Will</i>, Ashley McBride; <i>Homegrown</i>, Neil Young; <i>Lamentations</i>, American Aquarium; <i>Gigaton</i>, Pearl Jam; <i>Open Book</i>, Kalie Shorr; S<i>aturn Return</i>, The Secret Sisters; <i>We Still Go to Rodeos</i>; Whitney Rose; <i>Your Life is a Record</i>; Brandy Clark; <i>Alphabetland</i>, X.</div>
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Happy Summer, everyone. Here's hoping the great sounds continue.</div>
Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-40784695530406561042020-05-17T12:50:00.002-07:002020-12-27T14:27:19.232-08:00Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #2 - "Seasons (Waiting on You)," Future IslandsThere have been a lot of great and/or memorable musical performances on late night television over the years - Elvis Costello beginning one song and then storming into "Radio, Radio" in December 1977, Patti Smith delivering a shattering performance of "Gloria" in April 1976. More recently, there were incredible performances from Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar on SNL, and Billie Eilish just last year.<br />
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But however you rank the greatest late night TV performances, this one certainly has to be near the top of the list:<br />
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I think this is what they mean when they talk about leaving it all on the stage. What makes the performance particularly notable is Letterman's reaction to it. He was nearing the home stretch of his legendary late night career by this point, and on most nights was so grumpy and/or disinterested that it was difficult to watch. But his visible joy following Samuel T. Herring's performance was in itself a joy to watch.<br />
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And well earned that joy was. This is a great song, plain and simple, and one of those songs that sounds as exciting and fresh on listen #100 (or 200, 500...) as it did on first listen. <br />
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Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #2 - "Seasons (Waiting on You)," Future Islands.Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32738800.post-25533590938370441742020-05-12T21:12:00.001-07:002020-05-12T21:12:34.706-07:00Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #3 - "Slow Burn," Kacey MusgravesI've commented on this phenomenon elsewhere, but every now and then, you hear a song for the first time and it just takes your breath away. The chills run up your spine, and you just want to keep listening to the song over and over. And when it's the first song on an album, sometimes it takes a while just to get to the second song.<br />
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"Slow Burn" is such a song. When I heard it for the first time, I thought that Kacey Musgraves had captured the Holy Grail, creating a song that was not really country, not really pop, but transcended every category one could conceivably assign to it and reach a level that this artist - great as she has been over the course of three albums - had yet to achieve.<br />
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She will be around for a generation. Let's just hope there is a music industry waiting for her when we emerge on the other side.<br />
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Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #3 - "Slow Burn," Kacey Musgraves.<br />
<br />Jeff Vacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14453383642378380406noreply@blogger.com2