For those of you with a jones for the sounds of the 70′s, check out Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers who have been uploading their “Van Jam” Sessions on youtube while on the road between gigs. And if you can dig it, check them out at www.nickibluhm.com.
Coming from a seventy year-old drummer/ vocalist with a performance career spanning six decades, nobody would have guessed that Levon Helm’s Grammy winning solo album “Dirt Farmer” (2007) would wind up looking like a skinnied-down prelude to his subsequent and most recent release, “Electric Dirt” (2009 Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard Records). Lucky for us, Helm continues to evolve musically, this time interpreting a broader pastiche of traditional American music, sung in the rasping and fearless voice of true American grit. Continue reading
August 1st, 1981, 12:01am. Daniel Johnston’s elderly mother nods off in the living room recliner of her West Virginia home. The walls flicker to the constant tearing sound of her TV, which is broadcasting snow. With a flash the TV blinks back to life. An announcer says the words “Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll,” followed by a screeching electric guitar riff. The mother’s heart jumps. She’s been startled. She hunkers out of her chair, shuffles her slippered feet over to the television and shuts it off. She heads upstairs to bed, annoyed, unaware that she has just witnessed a landmark moment in the history of the music industry. She is among the first viewers of a newly burgeoning cable network called MTV. Continue reading
The Black Keys have been on a steady path toward rock stardom since entering the scene in 2002 with “The Big Come Up.” Their fifth and latest album “Attack and Release” (2008), debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at #14 and has made it into the ‘Best Albums of 2008’ reviews on many blogs and other publications such as Rolling Stone and NPR. But as Dan Auerbach, lead singer and lead guitar player for the rock duo, is set to release his solo debut album “Keep It Hid” on February 10th, 2009, we may be about to witness the curtain fall on this gritty and soulful blues/rock act for the last time. Continue reading
Well, in the spirit of Christmas, let me just say that if I’m forced to listen to ‘Oh Come, All Ye Faithful,’ ‘Joy to the World,’ or ‘Deck the Halls’ one more time, I’m going to stab myself in the ear with a fork. I know, I can be a bit of a cynic, a Grinch, but I’m not alone.
I was making a purchase at a Lowe’s home improvement store yesterday and there was a young girl there working the register. She wore glasses and had a kind of entry-level-Goth feel. As she was ringing me up, the store’s corporate-issued Christmas Carol playlist kicked in over the PA system with ‘The Most Wonderful Day of The Year.’ The girl gave an abrupt sigh Continue reading
I’ve studied the history of audio recording at great length. In the beginning there was a guy named Edison … and next came mp3s, right? Seriously though, since the invention of the phonograph in 1877, the history of recorded sound and media formatting has been a constant evolution of technology and innovation. In the past 121 years we have witnessed the rise and inevitable fall of many media formats and playback devices including the gramophone (1888), flexible vinyl records (1945), open reel to reel audio tape (1948), the stereo 8 track cartridge (1965), compact cassette (1962), and the compact disc (1982). But in today’s age of digital file formats, and at a time when CD sales are spiraling toward a fantastic and fiery demise, vinyl records remain in demand by many musicians and hard-to-please music aficionados. Continue reading
In November 2008, the foremost online resource for popular music commentary and emerging musical trends, Pitchfork, hit the bookshelves with the ultimate mix-tape track list – a lineup of the 500 best songs spanning the years 1977-2006, published by Simon and Schuster. Opening the list with David Bowie’s “Heroes” (1977) and closing it out with Panda Bear’s “Bros” (2006), Pitchfork dubs the publication “The Pitchfork 500; Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present.” Continue reading
I decided to reinvigorate my interest in traditional folk music with a ticket to see Tim O’Brienplay at the Carnegie Lecture Hall in Oakland last Saturday, December 13th 2008. A 2006 Grammy winner for Best Traditional Folk Album, O’Brien has been touted by PBS as ‘The best songwriter we have.’ Performing more than 20 songs ranging from Irish jigs played on the bouzouki, to his politically humorous banjo tune ‘World of Trouble,’ to his classic fiddle cover of Bill Monroe’s gospel favorite ‘Working on a Building,’ O’Brien made perfectly clear his mastery of the genre and his admiration of the artists that have preceded him. Continue reading
