Sunday, August 17, 2003
For the last week or two I’ve been anxiously preparing for my next vacation, a five-day backpacking trip in the Cascade Mountains. Knowing I’ll be spending five days in the wilderness with high school buddy Neal, my wife was kind enough to buy me some more life insurance. Ever thoughtful, she’s also offered to make sure my dental records are up to snuff.
If we survive the hike, we’ll be destined for four days of live music and good microbrews in Seattle at the Bumbershoot Festival. Both the hike and the festival are firsts for me, effectively debunking the myth about old dogs and new tricks.
Enough babbling already. Here’s what’s currently loaded in my CD player:
1 The New Pornographers – The Electric Version
Second trip thru the CD player for this one…..kinda reminds me of 80s new wave, like The Cars meets The Go-Gos or some such thing.
2) Radiohead – Hail To The Thief
I still haven’t warmed up to Radiohead’s latest, but I’m not sure why. I was one of the few fans who preferred the electronic experimentation of the Kid-A and Amnesiac albums to the loud guitars of their earlier work. This one has a little of both.
3) Buddy Miller – Midnight And Lonesome
Buddy Miller will never be a country superstar…. his voice is much more Bob Dylan than Garth Brooks. He’s a great songwriter, though, and he sings like he means it. The swampy gutbucket, kick in the music helps too.
4) Moe. – Recorded live at Bonnaroo Festival 2003-06-15
I downloaded two CDs worth of Moe, my first exposure to this jam band. Results are TBD.
5) Drive-By Truckers – Decoration Day
I was so impressed by the 2001 album Southern Rock Opera that I immediately ordered this latest CD from DBT. At first listen it appears to be much more somber and introspective. I haven’t yet decided if that’s good or bad.
6) Ben Harper – Welcome To The Cruel World
I was very late to discover Ben Harper, as my first exposure was something like his fifth album (Diamonds On The Inside). Fortunately, my colleague Curtis recently hooked me up with Harper’s entire CD catalog. This debut album from ’94 has a lot of folk, a little jazz, some blues and funk and sounds like nothing I’ve heard before. Pretty cool.
TURNTABLE CORNER: Believe it or not, I still have a turntable. These are the most recent albums to cross it.
David Bowie – Heroes
The title cut of this 1977 album is perhaps my favorite Bowie song. The rest of the album sounds a little dated.
The Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
I don’t think I’d listened to this 1983 album since about 1985. Hadn’t missed it all that much either.
Thanks to all of you that have e-mailed using the link at the top of this page. Keep the e-mails coming, as it makes me feel like this is somewhat less of a waste of time.
As you were.
Bruce
If we survive the hike, we’ll be destined for four days of live music and good microbrews in Seattle at the Bumbershoot Festival. Both the hike and the festival are firsts for me, effectively debunking the myth about old dogs and new tricks.
Enough babbling already. Here’s what’s currently loaded in my CD player:
1 The New Pornographers – The Electric Version
Second trip thru the CD player for this one…..kinda reminds me of 80s new wave, like The Cars meets The Go-Gos or some such thing.
2) Radiohead – Hail To The Thief
I still haven’t warmed up to Radiohead’s latest, but I’m not sure why. I was one of the few fans who preferred the electronic experimentation of the Kid-A and Amnesiac albums to the loud guitars of their earlier work. This one has a little of both.
3) Buddy Miller – Midnight And Lonesome
Buddy Miller will never be a country superstar…. his voice is much more Bob Dylan than Garth Brooks. He’s a great songwriter, though, and he sings like he means it. The swampy gutbucket, kick in the music helps too.
4) Moe. – Recorded live at Bonnaroo Festival 2003-06-15
I downloaded two CDs worth of Moe, my first exposure to this jam band. Results are TBD.
5) Drive-By Truckers – Decoration Day
I was so impressed by the 2001 album Southern Rock Opera that I immediately ordered this latest CD from DBT. At first listen it appears to be much more somber and introspective. I haven’t yet decided if that’s good or bad.
6) Ben Harper – Welcome To The Cruel World
I was very late to discover Ben Harper, as my first exposure was something like his fifth album (Diamonds On The Inside). Fortunately, my colleague Curtis recently hooked me up with Harper’s entire CD catalog. This debut album from ’94 has a lot of folk, a little jazz, some blues and funk and sounds like nothing I’ve heard before. Pretty cool.
TURNTABLE CORNER: Believe it or not, I still have a turntable. These are the most recent albums to cross it.
David Bowie – Heroes
The title cut of this 1977 album is perhaps my favorite Bowie song. The rest of the album sounds a little dated.
The Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
I don’t think I’d listened to this 1983 album since about 1985. Hadn’t missed it all that much either.
Thanks to all of you that have e-mailed using the link at the top of this page. Keep the e-mails coming, as it makes me feel like this is somewhat less of a waste of time.
As you were.
Bruce
Sunday, August 03, 2003
Having just returned home after ten days in San Diego, I’m beginning to realize that I’m already looking forward to retirement. Of course, many of my so-called friends would say that I could retire much sooner if I stopped spending so much money on CDs and beer and similar frivolous pursuits. While that may be true, I agreed with the Grateful Dead when they sang “I may be going to hell in a bucket…but at least I’m enjoying the ride”, a great line that is of dubious relevance here. I did pick up a few CDs while dragging my father-in-law through some seedy music stores on Garnet Avenue, and as always I managed to sample many of the local San Diego microbrews. I highly recommend the Karl Strauss Amber, best consumed in large quantities.
Enough babbling. Here’s what’s currently loaded in my CD player:
1) Bryan Ferry – Frantic
Singer Bryan Ferry will likely never match the successes of his former band (Roxy Music’s “Avalon” album remains a personal favorite 20 years after it’s debut), but this latest release showcases his strengths as a vocalist quite nicely. The diverse album includes two Bob Dylan covers, Leadbelly’s “Goodnight Irene”, a few songs written with the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, several Ferry penned originals, and some guitar fireworks by Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood. Ferry is a rarity in that he’s aged very gracefully in an industry that seldom rewards longevity.
2) Fountains of Wayne – Welcome Interstate Managers
3) Fountains Of Wayne – Utopia Parkway
New Jersey based Fountains Of Wayne play a quirky and catchy flavor of disposable guitar pop. “Welcome Interstate Managers” is their third and arguably strongest release; a great summertime pop album. While this stuff has a very short shelf life, it’s one of the best albums I’ve heard this year. I enjoyed the new album so much that I ran out and picked up “Utopia Parkway”, their second album circa 1999. I like their latest one best.
4) Drive-By Truckers – Southern Rock Opera (Disc One)
5) Drive-By Truckers – Southern Rock Opera (Disc Two)
This double CD by up-and-comers the Drive-By Truckers is a concept album that serves as a nostalgic tribute/eulogy of Lynyrd Skynyrd, a well as an interesting commentary on growing up in the South in the seventies. The hard-rocking band features a three-guitar lineup playing an updated version of southern rock. Pretty cool stuff.
6) Joe Jackson – Volume Four
After dabbling in classical music for most of past 15 years, Joe Jackson gathered up his original band-mates circa 1980 to release this pop album. No longer the angry young man he once was, this is a pretty good album nonetheless.
TURNTABLE CORNER: Believe it or not, I still have a turntable. These are the most recent albums to cross it.
Wayne Shorter-Phantom Navigator
Though this may be one of the worst albums the jazz stalwart and ex-Weather Report saxophonist ever released, I still like it somewhat. Admittedly, the mostly electronic backing doesn’t suit him well, and his art peaked with Weather Report long before this album was released in 1986.
Darol Anger & Barbara Higbie - Tideline
Violinist Anger joined pianist Higbie for this all instrumental new-age album released on the Windam Hill label in 1982. Though best described as background music, I find that I play this record as much as any vinyl I own. I’m not sure why.
Thanks to all of you that have e-mailed using the link at the top of this page. Keep the e-mails coming, as it makes me feel like this is somewhat less of a waste of time.
Kedves egeszsegere (that’s “cheers” in Hungarian)!
Enough babbling. Here’s what’s currently loaded in my CD player:
1) Bryan Ferry – Frantic
Singer Bryan Ferry will likely never match the successes of his former band (Roxy Music’s “Avalon” album remains a personal favorite 20 years after it’s debut), but this latest release showcases his strengths as a vocalist quite nicely. The diverse album includes two Bob Dylan covers, Leadbelly’s “Goodnight Irene”, a few songs written with the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, several Ferry penned originals, and some guitar fireworks by Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood. Ferry is a rarity in that he’s aged very gracefully in an industry that seldom rewards longevity.
2) Fountains of Wayne – Welcome Interstate Managers
3) Fountains Of Wayne – Utopia Parkway
New Jersey based Fountains Of Wayne play a quirky and catchy flavor of disposable guitar pop. “Welcome Interstate Managers” is their third and arguably strongest release; a great summertime pop album. While this stuff has a very short shelf life, it’s one of the best albums I’ve heard this year. I enjoyed the new album so much that I ran out and picked up “Utopia Parkway”, their second album circa 1999. I like their latest one best.
4) Drive-By Truckers – Southern Rock Opera (Disc One)
5) Drive-By Truckers – Southern Rock Opera (Disc Two)
This double CD by up-and-comers the Drive-By Truckers is a concept album that serves as a nostalgic tribute/eulogy of Lynyrd Skynyrd, a well as an interesting commentary on growing up in the South in the seventies. The hard-rocking band features a three-guitar lineup playing an updated version of southern rock. Pretty cool stuff.
6) Joe Jackson – Volume Four
After dabbling in classical music for most of past 15 years, Joe Jackson gathered up his original band-mates circa 1980 to release this pop album. No longer the angry young man he once was, this is a pretty good album nonetheless.
TURNTABLE CORNER: Believe it or not, I still have a turntable. These are the most recent albums to cross it.
Wayne Shorter-Phantom Navigator
Though this may be one of the worst albums the jazz stalwart and ex-Weather Report saxophonist ever released, I still like it somewhat. Admittedly, the mostly electronic backing doesn’t suit him well, and his art peaked with Weather Report long before this album was released in 1986.
Darol Anger & Barbara Higbie - Tideline
Violinist Anger joined pianist Higbie for this all instrumental new-age album released on the Windam Hill label in 1982. Though best described as background music, I find that I play this record as much as any vinyl I own. I’m not sure why.
Thanks to all of you that have e-mailed using the link at the top of this page. Keep the e-mails coming, as it makes me feel like this is somewhat less of a waste of time.
Kedves egeszsegere (that’s “cheers” in Hungarian)!
