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
