Good music: Mekons, TMBG, Black Francis
Some new music I’ve been enjoying from three artists/bands whose work I’ve been following since the mid or late ’80s: The Mekons, “Natural”: Their last collection of new material, “OOOH,” was an...
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“Heretic Pride” from the Mountain Goats
Earlier this week I received my (pre-ordered) copy of the new Mountain Goats CD, “Heretic Pride.” My enthusiasm for the music of John Darnielle now dates back four years, and this is one infatuation...
View ArticleSinging in Code
OK, this one is just for plain fun: it’s the first Wordyard playlist. When I was planning my campaign of global domination for Dreaming in Code I had visions of a multimedia onslaught. I’d pull...
View ArticleFeelies redivivus
I discovered only by chance that Glenn Mercer, one of the key figures in one of my favorite bands of all time, the Feelies, put out a new solo album last year. This led me on a whole rediscovery-tour...
View ArticleRichard Thompson’s work songs
For the past few years I have been making a pilgrimage to Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, through what are inevitably cold December rains, for solo acoustic shows by Richard Thompson. (I wrote about the...
View ArticleWhen MP3 was young
In early 2000 I got a call from a producer at Fresh Air, asking if I’d like to contribute some technology commentary. Fresh Air is, to my mind, one of the very best shows on radio, so yes, I was...
View ArticleThe decade in tunes
I’m not interested in the argument over whether this new year’s marks the end of the decade-with-no-name. Since we celebrated the end of the millennium 10 years ago, I think we’re stuck. And you can...
View Article“Failsafe” is an oxymoron: BP’s Gulf spill and the St. Francis Dam
I listened to this interview yesterday with BP director Robert Dudley on the News Hour: ROBERT DUDLEY: …The blowout preventers are something that are used on oil and gas wells all over the world, every...
View ArticleMore songs about whistling
There is nothing quite as catchy as a great pop song that deploys whistling. I was reminded of this truth last night at a show by the New Pornographers last night at Oakland’s majestic Fox Theater,...
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“Perfecting Sound Forever”: great book on history of recording
I’ve written a bit here about the curse of over-compression in recorded music: For those of us already unhappy with the music industry’s bungling of the transition to digital distribution, here’s...
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