Well, in the same way that video killed the radio star (and the internet killed the video star), Facebook has totally deep-sixed my need to blog. Ah, our world of instant gratification. Though it’s not as gratifying as it is instant. I certainly am not as addicted as some people I know (hi, honey!), but it does provide a gateway to an immediate audience of friends and family. And since I’m not roaming the third world anymore, my need for the blog format has been deflated. Many things last year have left me deflated…

However – it’s a new year! Congratulations on making it to 2012. You all win a cookie. BUT – I do have a resolution. That resolution is as follows: joy. I have to find it. Joy. Happiness. Peace. It’s out there somewhere. There are methods and programs and yoga positions and various illicit products that are meant to guide me. But I have to find it… or else my doctor says my heart will explode (he exaggerates). So that is the plan. And maybe even writing again will help bring this about. Stop focusing on the problems and look more toward the horizon. Toward light.

So, here is a final rundown of stuff Added to the iPod! I will only give you the new since most of what I added was either old vinyl, classics or magazine compilations. Ready?

Dropkick Murphys – “Going Out In Style” For the title track alone.
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions – “Through the Devil Softly” Surprised it was there and very good.
Thievery Corp – “Culture Of Fear”
Gillian Welch – “The Harrow & The Harvest” All you have heard is true.
M83 – “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” Good stuff.
Tom Waits – “Bad As Me” God.
Low – “C’mon” Wildly underrated band.
The XX – “xx” Who would of thought someone would tap into the Young Marble Giants?
Femi Kuti – “Africa for Africa”
Ana Moura – “Coliseu” Live collection from a great fado singer.
Ha Ha Tonka – “Death of a Decade” Good rock album.
JuJu – “In Trance” World-fusion at its finest.

Let’s hook up again sometime. It is an election year after all. Something interesting may happen. Doubtful, but ya never know. But for now – at the beginnings of 2012 – Gorky signs off.

There are men lost in jail
Crowded fifty to a room
There’s too many rats in this cage of the world
And the women know their place
They sit home and write letters
And when they visit once a year
Well they both just sit there and stare
See how we are
Gotta keep bars in between us
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are

Now there are seven kinds of Coke
500 kinds of cigarettes
This freedom of choice in the USA drives everybody crazy
But in Acapulco
Well they don’t give a damn
About kids selling Chiclets with no shoes on their feet
See how we are
“Hey man, Whats in it for me?”
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are

Well this morning the alarm rang at noon
And I’m trying to write this letter to you
About how much I care and why I just can’t be there
To draw your bath and comb…and comb your hair
Last night in a nightspot
Where things aren’t so hot
My friend said, “I met a boy and I’m in love”
I said, “Oh really… What’s this one’s name?”
She said, “His first name is Homeboy”
I said “Could his last name be Trouble?”
See how we are
Hey girl – I wouldn’t trust you as far as I can throw you
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are

Now that highway’s coming through
So you all gotta move
This bottom rung ain’t no fun at all
Now fires and rockhouses and grape-flavored rat poison
Are the new trinity
For this so-called community
See how we are
Gotta keep bars on all of our windows
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
Yeah see how we are

So – musically – I been doin’ pretty well. Graham Parker, Garland Jeffreys, Godspeed You Black Emperor, P J Harvey, Southside Johnny and Little Steven in Asbury Park and now Paul. Coming up: X, Portishead and M83.

Also – I will be onstage again in August, doing my first Tennessee Williams, “Suddenly Last Summer”.

More music news –

My Limited Edition CD of Lamb‘s first recording in eight years (?) has arrived! They asked their fanbase to help by pre-ordering the record… so of course I did. Loved this band! Saw them twice in NYC – once at the Mercury lounge and the other time in Central Park. Drum ‘n bass but with Louise Rhodes beautiful vocals and lyrics riding over Andy Barlow’s beats and instrumentation. So those of us who pre-ordered (2800) get this cool package with two discs and photos and a poster with ALL OUR NAMES! AND the first 250 (I was 87) get another poster with all the lyrics signed by Lou. The album, called “5″, is really strong. Hopefully they will come back to the States soon.

God, I’m old….

Anyway, the show was very good but not extraordinary. All of Ms. Harvey’s records are very different in tone and I had not heard the new one – “Let England Shake”. Luckily, the new record (and a few more) made up the first half of the concert. Backed by a low-key three piece, Ms. Harvey came out in a long, white cotton dress and a black headpiece – looking somewhat like a British wood nymph. She then – in her sweetest upper register – proceeded to sing rather short songs about a failing England, war, bloodshed and “the dark places”. The juxtaposition between the brightness of the music and the stark images that filled the songs was intense. Usually her songs are focused inward, but these – though not overtly political – are really drawing from a sadness that comes from looking around at the world and your country and seeing the mess we’re in. I thought it was great (of course). For the second half of the show, she dug into her previous seven albums (20 years worth of songs) and played more recognizable tunes for her fans. But the nature of this show was definitely more subdued than other performances I had read about over the years. Depending on the material, there can be a swagger and tension to her performances and since I had never seen her before, I kind of hoped I would get a glimpse of that. But, when it seemed obvious that she wasn’t going to open the throttle, I decided that 90 minutes was enough. So me and my weary knees limped off to catch the bus home.

Happy Easter and Passover to everyone!

First – Sunday in Asbury Park. I couldn’t even really remember who we were supposed to be seeing. Kerry asked me at the beginning of the week – “Do you want to go to Asbury Park Sunday night? Concert blah blah blah, Smithsonian blah blah blah, Max Weinberg blah at the Paramount?” Sure I said. A date night with music at Asbury Park. I’d find out the rest when I go there. Turns out it was called the “New Harmonies Concert” celebrating American roots music with a focus on the heritage of the Jersey Shore (and no – Bruce did not play). It was meant to celebrate the opening of an exhibit focusing on American music being staged by the Smithsonian at the local library. The Paramount is a nice, old-time theater that has seen better days and obviously publicity for this thing was non-existent because the place was barely three quarters full. And that is a shame because folks missed an excellent show! The audience was treated to a wonderful gospel choir, a blue-grass band (celebrating the 100th anniversary of Bill Munroe’s birth), a folk artist (Steve Forbert – odd guy), and a local jazz ensemble (meh). For the second half, we kicked off with some local “doo wop” guys with Nick Addeo bringing out Billy Brown to sign “Love On A Two-Way Street” and one of the original Orioles to sing “Crying In The Chapel” (and he had his old orange tuxedo for the occasion!). The band Steel Mill – which used to feature Bruce as on lead vocals and guitar – came out to do some late 60s jam music (think Spinal Tap and “Stonehenge”). The finale was a quartet of blues guitar players of the electric variety. Now – I’m not from the area, but as these guys came out, the rest of the audience seemed to remember. Billy Hector and Sonny Kenn led the way, with Chuck Lambert and Matt O’Ree filling in and we had rotating blues guitar solos for the next 45 minutes. Great stuff! Then out came Max, Southside Johnny and Bobby Bandiera and the band jammed until it was time to go. All in all – a whole lot of fun.

Monday… well, first dinner! I knew who I was seeing. So – how do you prepare for such a concert? You need to first remove the work day from your shoulders and loosen up. Obviously, I didn’t have anything “mind altering” to use as when I was young. I decided I needed a martini before the show. Now – you can’t eat just anything with a martini. And a burger or pizza would be too heavy anyway. Figured I would go down to the area where the concert was being held and hope to find something. As luck would have it – I got on the wrong train. Instead of stopping at Columbus Circle, it went down express to 72nd Street. So I walked – looking for just the right place. Once I got passed Lincoln Center, I was starting to worry until suddenly – on my right – there is a little storefront bistro(WHYM). Open and with a real bar and serving interesting little appetizers. In short – I got my martini and a lovely tuna tartare and was on my way.

Monday’s show was Godspeed You! Black Emperor. This is a Canadian ensemble who have been on sabbatical since 2001. They have produced only two albums and two EPs. They play sort of an industrial rock chamber music – twenty minute long pieces that ebb and flow and bludgeon. It was unique and underground back in the late 90s and have spawned numerous imitators (Explosions In The Sky being one). On Sunday, the crowd was friendly, mostly white, over 40 and split 50/50 into male and female. As I found my spot for the night at Terminal 5 (WAY down on West 56th), I smiled at how different this evening’s crowd was. We’re talking 75% male, mainly with beards, glasses and wool caps (at least I don’t own a wool cap). All were in college when the last album dropped (2000) or younger. And we were packed to the walls. The band came out in the dark – with only the light from the video screen and a faint red glow washing the stage. They do not talk to the audience. They don’t introduce themselves or wave. They sit down and play. There are two percussionists, a bass player, a woman on violin and four guitar technicians who can create a whirlwind of sound. Each piece starts slow and soft and builds line by line until it breaks into a sonic tidal wave before dropping the listener someplace else. That’s how it felt – being lifted and tumbled in the air and brought to rest on a different shore. Many of the pieces – and accompanying videos – tend to be a bit tense and frightening. Only the opening salvos from their last LP “Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven” carried a feeling of hope. They played for two and a half hours and I was exhausted. First, my calves were killing me. Second – as the NY Times reviewer said this morning – this kind of music takes stamina. Like standing in the water at Sandy Hook and body surfing – the waves carry you then pummel you into the ground. Also a whole lot of fun, but in a very different way.

“A Colbert Christmas” – Let me start by saying that any self-respecting Christmas music fanatic MUST own these songs. They are hilarious, a worthy addition to your Christmas traditions and another triumph from Comedy Central.
Mogwai – “Special Moves” Mogwai are an instrumental band from Scotland and this is a live album of their sound. What I call “soundtrack music”. Inner landscape music. The opening track is called “I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead”. What more do you want?
The National – “High Violet” Local Brooklyn boys who I have been hearing about for years. This is their latest. “Bloodbuzz Ohio” is one of my favorite tunes of the year.
The Cinematic Orchestra – “Ma Fleur” Again soundtrack music, but gorgeous jazz-techno. There’s a beautiful vocal on “To Build A Home”.
The Hold Steady – “Almost Killed Me” This is their first record. Totally bar band stuff and Craig Finn seems to yell the band’s name in every song. But it rocks and is edgy and the lyrics are cool.
The Screaming Blue Messiahs – “Totally Religious” An Ebay purchase on vinyl because none of their albums are on CD. This is sadly their last record (1989). The SBMs rock hard and Bill Carter was a guitar god. I saw them at the Paradise in Boston. Check them out on YouTube and you’ll understand.
The Pretenders – “Learning To Crawl” I didn’t have it. Total oversight.
The Neats – “The Ace of Hearts Collection” All of it! The entire Neats output! One of Boston’s best local bands.
Azam Ali – “Elysium For the Brave” Born in Iraq, raised in India, lives in LA. Sounds right, doesn’t it? The first record I had of hers was more in the Hildegard von Bingen vein (look it up). This earlier record is very smoky and groovy as she sings in Arabic, English and French in SUCH a beautiful voice. There are two re-mix EPs of this on iTunes which look like fun.
“Six Feet Under Volume 1” and “The Social Network” Real soundtracks and very good. The main themes of the TV show are included here- opening credits and the Lamb song from one season’s promos.
Late Night Tales – This has become one of my favorite compilation series. They get a band to pick their favorite late night or “chill out” tunes and program the CD. I have a few of them but the last two – one by Four Tet and the other by Cinematic Orchestra – I could only get as imports. Mellow and intricate and they make a two hour drive pass in no time.

Lastly – the sad state of affairs in the world of music. If you’re like me (or not) you have seen a few “Top 10” lists of 2010 and many of them listed two albums as the best: Kanye West- “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” and LCD Soundsystem – “This Is Happening”. So I felt an obligation to listen to these records. And…. I’m sorry. Much like Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” – which I have heard twice now and still don’t get – I’m not impressed. Some of West’s album is catchy and fun. But it’s not some magnum opus. And the first LCD record is 10 times better than the recent one. Frankly, I find the new album to be pretty lazy. But these are the three best albums of 2010?? That just tells you how much new music sucks these days. So I don’t want to see another article in Rolling Stone or anywhere else bemoaning the sad state of CD sales. All the record companies can burn in hell until they stop giving us auto-tuned, half-assed, badly written lame crap every year.

So say I.

So – needless to say – I have been tracking and setting up a number of concerts for the new year. Months ago, I bought tickets for Godspeed You! Black Emperor! on March 14th. They’ve been off the scene for years. On Feb. 26th, Kerry and I see Garland Jeffreys and Graham Parker playing acoustic at a church in Chatham, New Jersey (Graham lives around there). Tomorrow, tickets for one Polly Jean (PJ) Harvey go on sale for a show in April. I’ve always wanted to see her live. And – most fun of all – is a discovery that the “All Tomorrows Parties” festival is coming to Asbury Park in October. The curator (and headliner) for these shows will be Portishead, who haven’t performed in the states in at least six years. Or since I grew to like them. They are bound to pull a great lineup of bands.

More are sure to be on the way. And – yes – I did get my larger iPod for Christmas. And I have been filling it….

This city never ceases to amaze me…

But let me rant first. I for one am very grateful for the Beatles being on iTunes. Now, I have most of the CDs and vinyl and have transferred both. But occasionally, you need a particular song. And being born and bred on the single – the 45 – iTunes is perfect for filling that gap. Of course, with the arrival of the Beatles catalogue came the usual group of naysayers talking about never giving their songs away online and the sanctity of the album. Prince – no one’s listening to your stuff anyway. You’re over. AC/DC – you make albums? Really? Then why is half the music so forgettable? But my real response is – where are the freaking record stores?? Wal-Mart? Target? Not on your life. Look at the list below. Where am I supposed to get these things? If I read a review or hear something on a sampler (renewed my Songlines subscription), what am I – as a consumer – supposed to do? Run to Amazon for the shipping charges, rip the CD into my library and let the plastic collect dust in my closet? Where is the sense to that? I need the MUSIC – not the packaging (unless we’re talking vinyl). And there is literally no outlet for that wide a variety of music. Face it – the digital giants (iTunes and Amazon) provide a valuable service. Where else can a guy like me have access to EVERYTHING – except AC/DC?

Buika – “Nina De Fuego” Have been reading about this woman for a while. Former Tina Turner impersonator in Vegas a long time ago, Buika is one of the premiere Spanish singers. A sultry rich voice that leaves an impression whether she is singing flamenco, jazz, soul or standards. Supposedly a big favorite of Almodovar and used in a few of his films.
Kings Of Leon – “Come Around Sundown” Yeah, they are shooting high. But so what? This is big music with some depth. It may not all work, but the good spots are worth the price of admission. Check out Radioactive, Back Down South and Pickup Truck. Best American music out there right now.
Neil Young – “Le Noise” Neil. An electric Guitar. A big room. Reverb. What could be bad?
Black Dub – Speaking of Daniel Lanois… I read a review of his band playing in NYC last week AND ITUNES HAD THE RECORD! Brian Blade on drums and Trixie Whitley (daughter of the late Chris Whitley) on vocals. Rock, blues, funk and New Orleans jazz with some astounding guitar sounds adding more than atmosphere. This is a must have.
Anne Akiko Myers – “Seasons.. Dreams…” A beautiful violinist and gorgeous sounds. And I met her last week!
Feufollet – “En Couleurs” Nothing like some hot, fun Cajun music – all sung in the local patois.
Henryk Gorecki – “Symphony No. 3” A famous Polish composer, in honor of his recent passing.

“You think it might
Turn out all right
After the fighting
You’re sweeter than me

You think that people
Aren’t truly evil
That peace will come
You’re sweeter than me

Help me out
Help me out
I’ve come unveiled

Without the veil my resources fail
I suck onto you and leech your sweetness
This pilot fish will grant one wish
As long as it’s unrealistic

Help me out
Help me out
I’ve come unveiled

Kundalini slide up my spine
And blow my mind
Let me see this dying rock shine

Will this happen in my lifetime
Will I see it shine

And the doors of the church blow wide
And there’s nothing but fear inside
And the doors of the temple blow wide
And there’s nothing but fear inside
And the doors of the mosque
Blow wide
And there’s nothing but fear inside

And it’s not going to be all right..”

After “The Needle and The Damage Done” – sung note for note by the VERY young audience – he and the band tear through “Rockin’ In The Free World”. It’s loud. It’s angry. It’s political. And it rocks hard. And all I keep thinking is – WHY CAN’T ANY YOUNG BAND DO THIS SHIT??!! I mean, Neil sings: “A thousand points of light for the homeless man/ We have a kinder and gentler machine gun hand”. HAS ANYTHING CHANGED? No – it hasn’t. Everything he is singing about is still where this country is. So where is the anger? Where is the passion – the desire? Every time I see a new band, they seem more interested in their clothes and cleverness than the good, solid raw emotion that this country needs.

Why is it always up to the old guys – like Neil and Bruce? Where are the balls?! When is punk coming back??

The Grip Weeds – “Strange Change Machine” From Jersey! This four piece has been around since 1994 and have been a staple on Little Steven’s Underground Garage. This latest is a two-disc bit of great, summer power-pop with a splash or two of psychedelia. If you have been missing a band like the Posies in their heyday, grab this record immediately. The lead off track “Speed Of Life” is their calling card.
Chemical Brothers – “Further” Sliding back into their old dance floor grooves, this is an excellent effort by the Bros. – much better than their last disc. There are less vocals here, but the beats are much tastier. Perfect for working out.
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – Their new self-titled is a disappointment. Seems to be a bid for pop stardom. All shiny and… blonde. But the songs aren’t as strong and it all feels just a bit calculated. Can’t blame them for trying, though.
Scott Walker – “The Drift” Have had it for a while but just got up the nerve to add it to the mix. Think Brecht meets Jacque Brel in front of a painting by H.R. Giger. Honestly – I can’t describe what this sounds like. There is a song here about Elvis talking to his still-born brother Jesse. A dark beauty – and the CD packaging is very nice.
Four Tet – “There Is Love In You” Though I have heard them before, this is the first disc I own. Actually – again – Four Tet is not a group but a guy, Kieran Hebden. The record is nice – a very chill piece of electronica.
Vivaldi – “The Four Seasons” Sir Neville and the Academy. Surprised I didn’t have it already.

The best, though, are two classic comedy records: Woody Allen’s “Standup Comic” and Bill Cosby’s “I Started Out As A Child”. There is not much to say about the Cosby album, except that it must have been one of the few records we had at home as a kid. All the brothers memorized each bit and would regale the adults with these comic gems while at the same time rolling on the floor laughing (a good comic never laughs at his own jokes… unless you’re Seinfeld). I had to search for the Woody Allen CD and again Ebay came through. These are classic bits from his brief stint doing standup. At one of the gigs, Woody mentions he had just finished filming What’s New Pussycat so he was a the top of his game. The moose joke is my favorite.