Added to Ipod (almost)

June 16, 2009 | Filed Under Music | 1 Comment

Rejoice Boston music fans!

Per a comment on this blog (thanks for the tip Steve!), I learned that a CD of Private Lightning dropped Today! A total of 21 tracks – half which never saw the light of day and including “Geneva”, which I think I only heard in concert.

Amazon is sending one home for my arrival…

Goodies

May 14, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Music | 2 Comments

My lovely wife was able to send me a box of goodies to the hotel! It contained three boxes of Girl Scout Cookies (can’t get them in Kuwait), two cool books of short stories, some papers to sign and my CD from the Czech Republic.

Yes – I said from the Czech Republic. It is a CD of the revolutionary band The Plastic People of the Universe. I read Tom Stoppard’s play Rock ‘N Roll, which was about the summer of love, communism and the Prague Spring. The Plastic People feature prominently in the play as the symbol of revolution against the Russian invasion. They were fans of Zappa and the Mothers, the Velvet Underground and the Fugs. A bunch of fairly communal hippy activists who the regime could not shut up no matter how hard they tried. I found this CD on Ebay and it is a recording of some live performances from 1976-77. This is right around the time many of the underground and member of the band were sent to jail for disturbing the peace.

I can’t wait to hear it!

Last Night

April 26, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Music | No Comments

The final night was my shortest night – because I had to go to work the next day. But it was still pretty great. I caught the tail end of Paprika Balkanicus from Romania playing traditional tunes from the whole Balkan region. Sort of a gypsy party band. Then came the amazing percussionist Trilok Gurtu (India) and his multi-ethnic band playing his brand of fusion. Very cool performance AND I got to meet him earlier in the day in the lobby of my hotel (he is one of the reasons I came to this festival). My last act for the night was British guitarist Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara – master of the Gambian griot (sounds like a fiddle). These two fused rock and African rhythms for a hot set of classic blues/rock – fronted by a young man named Robert Plant. He was not even on the bill three weeks ago, but the duo had worked with Plant and invited him down for the gig. Since it was all blues, you can say America finally had a chance to rock at the festival.

The most interesting thing each night was my walk back to the hotel – nearly 40 minutes each night along the Corniche. A “corniche” is defined in some Arab countries as a waterfront promenade which parallels a major roadway. That is what they have in Abu Dhabi. One side is right along the water. The city side is something else. The first two nights, I was walking back around midnight or later. What struck me was how alive the Corniche was. Not with concert goers – but with families and couples. Little picnics everywhere. Teenagers playing soccer. A father flying a kite with his little girl. Why were they out so late? Because it is BLOODY HOT during the day. And the breeze off the water and the grass and the dark made everything so cooled. The landscape of the Corniche is the best I have ever seen. Brilliantly planned and executed. There is light – but not too much. Playgrounds dot the landscape and each with different playsets. There is grass and there a trees and there are hedges to create quiet little private areas along the walk. And it is not just flat – there are small hills all along the trail. And fountains! One unique to the next. Everything spaced out perfectly for intimacy and togetherness. There are even walkways under the main roads so you don’t have to risk playing with traffic. Sometimes I would just see people on a bench – by themselves – in the dark. Just to relax.

Relax. You have the right to relax.

There is talk of sending me out to this office. Let’s see…

Friday Night

April 24, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Music | No Comments

You may ask why I am such a fanatic about music. I believe music is our best hope for peace. Our best hope for equality. Our best hope for freedom.

Take tonight. This crowd was took the word diversity to new levels. There were women in abayas and women in tank tops and shorts. Men in t-shirts, suit jackets and dishdashas. The ages were from 6 to 60 ALL NIGHT LONG. We were Muslim and Christian and Hindu. Countries in attendance included Germany, Pakistan, Tunisia, Jordan, India, England, America, Russia, Nigeria, France and dozens of others. We all danced. We all took photos. We all shouted with joy. We smiled at each other.

Two stages were set at either end of the beach. No performance began until the other had ended. When I came in, we had Abdullah Chhadeh from Syria on the North Stage. Then we went across the sand to Iran and the Kamkars with their traditional Kurdish music. Then to Niger for the hypnotic grooves of Etran Finatawa. Back across the sand to China and the eclectic sights and sounds of the lovely Sa DingDing. Finally we finish in Senegal and the joyous Youssou N’Dour.

At one point in the evening, we watched as small paper hot air balloons appeared over the top of the stage and dotted the night sky. Soon, about twenty hovered over us and then floated out toward the city.

Bring everyone out here. It’s our best hope.

Thursday in Abu Dhabi

April 23, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Music | No Comments

Heck of a day, I tell you.

First I had to work. Not only are the auditors here asking me questions I don’t know (like “Why weren’t last year’s adjustments posted?”), but my CEO suddenly calls to ask why my boss isn’t there and why he hasn’t answered her emails (he was visiting her in the Abu Dhabi office but didn’t tell her). After answering her voluminous emails and the auditor questions, I finally got out around 3:30 to catch my plane. Plenty of time since my flight was at six and the airport is only 20 minutes from the office.

Unfortunately, all the “long term” parking was full. There was TONS of hourly parking, but you can’t leave you car there for the night. So I drove the car back to the apartment (10 minutes) and stood out on the street to get a taxi. A guy stopped and picked me up. Not a proper cab, but that happens out here. Then we had to find someone who spoke English because he didn’t understand “airport”. Again – not the first time this has happened. They just drive until they see someone outside and stop and ask them if they understand what I am saying. Luckily that didn’t take long and I was off to the airport.

Now, my reservation said I was on Kuwait Airways… operated by Etihad (a different airline). But it said I was at the Kuwait Airways terminal – so I lined up with a bunch of other people who were transporting massive boxes and roped-tied packages to whatever third world country they were off to (and me with my little carry on). Made it through despite all the Kuwaitis cutting in front and went to the next line for check-in. Nothing on the screens said Abu Dhabi. Quickly, I asked someone directing traffic and had to run to the other terminal.

The airport now is packed – lots of people flying, lots of people lingering and many F-ing carts of luggage and boxes (people out here do NOT pack light). I get to the counter just as it is closing and the guy says I should go through the business class side (I’m economy) because it is so late. So I listen to him. And I get sent back to the economy line. A very long line. Finally made it through the next two security stops and run to the gate.

Got into the hotel a little after nine and went up to the room number on my key… to find someone there already. They had written down the wrong room number. So I sat on my butt for about an hour, cleaned up and thought I could just walk over to the concert since I was right near the water. Actually, it turned out to be a 35 minute walk. I got there to see the end of Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali from Pakistan (nephews of Nusreh Fateh Ali Khan) and the “King of Rai” music Khaled from Algeria. I liked Khaled and he had this very young crowd rockin’ But after three songs, I realized I had a 40 minute walk back and I was beat.

Tomorrow, I will do better…. After being fortified in the afternoon with brunch (a ‘roast’) at the local Irish pub.

Kuwait Jazz Festival

April 18, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Music | 2 Comments

I actually went out! In Kuwait! Who’da thunk it?

The Radisson SAS Hotel (the SAS as we call it) held the 4th annual Kuwait Jazz Festival this week and I went to two of the three nights. It was held on the terrace of one of the restaurants there. A very nice place to see music – open and perfectly set up. Except for a few raindrops on Wednesday and a dusty Thursday, it was a very pleasant couple of evenings. The audience (not full either night) was about 90% non-Arab. But just listening you heard Russians, Australians, Germans, British, American and the event was sponsored by the Polish Embassy and the Netherlands Embassy.

Wednesday night was jazz singer/pianist Karen Edwards and Polish guitarist Jarek Śmietana and his trio. Thursday was Egyptian saxophone player Chris Ioannou and his band. Now, both groups were very good and excellent musicians (though I wasn’t impressed with Karen Edwards). But all the music became very… bland. Each night, we were given standards – and I mean SERIOUS standards. Tunes you have heard a BILLION times. And they were done proficiently and professionally. But there was very little life to it all. The composition of all the songs began to blend into each other after a while. The guitarist was very good so I picked up one of his discs at the door: “Out Of The Question” by the Jarek Śmietana Band. Now THAT is what I was hoping for! Recorded live in Kraków, this record sizzles and bops like good jazz should. It is literate and fun and takes you places. Which begs the question: Did these guys have to “dumb down” for their audience?

I have much higher hopes for next weekend when I will be attending the WOMAD Festival in Abu Dhabi. I only heard of this happening because I read Songlines magazine. Over the three day free festival on the Corniche, I will be seeing dozens of artists including Youssou N’Dour (Senegal), Trilok Gurtu (India), Sa Dingding (China), Dulsori (Korea) and numerous others. And – supposedly – Robert Plant will be showing up on the last night. I think I can avoid bland here….

Added to iPod – fin

April 10, 2009 | Filed Under Music | 8 Comments

Finally….

King Crimson – “Beat” Mainly because I couldn’t find Discipline.
Otis Redding – An anthology of all his songs.
Neko Case – “Middle Cyclone” I really like her sound and her writing has is terrific. Her best yet.
Guano Apes – “Live” Keep your Evanescence! If I need a hard rock group with a female front man, it will be this quartet from Germany. Nothing fancy – just a rock band and Sandra Nasic’s vocals can be soft or shredding, depending on the song. Plus I just love the band’s name.
Chicago Transit Authority – Self-titled. Before they morphed into the soft rock of Chicago. A classic from 1969 that stills sounds great today.
Transglobal Underground – “Dream of 100 Nations” With Natacha Atlas on vocals. From 1993, they must have invented the mix of world music and electronic beats. Global Groove music.
Charles Mingus – “Pithecanthropus Erectus” One of his finest moments.
Bette Midler – “Live At Last” It’s a theater thing. Don’t ask.

And that should do it. I started this blog with a library of 5,500 songs. I am now over 13,000. Over a month’s worth of music. I don’t know what more I can pick up. I have all the old stuff and new stuff is so few and far between. I may go through and add a single here and there – but that will be all for a quite a while until someone starts making decent new music.

Added to iPod

March 21, 2009 | Filed Under Music | No Comments

And of course I picked up music in Paris! A shout out to Crocodisc on the Rue des Écoles. Tons of vinyl (which I stayed away from with great willpower) AND Cds. Most of this stuff has not reached the States.

Indochine – “Paradize” A big French New Wave band back in the ‘80s. This was their 2002 comeback disk. Think Depeche Mode in French…
Silent Poets – “To Come…” Probably one of the best chillout disks I’ve heard. These are two Japanese guys mixing and programming and – sadly – they are defunct. The CD package is a limited edition features some moving photos taken in Khabarovsk, Russia. (I don’t know why…)
Tom Waits – “Live In Austin:Romeo Is Bleeding” I never heard of this release before, but there it was at Virgin Records in Paris. From the Blue Valentine tour.
Anaïs – “The Cheap Show” and “The Love Album” I read a little bit about this singer on Amazon before I left, so this was just a shot in the dark. Wow. Anaïs is an immensely talented young French singer (and pretty good in English, too). The Cheap Show is her debut album recorded live with just her, a guitar and a tape loop box. She is passionate and fun, with a great sense of rhythm and a damn good sense of humor. Reminded me a bit of Imogen Heep, but with all the funk and ‘tude of Ani DiFranco. She can be wistful, but she ain’t gonna take your shit! The Love Album was produced by well known hip-hop auteur Dan the Automator (Gorillaz) and though it has some beats, it also shows AnaÏs well versed in pop music. It even has a lovely duet with Chris Isaak. Why are we subjected to all these tween gas bags when they are singers like this out there? Why???
Nitin Sawhney – “London Underground” and “Prophesy” I read about this man’s recent CD in Songlines. Turned out I had a few songs from him on the iPod from different techno disks. But neither tags are correct. In fact – tags do not function here. Nitin Sawhney is writer, producer, arranger, programmer, piano player, guitar player – but mainly we are talking about the “vision thing” here. Sure – maybe Prophesyhangs a bit closer to the techno moniker. More world beat, if you want to call it that. But basically these records are journeys. Point A to point Z and everything in between. London Underground is about London and ALL its people. A piece of R & B fades to some hip-hop poetry fades to a wonderful vocal by Sir Paul McCartney into a slice of the Arab world that’s moves into a gorgeous Chinese lyric backed by classical piano and ends with a duet with Anoushka Shankar. Can’t describe it. You can only listen to it as the work of an artist who understands and cares about his world.

And it’s NOT on iTunes and it’s NOT released in the States. Some crimes leave me speechless.

Added to iPod

February 21, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Music | 2 Comments

Happy birthday to me.

National Day is coming up next week, which means a four day weekend. So I’m celebrating the holiday and my birthday in Paris with Kerry. Winter rates are EXCELLENT in this economy. I must say, it will be nice to eat cooked Food again. I am living like a bachelor, after all.

Jeff Beck – “Performing The Week – Live at Ronnie Scott’s” This is a recent concert at the famed jazz club in London. He sounds pretty good for an old man and the backing band is great.
The Charlatans – “Melting Pot” A greatest hits collection that shows more sides than just the single (The Only One) and more chops than Oasis had on their best day.
Gun Club – “Miami” and “Death Party” One of my fave 80s bands. Voodoo punk blues.
Sigur Rós – “ ( ) “ That’s the title of the album. The tracks have no names – just numbers. But it’s beautiful music. Ambient folk techno prog – Isn’t the whole point of Sigur Rós to always be different? One reviewer I read claimed to wish that they would stop trying to reinvent the wheel with every record. I don’t listen to them a lot, but this record is worth the cash.
Scott Walker – “Tilt” Speaking of different… I decided to go into the only used CD store I can find in Kuwait. It’s been more than a few months, but you need to give them this time in the hopes that something new will show up. I think I freak them out a bit with my bin to bin searches – but I’m a professional. This is a mission I do not take lightly. For the most part, there was nothing really new (though I did snag the Charlatans CD and something by Duke Robillard). Then this showed up. I didn’t know anything about Scott Walker except the name and that he had been around since the 60s. This disc is from 1995 – it turns out one of three he has recorded in the past 25 years. Noel Scott Engel was born in Ohio, started a band in Los Angeles and it hit big in the UK. The Walker Brothers (none brothers, none named Walker) scored with The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore and a number of other pop hits. Then Scott set out on his own with four critically acclaimed solo records. Most of the songs were covers – focusing on Jacques Brel tunes – but there were a number of self penned songs as well. Drugs and fame caused him to disappear a few times over the years – and he’s not doing pop tunes anymore.

“Tilt” is unique. Almost an operetta. Very serious stuff. The lyrics are fractured poems. The instrumentation diverse. And his voice is an amazing instrument. Warm and eerie at the same time. This isn’t a Tom Waits voice nor a Nick Cave voice. This is an epic voice – full and frightening. That may not be the right word, but I would imagine the voice of the angel Gabriel might be like this. The album is dark, but also beautiful. Songs like Farmer In The City and Rosary are the most accessible. The lyrics are wild with images. The song Bolivia 95 has a chorus that goes “Lemon Bloody Cola/Gonna sponge you down”. It’s not an easy listen because it demands your attention. I truly like the record, but if it came up randomly on the shuffle, I would have to skip it. You can’t do a quick swim in the deep end. Someone wrote that Walker’s music sounds like a Francis Bacon painting. A weird find in a strange place…

Added to iPod

February 7, 2009 | Filed Under Music | 2 Comments

Just for the record, Michael Phelps will be fine. Because the next time the US needs to win a medal in swimming, you can bet your ass folks will be knocking down his door to praise his talents again. Take another bong hit, Mike. Take two. You won a billion gold medals so no one really cares. As a nation, we are more concerned with Jessica Simpson’s weight.

The Rascals – “Time Peace” One of the best greatest hits collections ever.
Charles Ives – “Ives: Sympohnies 1-4, Orchestral Sets 1-2” The works on Ives – one of our great American composers. With the Cleveland Orchestra, Zubin Mehta and the Academy of St. Martin’s in the Field (my favorite).
The Gutter Twins – “Saturnalia” The Gutter Twins are actually Mark Lanegan (The Screaming Trees) and Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs, et al). I have decided that ‘Greg Dulli music’ should be considered a genre. It should have its own section in a record store – with all the CDs under all the various names Greg likes to record as. ‘Greg Dulli music’ has its own style. It is smoky and dramatic. It slinks along and then it explodes. It embraces all the dark corners and reaches for redemption. And Greg Dulli can be very good or truly horrid at performing ‘Greg Dulli music’. This one works quite well, with Lanegan adding his deep timbre voice and scorching guitar riffs to the usual emotional chaos. Not as good as “Powder Burns”, but it is a suitable genre piece.
Neil Young – “Journey Through The Past” and “Time Fades Away”. Neither of these records have been released in a digital format and probably never will. Neil doesn’t like them – whether the recording or the sound or the material. But the Internet is a grand thing and you can always find it if you want it. “Journey” is the soundtrack to the never released documentary Neil made back in the early 70s. It is a very interesting listen that includes an early television appearance by the Buffalo Springfield, some live CSNY, a recording session of the song Alabama pulled apart and brought back together, some instrumentals, and a piece of Handel’s Messiah. It is exactly a movie soundtrack rather than an organized album. The only new song is Neil’s beautiful Soldier.
“Time Fades Away” is a live album and the beginning of the ‘Ditch Trilogy’. Neil had just had commercial success and since he couldn’t handle the middle of the road, he headed for the ‘ditch’. This tour also coincided with the OD deaths of Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and one of the band’s roadies. [The trilogy starts with “Time”, then “Tonight’s The Night” and ends with “On The Beach”.] For a live album, this is very raw. But it’s still Neil and the songs are nothing to be ashamed of. Love In Mind, LA, The Bridge and Don’t Be Denied are pretty damn good songs and they only appear on this album. Frankly, we can all agree that Neil has recorded some crap in his oeuvre. But this record does not fall into that class. Find it on vinyl and give it a listen – it is a must for any true fan.

Added to iPod

January 23, 2009 | Filed Under Music | No Comments

It’s been a while…
Know that I not only received new music as Christmas presents, but I was also given $65 in iTunes credit. Let’s Go Wild!

As you may have noticed, I love compilations. It may be because I’m a “singles” man myself. We loved the 45. Singles were – and still are – far more resilient than albums. But compilations are also a great way to get a taste of all the flavors of music out there in the world. So, we start with Volumes 1 & 2 of “The Coolest Songs In The World” from Little Steven’s Underground Garage. Here the New York Dolls rub shoulders with The Boss Martians and The Buzzcocks and The Donnas hang out. I added the soundtrack to Long Way Down, the Ewan McGregor motorcycling journey through Africa. Great music from Thomas Mapfumo to the AfroCelt Soundsystem. Then I tossed on a magazine CD: Mojo’s tribute to the Sub-Pop label with early Afghan Whigs and Iron & Wine. Finally, I picked up my new Songlines magazine with music from Mali (Amadou & Mariam), rap from Morocco (U-Cef), Chinese dub (Jah Wobble & the Chinese Dub Orchestra) and Eastern European folk (Warsaw Village Band). See – many, many flavors.

The Fifth Dimension – Cherry-picked a bunch of my favorite singles from this band (I still think I have a few 45s). Does anyone remember when they were on “It Takes A Thief”?
The Raveonettes – “Lust Lust Lust” Very cool stuff.
The Exit – “Home For An Island” A young NYC band that sounds very much like the Police… without Sting’s ego.
Uncle Tupelo – “March 16-20, 1992”
Juana Molina – Again, cherry-picking from her four albums, including the latest “Un Dia”. A popular comic actress in Argentina who made an about face and now does beautiful, atmospheric songs that defy description.
The Motors – A Greatest Hits collection.
Deerhunter – “Microcastle”
Dennis Wilson – “Pacific Ocean Blue & Bambu” I am not a Beach Boys fan. I’ll give them Pet Sounds and the song Surf’s Up and that’s about it. But the accolades for this 1976 re-release forced me to give it a try. It is a wonderful record (though I haven’t made it to the second album yet). Some of the reviews mentioned Wilson’s vocals being “Springsteen-like” but that’s not it at all. Both the tenor of his voice and the sadness of some of the songs more accurately recall a contemporary of his – Harry Nilsson. If you listen to “Pacific Ocean” – even in the upbeat numbers- you’ll hear a melancholy similar to that of Nilsson’s record “Pussycats” – which he recorded right just as he was being overtaken by the bottle. It is that feeling, rather than a Beach Boys vibe, which really gives this record its texture.

More soon!

The Christmas CDs

January 13, 2009 | Filed Under Music | 1 Comment

I bet you thought I forgot…

No Way! I have six CDs (actually nine) of pretty cool music. Let’s share! Just a reminder of the premise: Three songs from each of the last five decades, all of which follow a theme of some sort. Now, with such a wide open mark these won’t all be new songs to Ye Old iPod. For example, my CD was filled with songs about or mentioning listening to the radio. Though I tried to stay away from the obvious, I imagine there were few surprises in that batch. Terry followed through on her threat to do an entire CD of Christmas songs, which included Dean Martin’s rendition of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, ELP’s “I Believe In Father Christmas” and Robert Earl Keen’s “Merry Christmas from the Family”. Mike gave us songs of Rebellion through the decades, from Country Joe & the Fish “Fixin’ To Die Rag”, Pere Ubu’s brilliant “Final Solution” and Anti-Flag’s “Sold As Freedom”. Mark had a similar approach but focused on songs of Peace, adding Tom Paxton’s “Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation”, Cake’s version of “War Pigs” and Lizzie West’s “19 Miles to Baghdad” to my collection. Tom headed for Power Pop with the classic “Open My Eyes” by the Nazz, Tom Robinson Band with “2-4-6-8 Motorway” and the underrated Plimsouls’ “A Million Miles Away”. Tommy the younger decided undertake a premise that always comes up and never gets chosen: songs over ten minutes! This endeavor – 15 songs at over 10 mins each – required an unheard of FOUR CDs. A long ride, to be sure – but introduced me to the Dirty Three (“Deep Waters”), James Blackshaw (“Stained Glass Window”) and Don Caballero (“No One Gives A Hoot”).

But I think the best of the bunch was Sean’s CD entirely of songs about Baseball! Sure – the classics were there: Meatloaf’s “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” and John Fogerty’s “Centerfield”. But there was also Bob Dylan’s “Catfish (7/28/1975)”, Dave Frishberg’s “Van Lingle Mungo”, and “Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio” by Les Brown and His Band Renown. Top the whole set off with “Tessie” by the Dropkick Murphys and you have a set that can’t be beat!

Good work to all (and Pat, I still need yours). The bar is raised for next year.

Burma

January 2, 2009 | Filed Under Music | 2 Comments

I had New Year’s day off – which was a surprise. I didn’t know that until I came back. The company didn’t have Christmas off and we had the previous Monday off for Muslim New Year. So I started off the day in bed until 1pm. Then I got up and did some work (I am behind). Then I had to bottle my new vintages of homemade vino (the white is a bit more insouciant then I would have liked, but it beats Thunderbird…).

While I was performing this delicate work, I took out my favorite Christmas present from the family – the newly remastered CDs by Mission Of Burma. Matador and Rick Harte have done a great job. These discs sound INCREDIBLE. The murk is out of the mix. Everything is clean and balanced better. You can hear it the difference from the first cut – “Academy Fight Song” – right to the end of the live record. Now I’m going to have to delete the Rykodisc versions from the iPod because these are definitive. PLUS each CD comes with a DVD of live performances. Signals, Calls and Marches has clips from shows at The Space in Cambridge (1979) and The Underground (1980). (And true to the Boston scene, it looks like they are playing in someone’s basement.) The quality is very good but they are very different videos. The songs from the Space were done with a single camera and is in color. The Underground is black and white and has a few different cameras and a lot of editing. The VS DVD is from Burma’s final show at the Bradford Hotel in 1983. This is the early set, while the live album Horrible Truth About Burma has the late and last set (the one that was a VHS tape for a while). And with a few exceptions, these are two totally different sets (and the later crowd is better behaved…) In the pantheon of live performances that flood the DVD market of your local Virgin record store – none of them can touch this. This is perfection of sound and images, totally timeless and fresh. Most bands lose something in the translation between live performance and disc – either one way or the other. Burma is Burma. Whether it is Roger’s seemingly effortless psychotic guitar runs or Clint’s machine-gun bass and good looks or Peter’s screams from behind the drum kit – the sound you get on vinyl is what you get on stage and visa-versa.

Toss in the booklets of pictures, interviews and ephemera and these are not so much CDs as documents of one of the best bands of their time. If you care about Boston rock or just the music scene in general, you must own these.

Added to iPod – Last of 2008

December 30, 2008 | Filed Under Music | 2 Comments

Jet lag kills. Remember that…

We have gone over the 12,000 mark and I haven’t even touched the infamous Christmas CDs yet.
Dusty Springfield – “Dusty In Memphis” A classic.
Graham Parker – “Passion Is No Ordinary Word” Great two-disc ‘best of’ set
Tricky – “Maxinquaye”
Lyle Lovett – “Joshua Judges Ruth”
Medeski Martin & Wood – “Shack Man”
The Damn Personals – “Standing Still In The USA” Fine Boston rock by another defunct band.
Illinois Jacquet – “Flying Home:Best of The Verve Years” Great sax player from the good old days.
Outkast – “Stankonia” Still my favorite of theirs.
For 80s music, I was finally able to track down The Motels first album and The Vapors “Magnets”. Hard to find on CD.
Then – feeling my Blues selection was a bit anemic – I tossed in my Chess Blues box set and a SONY collection called “Best of The Blues – 1920-1996”. Muddy Waters, Bukka White, Leadbelly, Buddy Guy, Blind Lemon Jefferson and many more. That should take care of that.

Well, I have a pile of compilation discs to go through, but I’m nearly unconscious. So – off to bed….

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