MJ was last year’s reluctant golden boy. I wore the record out, and love this video. He’s from Asheville, so my kid and I went to his record release at a record store and I saw him two nights at the Orange Peel.
A Study In Contrasts
I must have stumbled across the Renfield feed with this one. Had to look up Peter Maxwell Davies.
Behind the Music
Same old story.
Do We Need Another Guitar Hero?
Y’all know I’m all loopy over this Jason Isbell fella. I’ve been a fan since he was in the Drive-by Truckers, and have followed his career closely since. His latest, Weathervanes, is remarkable. A fantastic writer, but moreover a blistering guitar player (he bought Ed King’s Les Paul), who stretches out a lot with his band, but doesn’t get all boring jammy. He sat in with Dino Jr. during their anniversary run in NYC. It’s guitar-riffic!
Also, he went to University of Memphis and was recently given his degree because he was apparently only one phys ed class short of a degree.
Ogg Vorbis
While downloading a pleasant tune from the Bandcamp recently, I was offered this stunning array of options. I stayed with my mp3 because I like overly compressed crap.
Those of you who recently released albums, did you offer the FLACs and the AIFFs? Those cowbells really pop in AIFF!
Pelo
I’ve been enjoying this archive of Pelo magazines going back to the 70s. There are a lot of cool photos I’ve never seen anywhere, and a lot of the issues will have links to posters that came with the issues which are fabulous. Tempted to print a couple of them.
The Licensing People Said No
Great Letterman bit. BMI & ASCAP are not to be trifled with.
Jagged
Needed some Old 97’s today.
The Business Of R.E.M.
I listened to a podcast today with R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills and the band’s attorney Bertis Downs. The discussed some of the business aspects of running a massively popular band, but they also shared a lot of interesting stories about the band’s early days, behind the scenes operations, and even an anecdote about playing Losing My Religion around a cauldron in the forests of Paraguay.
This band is one of my all time favorites, and introduced me to the world of music not played on the radio, and they played a major role in changing my view of the world. So, suffice it to say that I was tuned in to every single word of every story.
So this came to be because some business man type finance investment person in Atlanta is best buddies with Downs, and the band. He runs a podcast that appears to be about investing, but thought it would be a good idea to share a behind the scenes look at the business operations required to run a band like this.
So check this out, it’s really interesting…
Moe Tucker Doc
I came across this somewhat recent documentary on Mo Tucker, and it’s really interesting to see how her playing evolved and the weird kit configurations she used. Fortunately, it makes no mention of her late life conversion to kook.