A lot of the time I can take or leave the LRB, although Terry Castle's think piece on Art Pepper was really good. I almost had one of those fab musical experiences where I read the piece in the Square and went right over to Planet and found a used copy of the Pepper CD she wrote of so well, but it turned out to be an empty case. But whatever your take on it, the personals are always uplifting. … [Read more...]

Allman Brothers, LIVE AT THE ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL POP FESTIVAL 1970 (Epic/Legacy) I haven't yet done a side-by-side comparison, but this strikes me as better than the more notorious Fillmore set, from guitar solos down to double-drumming grooves. Simon and Garfunkel, BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER (Legacy) If the planets line up just so, hoping to boast a new SACD/DVD-A player soon, but these current remasters are trippy enough. I'm a detail man, and little things like the pedaling to the title song of this overplayed, overhyped, overwhatever … [Read more...]

If you check this page at all, you should click on over and buy Dick Waterman's BETWEEN NIGHT AND DAY, which will provide you with the best blues screen saver you could ever hope for. But now there's more: ebay is hosting a page of Waterman prints that would make perfect gifts for any music hound in your family. This guy got around, and had great taste. Elsewhere: Kevin Philips has found a great theme, and if this radio interview is any indication, lit a book's fuse that should scare the bejesus out of any Bush holding office. Like O'Neil, he's … [Read more...]

The Bunch, ROCK ON (Fledg'ling) Besides containing the ultimate Buddy Holly cover of all-time, Sandy Denny singing "Learning the Game" (as well as swanky readings of "That'll Be The Day" and "Love's Made a Fool of You"), this remastered collection of standards by various strands of the Fairport Convention from 1972 has long been among the great out-of-print cover albums. Here it is all gussied up with extra tracks like "Twenty Flight Rock," "High School Confidential," and "La Bamba." There are no obvious tracks: Thompson solos on a revelation, … [Read more...]

Inevitable, yes. But definitive? TAPPED reports that the noise in the hall was overwhelming, so what the mic picked up was dramatically different than what it actually sounded like: "So it's worth noting for the historical record that I -- and others -- could scarcely hear what Dean was saying on the stage from the press section in the back of the room because several thousand Deaniacs were making so much noise (Dean wasn't the only one screaming) and the acoustics in the room weren't very good. From inside the room, it seemed that he was … [Read more...]

Today I filed my Grammy preview for NPR with Renee Graham from the GLOBE, and here are the notes I took looking over the nominees this morning: MODEST PROPOSALS for NEW CATEGORIES: BEST TOUR, or LIVE ACT LIVE DVDS BEST REMASTER OUTSTANDING PROGRESSIVE RADIO CONTRIBUTION (DJ or producer) BEST REMASTER INTO DOLBY DIGITAL 5:1 (PET SOUNDS, anybody?) Best Comeback Best Marketing Campaign MOST EGREGIOUS OMISSIONS: Willie Nelson's CRAZY: DEMO SESSIONS Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, COME POOP WITH ME, not nominated for comedy album SIGNS OF LIFE: … [Read more...]

MORE TITLES FOR JIMMY'S SANDINISTA PROJECT: 1) BLANDINISTA 2) GO STRAIGHT TO HELL BOYS 3) LET THEM SING IT FOR YOU HEADLINES: MJ PLEADS INNOCENT (New York Times) MY EDIT: IF YOU WERE A GLOBAL POP STAR CHARGED WITH CHILD MOLESTATION, WOULD YOU SHOW UP 15 MINUTES LATE BLARING YOUR OWN MUSIC FROM YOUR VAN TO YOUR BUSED-IN FANS AND BLAME THE TARDINESS ON YOUR SELF-ORCHESTRATED CIRCUS? Even on 60 MINUTES, Ed Bradley asked him if he thought it was still all right to sleep with underage boys in the same bed, MJ replied "Of course." His lawyers have … [Read more...]

We've gone "cuckoo-crazy" in our house for the "silent" quote routine from AUSTIN POWERS SPY WHO SHAGGED ME. My "buddy" Jimmy Guterman is starting up a tribute project to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of SANDINISTA! He's launching sandinistaproject.com in the spring, and already has "major" artists donating studio time and creative efforts in that direction. I haven't listened to Sandinista in years, and I've never listened to it...ALL THE WAY THROUGH. Which is not to say I don't "think" it would make a nice sprawling mess of a tribute … [Read more...]

Although this Jones review of String's memoirs is a month old, the second graph has a pretty good summary of what's wrong with Sting overall, nicely detailed: "Broken Music" isn't smarmy or pompous. Sting is a likable narrator, neither falsely modest nor proud beyond merit, and he writes with a self-deprecation that works. In the end, though, the book fails in a very familiar pattern: Sting starts strong with undeniable chops, then loses nerve and hires the strings. And the wind machine. And the voiceover.Couldn't you make the case that since … [Read more...]

There are critics who think no rock sensibility would be caught dead watching MASTERPIECE THEATER. Feh. One great reason to tune into the current serial, FORSYTE SAGE, is Damian Lewis as Soames, who most will recognize from his roles as Maj. Richard D. Winters in Spielberg's BAND OF BROTHERS. I had no clue this guy was British until I saw FORSYTE, which is a remake of MT's first great mini-series success in the early '70s (the public television event that spawned ROOTS and kept Richard Chamberlin in mutton chops through his difficult … [Read more...]