Dear AB,Well I suppose steal it once (and Hunter Thompson is convinced Jeb wantsta be Prez) they could try again. Only it would be ten times harder this time, and for some reason I'm distrustful of how close the polls claim it is. First off I think people are intimidated by pollsters and give answers they don't fully believe just to "sound smart," second pollsters have always readjusted methods after an election proved them wrong, it's a constantly evolving "science" with variables like the weather, who won the series and all that stuff that's … [Read more...]

Russ Baker makes the wires with this interview. Why do these folks wait until that last minute? It's enough to give you hope. I still think Kerry never used a gnarly moral stick: admonishing Bush publicly for not attending a single soldier's funeral and disallowing coffin photos (and the press for complying). BIG SHOUT To Kate Sullivan's Pop Vultures radio program, carried by Minnesota Public Radio, availalable for streaming here. RAVES Wattstax HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SOUNDTRACK (Stax) Old school highlights: Staple Singers "Respect Yourself," … [Read more...]

Now just hold on a doggone minute: I look forward to musicians and musically minded critics like Tim Riley explicating this further... Next month, on WBUR.org. … [Read more...]

Ron Rosenbaum writes: "Whatever it was, it gets him on the road again: On the verge of dropping out, he now books two hundred concerts for the next year—and only illness (an infection around the heart, wouldn’t you know) has suspended this "endless tour" ever since. I suspect we ought to be grateful to the Dead, whatever they did or didn’t do to his drink. The entire section is wild: You rarely hear an artist of this magnitude talking so rhapsodically—and technically—about his own work. I look forward to musicians and musically minded … [Read more...]

Jon Stewart gets jiggy on CROSSFIRE last week (video here): STEWART: But let me ask you guys, again, a question, because we talked a little bit about, you're actually doing honest debate and all that. But, after the debates, where do you guys head to right afterwards? CARLSON: The men's room. STEWART: Right after that? BEGALA: Home. STEWART: Spin alley. BEGALA: Home. STEWART: No, spin alley. BEGALA: What are you talking about? You mean at these debates? STEWART: Yes. You go to spin alley, the place called spin alley. Now, don't you … [Read more...]

We watched some of Springsteen's segment on the Vote for Change concert before the debate last night. Earlier, while flipping through some of the gawdawful interview "color" segments, I had heard some electric guitar noodling through the "Star Spangled Banner," and thought to myself: This should be marked "property of Hendrix" and left alone. Could anybody rediscover all the dread and racial tyranny of Vietnam that Hendrix caught in his searing, greet-the-Woodstock-dawn reverie? But then Bruce took the stage with an ACOUSTIC 12-STRING and did … [Read more...]

From Time magazine, we give you, THE WIFE: "We teach little girls that we don't like them to be greedy, pushy or overly aggressive," says Sara Laschever, co-author of Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide. "Once adulthood is reached, studies are conclusive that neither men nor other women like women who are too aggressive." PLUS: Bob Dylan on NPR's Morning Edition, from yesterday. See also: Mikal Gilmore in RS, Charles Taylor in Salon. On my pile, filing for WBUR next month. … [Read more...]

In this corner, the New Yorker music pages now boast Sasha Frere-Jones, Gary Giddins, and Alex Ross. In the other corner, David Denby never got Charlie Kaufman's ADAPTATION. But he's an obvious target. Here's Nancy Franklin in last week's New Yorker (courtesy of Greg.org's ongoing archive), arguing for the further propping up of Dan Rather: Rather, Brokaw, and Peter Jennings are tops in their field; they go to the best parties and know everybody who's anybody; and they know a lot about the world. Still, they have to wake up every day and prove … [Read more...]

I'm as big a fan of Keith Richards as anybody, and TALK IS CHEAP (1992) was widely hailed as a garage-rock triumph, circa 1965. But Reigning Sound's TOO MUCH GUITAR has captured that ring. In honor of Little Steven's Garage Festival Blowout (featuring Somerville's own The Charms) I've been listening a lot to Beyond the Beat Generation, and Reigning Sound captures more of this obscure spark than any band since the Lyres, and they run on their own curruscated fuel. Rhythmic melodies, melodic kicks, unselfconsciously simple yet brutal guitar solos … [Read more...]