[contextly_auto_sidebar] MUCH of the world was taken by surprise by the death of playwright and actor Sam Shepard, who was felled (like Charles Mingus, a jazz artist who he was in some ways simpatico) ALS. To me, it was a bit like the sudden departure of Bowie and Prince. But I must admit that while I knew vaguely that the actor I loved from The Right Stuff was a playwright, I did not know … [Read more...]
French Band Air at the Greek Theatre
[contextly_auto_sidebar] FOR reasons I can’t entirely figure out or explain, continental Europeans have not had much luck with rock music, not matter how you define the term. (And no, the Scorpions are not excepted.) Why the average blues band from Birmingham or Belfast can typically do better than the finest combo in Rome or Frankfurt is a mystery I may never understand. The Swedes started to … [Read more...]
Sgt Pepper’s at 50
[contextly_auto_sidebar] SO, you may have heard that a famous record from the ‘60s is marking an anniversary. If you’ve not heard more than you can stand about Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band — which the Beatles released 50 years ago today, in the States — let me offer the assessment of a longtime Fabs fan whose teenage years were in the ‘80s and whose most zealous listening years were … [Read more...]
Cory Doctorow’s Post-Apocalyptic Utopia
[contextly_auto_sidebar] THE other day I hung out with Burbank resident and globe-trotter Cory Doctorow, who is a cult figure with a very large cult. We talked mostly about his new novel, Walkaway, which is intellectually fascinating and really moves. Will try to fill in this post a bit for now, but here is my LA Times profile. I will point out that obvious that I find him a bit … [Read more...]
Songwriting’s Roots in Poetry and Prose
[contextly_auto_sidebar] GENERALLY, I'm skeptical of the glib and automatic denoting of any intelligent or articulate musician as "a poet." But the connection between popular song and literature go back, in the Anglo-American tradition, at least as long as The Beatles' interest in Lewis Carroll and Dylan's borrowing from Scottish Border ballads. Of course, at the beginning of the Western … [Read more...]
Jeff Parker and Jazz Guitar
[contextly_auto_sidebar] FOR months now, one of the most intriguing instrumentalists in Los Angeles has been unspooling his style for the price of a drink in a small bar in Highland Park. Jeff Parker, longtime guitarist for the Chicago "post-rock" band Tortoise, has lived in Los Angeles for a few years now, and alongside playing with members of Spain and in drummer Matt Mayhall's trio, Parker … [Read more...]
Music To Say Goodbye To 2016 To
[contextly_auto_sidebar] WELL, one of the worst years in recorded history is over. Every morning, as my consciousness returns, I am reminded that Leonard Cohen, Bowie, George Martin, and my dad are dead and that a nasty, incurious bully is on the verge of becoming president. My employer, Salon, has posted a piece with a mix of happy and sad songs with which to end this year and enter the … [Read more...]
Remembering an Old Friend
[contextly_auto_sidebar] WHEN I was in high school, I had a slightly older friend who was eccentric, brilliant, and obscure. He had a minor speech impediment, so I couldn't always tell what he was saying, but whenever I could make it out, it was fascinating and perceptive. I met some very cool and smart people through him A few years after I left for college, I heard he got heavily into … [Read more...]
Reasons to Be Thankful: Rock n roll
[contextly_auto_sidebar] HERE are my 25 favorite rock records. Trying to focus on proper studio albums, so live concerts and anthologies strongly discouraged. No jazz, classical music, pure country, electronica, downtempo, acoustic blues, Jamaican, or hip hop. (I'll make an exception for R&B that relates closely to the rock tradition.) These are albums that have some personal meaning and … [Read more...]
Lit Crawl L.A./ North Hollywood
[contextly_auto_sidebar] THE other night I ventured out to Los Angeles's North Hollywood neighborhood for the latest installment of Lit Crawl L.A. This annual night out has been going since 2013, but for various reasons I've missed it every time, even though NoHo is one of my favorite L.A. 'hoods. The idea of Lit Crawl is to arrange readings, conversations, rants, and various kinds of … [Read more...]