Interview with Reinventing Bach author Paul Elie about Chris Thile's performing Bach on mandolin. Part of a larger project still in progress, Roll Over, Beethoven: the Rock Critic's Guide to Classical Music … [Read more...]
Banned Books Week – Author Picks
Burning Ideas: Celebrating Banned Books Week at Truthdig. Banned Books That Shaped America … [Read more...]
Dylan’s Other Side: Maymudes Backstage
An Insider's View of the Bob Dylan Story Another Side of Bob Dylan, by Victor and Jacob Maymudes On Point discussion with Jacob Maymudes and Tom Ashbrook NPR rebroadcasts this, repeats tonight on WBUR at 8pm Eastern. Related articles A Dylan Insider's Back Pages 6 … [Read more...]
Nixon in Purgatory, plus: Obama’s Words to Live By: Harry Shearer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD46pHpRVzo MORE: https://soundcloud.com/leshowharryshearer/le-show-with-harry-shearer-august-10th-2014#t=38:48 Nixon at 38:48 https://soundcloud.com/leshowharryshearer/le-show-with-harry-shearer-august-3rd-2014#t=37:56 "We Tortured Some Folks" at … [Read more...]
Buried in the Files: That Eric Alper entry
Moondog Matinee, The Band (Capitol) I first fell in love with this record growing up in Boulder, Colorado, after I saw Dylan play with the Band at the Denver Coliseum in early 1974. I had Planet Waves in my ear, and knew the early Band albums, but this record hovered over them all with an aura of … [Read more...]
Battle of the Mashups: Donna Reed v Robert DeNiro
Post by Rick Schober … [Read more...]
Fever: How Rock Transforms Gender
Now a feature-length ebook available from fine digital outlets everywhere… (Apple iTunes Store, Amazon) Read a sample chapter here: Chapter Six - Bruce Springsteen's "Walk Like a Man" Customized Spotify playlist … [Read more...]
Bert Berns: Accidentally, Like a Martyr
Dear New York Times, As Larry Rohter's lively and illuminating article ("Many-hit Wonder, Out of Obscurity: Bert Berns, Songwriter and Producer, Remembered," July 20) demonstrates, obscurities like Berns deserve a bigger place in rock history. But too many people forget that while his " trademark … [Read more...]
riley rock index album of the month: Greilsammer’s Scarlatti, Cage
ALBUM OF THE MONTH FRESH LINKS “The South’s too fat to rise again…“ Ground Down to Molasses, Dave Byrne Christgau on Tommy Ramone (1948-2014) music think tank … [Read more...]
A Thousand Times Yes, Zacharek on Hard Day’s Night
"...Ringo is the language mangler who says exactly what he means, usually inadvertently—though sometimes his eyes, good-natured but also ringed with dark circles that suggest excessive worry, say more: On a train, he passes a glass-windowed compartment where a stunning young woman sits, stroking a … [Read more...]
Where Links Roam Free
NOT THE ABC SATURDAY MORNING BEATLES CARTOONS: thebeatoons, Episode 1-2 ”You Can’t Do That” Forgotify | 12 Bagatelles, Op. 13: No. 9. L'Abeille (The Bee) (arr. for cello and piano) by Various Artists Related articles Forgotify Helps You Discover Unloved Music On Spotify Forgotify: The Tool … [Read more...]
Today in HeadButler.com
Guest Butler Joe DePreta, a New York marketing consultant and writer on cultural trends, is a student of musicology from Sinatra to the Sex Pistols.When I was a kid, my friends and I sat on a park bench and debated and talked over each other like a Robert Altman ensemble about the important … [Read more...]
Why isn’t this bigger news?
From Jeff Goodell in Rolling Stone: ...Although no final decision has been made, two high-level sources in the Obama administration told me recently that the president has all but decided to deny the permit for the [Keystone] pipeline – a dramatic move that would light up Democratic voters and … [Read more...]
PARLOR GAME: FIVE FAVORITE CONCERTS
Off My Rocker, by Kenny Weissberg [Weissberg wrote a Friday column called "Hot Licks & Rhetoric" for the Boulder Daily Camera that I devoured while growing up in Colorado. He also hosted Bill Murray on a Sunday night KCRW radio show one night just a Murray started to break on SNL. We recently … [Read more...]
The Absurdist Beatle
James, I've always loved MacDonald's book even though I carry one major critical gripe: he structures it song-by-song in chronological order, arguing that understanding the "correct" sequence of recording helps trace thematic and musical development. But never quite follows through on this theme: … [Read more...]