Fight Song!

I'd gladly follow her into any battle with this song in the lead- a beautifully infectious, somewhat quirky, and highly melodic song (with a long convoluted history) as are many in Sinead's repertoire. Her rendition captivating and life affirming- as was she...

Feeling Groovy!

Really need to get my mind off the usual lunacy we are forced to live with on a daily basis, so how 'bout a nice lighthearted musical melody to soothe the nerves and bring in the weekend... 

So all you younger readers, aspiring musicians, and sailors trapped on aircraft carriers for almost a year with no goddamn end in sight, eating a hamburger patty with a scoop of rice (then hoping to find a working toilet) because of an illegal war meant to take our minds off a bunch of files, photos, tapes and videos that implicate our POTUS and so many of his dearest friends in an international pedophile ring- this one's for you!

Embrace The Triangle!

These guys kept popping up on my feed- who are they, what are they- I Don't Wanna Know!!! But they wouldn't stop- on and on and on they kept appearing, reappearing, unwarranted, unrelenting... 

Maybe if I feigned the slightest attention they would release me and move back from whence they came- so I watched and I listened, and... 

I... ENJOYED!!! Ladies and Gentlemen- Angine de Poitrine:

Not A Fan- A Supporter!

I'm not a fan of Bad Bunny's music (mostly an age thing)- but I am a genuine supporter of Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio! He's a beautiful human being, so positively proud of our tiny 30 X 100 mile island, its people and its culture. An island so small and widely ignored that the President tediously threw paper towels at its inhabitants in their hour of need; a people so disparaged, that we were said to hail from "an island of garbage" by a supporter in that same President's last election. This is a man so vilified by the MAGA hateful for posting the signs: “The only thing more powerful than hate, is love” and “Together, We Are America.”

The ultimate irony being that an official alternative was created and offered utilizing an aging performer who sang about doing girls, a performer singing and rejoicing about the same accusations the President himself so desperately continues to hide...

Nkosi Sikelel' Iafrika

This is not only the greatest National Anthem, it is one of the greatest musical tributes to and of mankind anywhere. It is the entirety of the human experience set into one song: the struggle, heartbreak, tragedy, and majesty of the human condition. And this rendition lords over all others, it is the absolute epitome of that which already excelled. This song puts one through every meaningful human emotion, as if your life along with millions worldwide are borne and lived in unison, both exhausted and exhilarated in the end. One cannot bear to hear it without tears automatically welling up in your eyes...

Enjoy!!

Fade Into You

When I first heard Fade Into You by Mazzy Star, I thought the hauntingly ethereal ballad just had to be an English band- don't ask me the 'logic' involved. And that Hope Sandoval's exotic looks could be attributed to her Eastern European family's immigration to the island nation. Damn, sometimes I just love when I am so spectacularly wrong! Try an LA band with a Mexican-American singer...

A Complete Unknowning

Never been a Dylan fanboy, but was curious about... the mystique. Why were so many who supposedly knew better (much better) reduced to Swiftian level mesmerization at the mere mention of his name? Are the legendary level lyrics superseding the barely proficient vocal ability and musical command enough to justifiably raise him to his godlike, mythical status? 

If ya asked me, he'd be just one of many stars in the universe of that particular time, stars of whose work I admire, love and respect to a much higher degree. But not here to argue, nor will A Complete Unknown answer or settle much of anything. What it does, is supply a decent scenario as to the time, background and circumstances that allowed the meteoric rise to occur. Actually, it doesn't even do that. In the film, Dylan arrives in NYC in his scraggily jeans and plaid shirt, spontaneously hooks up with the right people, who get him the right gigs, and practically overnight- studio, album... godlike fame! Who knew?!?

There's also a certain electrical problem, but I digress... If you're looking for insight, understanding, an insider's knowledge as to what made him tick and allowed him to set the scene afire- ain't gonna happen. The movie succeeds in the performances. Timothy Chalamet is utterly convincing in portraying the young upstart center of the universe- as convincing as anyone could possibly portray a person completely unknown to everyone including himself.* BTW, Edward Norton is every bit as incredulously convincing as Pete Seeger,** a completely transparent human being, the polar opposite of Dylan. Interestingly, one does get some measure of the intricacies in the love/hate/mutual respect tennis match between Dylan and Baez (another name startingly portrayed). Curiously, we also learn how Dylan and Johnny Cash formed their mutual admiration society! And alas, as in most biopics, a good amount of the scenarios portrayed did not actually happen as depicted... 

Recommended? Absolutely! Although there's one more thing I'd sure like to know- how did the scruffy looking vagabond from '61 evolve into one of fashion's ultimate Mod icons by '65?

*One thing I'll always give Dylan props for was when Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes fame asked him how on earth he thought up his (Nobel winning) lyrics, to which he responded that they literally wrote themselves as if dropped from the ether. Which in my mind only supports the hypothesis that our brains are merely the individual receivers of a mutual mass consciousness, not its individual creator. If you listen to many of his 'interviews,' you'd swear Dylan got a body double and instructed him to say (or mumble) whatever he liked- no matter what would fall out of the imposter's mouth, it would be greeted with unparalleled gravitas... Listen to interviews of Malcolm X or Edward Snowden- you immediately sense you are in the presence of pure, unabated intellect. Listen to Dylan and it's pure... WTF?

**Much as I respect the guy, there's a banjo twangling 24/7 in the background of my particular version of hell.

Keef!

Duet

Be HAPPY!!!

How?

 How does one classify this, in what manner, what genre of... creativity- visually, musically, spiritually?

Sing Along- They're Eating The Dogs, They're Eating The...

Now, That's An Audience!

I was twelve and still remember just how rhythmic and radical this sounded next to anything that ever came before it! The same that that rad audience was thinking at song's end...

RIP Sinead

Not her biggest fan by any means, but ya can't deny... what a voice, and what a talent! And if you have any doubt whatsoever, just listen to the first three jewels below that epitomize the very definition of sublime. Have no idea what demons haunted her mental health and well being, but goddamn, at least she was original- and didn't give a damn about celebrity or any of its trappings. She was also spot on about the Catholic Church (for which she was vilified), long before that horror story hit the mainstream, no apology was forthcoming, even when proven correct. 

Yeah, R-I-P...

Carl

...as in Perkins! Can't get over the look, sound and feel of this video in all its B&W wonder! Half crazy man, half steam punk...

Bare bones minimum/Maximum impact; wonder if it ever played MTV?

Tighten Up!

Ages since I've heard this, and the video is pretty surreal- looks like a bunch of White boys in their late Sixties, flower power, psychedelia dress threads booked the same studio time as Archie Bell, who rather than argue, had an idea, went outside and grabbed three guys off the sidewalk that afternoon for a (really) quick dance rehearsal and an evening taping fit for R&R, R&B history!

Remembering 2 Minor Icons

A quick search of The Guardian last Sunday revealed the passing of a sublime guitar hero, and the examination of a noted photographer and documentarian who went to his grave with a very sobering secret...

I still remember the utter thrill upon first listening to Tom Verlaine's album Marquee Moon and being transported to rock & roll guitar heaven! The album was transcendent, a proto-punk who could actually play, a guitar virtuoso who delivered the goods tenfold, and still kept you wanting for more...

Meanwhile, Ernest Withers compiled an enormous body of work of a time and community that he alone was positioned to have such access- while at the same time compromising that very legacy with every shot he took, every life he documented, every secret he exposed...

Tar

There's a haunting line in Memo from Turner- "You're always working perfectly, but there's a part that's not screwed on." Cate Blanchett simmers on low throughout Tar. The most telling scene is not the wham bam, barn burner, but the one in which we see her deal with a small child. She could have effectively dealt with the situation in ever so many ways, as an adult can with a child, instead Tar chose to ever so subtly spread her pathology on...

Pure Joy!

This pop tune (if it can be called such) is just so utterly catchy and contemporary, her movements so utterly steeped in tradition...