Blog Archives
The Beautiful Noise of Harry Partch
I first heard of Harry Partch while reading about Tom Waits. With 1980′s Heartattack and Vine, Waits hung up his fedora, turning his back on the piano-based, cabaret croaking of his early years for the strange territories of his breakthrough trilogy: Swordfishtrombones (1983), my favorite Waits’ album Rain Dogs (1985) and Frank’s Wild Years (1987). [...]
Jane’s Addiction: Gifted
In the late ’80′s and early 90′s, Jane’s Addiction brought the druggy, draggy Los Angeles underground sound to mainstream audiences with a trio of unforgettable albums: Jane’s Addiction (1987), the classic Nothing’s Shocking (1988) and Ritual de lo Habitual (1990). The fact that Jane’s guitar player Dave Navarro claims to have no recollection of recording [...]
The Who, The Mods and Quadrophenia at 40
For those readers who are unfamiliar with Mod culture, let’s begin with the Wiki: Mod (from modernist) is a subculture that originated in London, England, in the late 1950s and peaked in the early to mid-1960s. Significant elements of the mod subculture include fashion (often tailor-made suits); music, including African American soul, Jamaican ska, British [...]
Ray Manzarek: The Music’s Over
Sad news tonight for rock fans: The Doors’ keyboard player Ray Manzarek died on Monday after a long battle with bile duct cancer. Manzarek brought jazz influences to The Doors’ brand of dark, poetic rock and held down most of the bass duties on stage and in the studio – playing a keyboard bass with [...]
Dark Side of the Moon Turns 40
British playwright Tom Stoppard has announced that he’ll be producing a new broadcast for BBC Radio 2. Inspired by and featuring the music from the Pink Floyd classic Dark Side of the Moon, the long-simmering project will hit the airwaves this August -just in time to celebrate the 1973 release’s 40th anniversary. Here’s what The [...]
Troggs on Film
My old pal J.P. Lilliston and I have played music together for years, and his guitar can be heard all over Blue Turns Black. I’ve been threatening to put out a Lilliston-produced record for some time and I hope that now that he’s moved back to Nashville from Chicago we’ll complete the project in no [...]
Soul Grooves: Donald "Duck" Dunn
On May 13, American music lost one of the most influential bass players of all time. You might not know his name, but if you’ve been listening to music since the 1960′s, you’ve heard the man play. Dunn was a member of the soul music band Booker T. & the MG’s, known for their instrumental [...]
To Hell with Nirvana
On a recent episode of Coincidence Control Network, I reviewed Hit so Hard: The Life and Near Death of Patty Schemel. I viewed the flick at the Nashville Film Festival and this rock doc is just now starting to open in theaters. It tells the tale of the hard living drummer of Courtney Love’s band [...]
Burroughs Reads Junky
Hola, amigos Junky is William S. Burroughs’ first book and also his most readable. While many readers may have already cracked the cover on this dusky treasure, I recently found a fine gem that washed up on the cyber shores of this here late night lookout. This YouTube offering is an abridged audibook version of [...]
