When Is The Last Time You Got Your Fixx?
Sean MurphyAlternate title to this post: Reach The Beach, Biotch! When's the last time you got your fixx? For me it was in the early '80s, when they were one of…
I Love Eleanor Friedberger More Than She Loves Playing Guitar
I am very much on the record of endorsing the Fiery Furnaces; indeed, I rank their 2006 joint Bitter Tea as my personal #10 choice for best albums of the…
King Crimson: A Prog-Rock Case Study
Although it was already suggested that Pink Floyd is the archetypal prog-rock band (HERE), an equally compelling case could be made for King Crimson. By practically any criteria, King Crimson…
Search for the New Land
There are times when I need to simply post a song, without comment. This is easier when no comment is particularly necessary. This is one of those times. If you…
Improving Upon Perfection, Part Six
(Parts 1-5 of this series here, here, here, here and here) "On The Sunny Side of the Street" is a song with a long, wonderful history. Like so many jazz standards,…
A Week of Americana. Part Four: James Brown
On this most American of holidays, it seems appropriate --if not obligatory-- to celebrate the most American of geniuses. It does not get any more American than James Brown, does…
A Week of Americana. Part Three: The Doors
If the discussion is going to turn to American rock bands, it would be impossible to avoid R.E.M. Fortunately, I already dealt with their legacy and am on record declaring…
A Week of Americana. Part Two: Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet (R.I.P.), with his idiosyncracies, individuality and iconoclasm, represents virtually everything that is profoundly beautiful about America both as a concept and actuality. Like his compatriots Syd Barrett…
Wayne Shorter: National Treasure
Wayne Shorter is about to turn 80. He continues to record, play and inspire. Of the many musicians I admire and seek in some way to emulate (as artists, as…
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown… (Revisited)
How do you know you've made an indelible impact on culture? Here's how. Listen: this story has been told so many times it is inextricable from the history of America.…