Is Bob Dylan Dead?

We read Chronicles for one of my classes today and a freshman actually asked if Bob Dylan is dead. Clearly he doesn't look too good, but c'mon people. Someone else said they assumed (not having read) he was a shitty writer and that he's "just OK, I mean clearly he can kick out the jams, but he's not the greatest." Who are these kids?!

Bob Dylan: living legend, one of the greatest American poets ever, amazing singer-songwriter, hilarious heckler, musical genius. Dylan is still alive and well, see Modern Times or any number of young and diverse acts who are drawing on his inspiration and reinterpreting his songs themselves. You don't need to go any farther than the music itself:

• Boots of Spanish Leather by the man himself, one of my all time favorites.

• Girl From the North Country a fantastic cover by the Secret Machines that got me hooked on that band.

A few days ago the amazing Roots came for our Spring Weekend shit-show extravaganza and did a cover of "Masters of War" that began in the tune/melody of the "Star Spangled Banner" and broke down "When the Saints Go Marching" in the middle. Absolutely crazy, moving and genius. And completely their own.

• JuneBugJenkins has a version here from the Dylan tribute show a while back.

So there! Bobby D: still kicking.

Blogging for Class

Hey! My new blog Is This Thing Still On? is up and running, check it out! It's about the future of radio in podcasts, blogs, and internet radio for a class at Brown. This blog right here was originally supposed to be that, but as you can see, I got a little off track. Enjoy!

Just What I Need

Shopping via Text Message:
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Soulmates

Calvin found a buddy his size in little 18-month old Ella. They played for about 15 minutes, following each other around and then posed for pictures.

Norah Jones + M. Ward = Oh So Pretty Tunes

So I saw the lovely Norah Jones and M. Ward last night at Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) and it was gorgeous as expected. First of all, PPAC is this crazy old building with lush red curtains and tons of ornate gold detailing and the like--kind of like an opera house, so it was a great venue to see this particularly cozy show on an icky Providence evening.

My only complaint was that the pricey tickets (we were the youngest people there probably so she knows her audience $$) had us pretty far from the stage and packed in like sardines.

Anyway, M. Ward is really wonderful but I want to like him more than I actually do. He's clearly a very talented guitar player and he has a very unique and pleasant voice but his songs are very meandering and relaxed which can alternately be chill and boring. I like him best as an addition to other artists I love: he played with Bright Eyes when I saw them at Somerville and was a really fantastic addition and came and dueted on a couple of songs last night with Jones which was really great. P.S.: M. Ward guests on Bright Eyes' new Casadaga, out now (but I haven't had a chance to spend any time with it yet).

Norah Jones and her band were fantastic. They gave just the highest quality performances, she has an absolutely breathtaking voice, the lighting and set were really complementary and the band is so tight--sometimes jazzy (for the older stuff), but not in a way that would turn me off(somebody needs to teach me about good jazz) and sometimes old-time string bandy (from her new stuff). She is really adorable too--she wore a flirty little dress like the one on the cover of her album and these sparkly Dorthy shoes and told nice little anecdotes to the audience. Apparently she went to the mall (the highlight of all Providence) and as somebody was trying to sell her something, he said, "Hey, you look like Norah Jones," to which she replied, "Yeah I get that a lot." The guy then said, "Yeah, i don't like her that much." And then he realized it was her: "You're are her, aren't you?" Norah: "I'm afraid so." Oops.

She told us she didn't cry herself to sleep or anything and the crowd gave her lots of love so she'll be alright.
Providence Place, the site of the crime. Gotta love that gaudy monstrosity, don't you?

Cold War Kids on MTV?

I like the Cold War Kids quite a lot and apparently so do the dudes (and dudettes) who conspire to bring you Date My Mom, My Super Sweet 16, The Hillz (*ok i watch this one) and other quality programming on MTV. Really? You think that this song and video really fits in between that God awful Gwen Stefani thing that I can't get out of my head and the Fergalicious monstrosity? Really? OK....I don't get it at all. But good for them, I think. Here's the video.

And this is true. I know because as I was leaving the gym, one of the few times I see MTV, there it was, a 20 sec. clip of this video right between re-runs of The Real World and Next or some bullshit. Maybe that's what they mean by heavy rotation now? 20 seconds in between TV shows while credits are rolling?
CWK Myspace

Elvis Perkins and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Rock the New Lupos

Elvis Perkins w/ Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands

One week ago (sorry for the delay), I saw Elvis Perkins in Dearland and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at the new and greatly improved Lupos Heartbreak Hotel. Elvis Perkins and his long-time friends are AMAZING! They are fantastic performers, musicians, and seem like genuinely nice dudes. It was kind of like a homecoming for them because all of them (I think) went to Brown at some point and in the recent months they have been touring with hot bands like Cold War Kids (awesome) and now CYHSY. Elvis' songs are alternately sad, rollicking, fun, and always beautiful. If you are depressed about the state of music today (like many of us are) and look for something that echoes the classic singer-songwriters, this is the band for you. They have a rich, timeless sound that reverberated through the hall of the newly classed-up Lupos (*I have seen so many shows at Lupos during my years at Brown and it is so much better now that they took the pole-dancing cages out and added lots of chandeliers and loungey couches). Bringham Brough's upright bass sounds so wonderful and full and there's lots of harmonica, acoustic guitar, keys and a cool old accordion type thingy. Nick Kinsey is also really fun on the drums.

Elvis (whose Dad was Norman Bates) has a voice that sounds haunted and strong at the same time and there's a sweet variety in his songs (i.e. they're not all sleepy singer-songwritery types--some are up-tempo and really fun sing-alongs).



Clap Your Hands was also really fun but in a totally different way. After Elvis Perkins I knew the show would be all downhill because they were so freaking good. CYHSY were great though. They're an uber-indie band w/lots of whiny singing and affected rocking out--I had a great time dancing my ass off and so did everyone else. When you can understand what Alec Ounsworth is singing like in "Satan Said Dance" (what a perfect indie anthem title) they're great to sing along to.


Check out their songs on MySpace:
Elvis Perkins
Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Some videos I took of Elvis Perkins:
While You Were Sleeping:


All Night Without Love:

Jamming(sorry the sound sucks, but you get the idea):





Tonight, I'm off to see M Ward and Norah Jones! I live a charmed musical life ( :

JL on Imus

My Dad wrote an excellent article on Imus' racist remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team for the Huffington Post. It's a direct assessment of the controversy that gets to the heart of the matter: racism. It is reprinted here and you can see it on HuffPo here.

Imus' Words: Recognizing Real Racism
The Imus controversy is obviously a surrogate for the current discussion of race. In essence, in America the accusation that someone is playing the "race card" is taken much more seriously than any charge of "racism" itself. Racism is considered in some quarters as the bogus slogan of so called "race hustlers." So pervasive has this approach and its variants become, that even "centrists" refuse to recognize real and vicious racism when it is staring them in the face--or at the other end of the telephone.

Imus' references to the Rutgers team as "nappy headed hos" is the real thing, pure racism--and Imus, as intelligent as he can be about many things, including the war--is a racist. The past reference to the estimable Gwen Ifill as a "cleaning lady" is an Imus "classic." His producer, Bernard McGuirk, makes clear his distaste for black people with his constant sneers and asides, his ugly sarcasm and his outright viciousness. Racist talk is, in the end, generally the product of racist minds. (And the "everybody does it" whine, even black people, does not make Imus and McGuirk's racism any less immoral.)
While trying to make sense of this incident, here are four points to keep in mind:

1. For some reason, people who make no secret of the fact that they despise Al Sharpton feel that they are doing something meaningful by engaging with him at times of crisis on racial issues. In going to him, they are seeking out someone who they think is disliked by large portions of the white audience, which they think puts them at an advantage. In the long run it doesn't. But instead of this knee jerk move, how about for once agreeing to talk to a professional news person like Tavis Smiley, an exceptional broadcaster, Errol Lewis of the New York Daily News, a terrific writer and broadcaster, the under appreciated Bob Herbert of the New York Times, or for that matter, Clarence Page, who challenged Imus on race many years ago, and was never heard from again on his airwaves. (Tom Oliphant, perhaps Mr. Page was more deserving of your solidarity than Imus is.) The assumption that the only place one has to go to make "media peace" is with Sharpton is in its own way subtly racist. And the MSM encourages it.

2. There is nothing like authentic truth tellers to cut across media gamesmanship. In this case, the eloquence of the Rutgers teammates and coach were so refreshingly genuine and heartfelt--and morally clear-- that it should shame not only Imus but his high profile defenders. This was a nasty, bullying attack by an incredibly powerful broadcaster on these excellent young women who showed more class and grace than anyone else in this saga.

3. I remain astounded by the defenses of Imus' racism by people who obviously know better, starting with the usually excellent Tom Oliphant, as well as Howard Fineman (who seemed to lose sight of the fact that this is a moral issue, not a damage control, tactical issue.). And by the way, Imus is not being attacked for the good things he has done, which appear to be numerous, but for his racism, which appears to be pervasive. Al Roker's response today is so much more forthright and direct than anything coming from Imus' gang.

4. Finally, its hard to believe that much of the media is trivializing the whole thing by going with the "Can Imus Hang On" (CNN) line. I have no idea if he will lose his job or not. And I have no interest in the armchair issue of what strategy and media management techniques he should use next. I do know that if he and McGuirk keep their jobs, not one of the friends of Imus should go on his show again without taking him on relentlessly on the issue of his racism--and this should include Doris Kearns Goodwin, Frank Rich, Michael Beschloss, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, John Kerry, Craig Crawford, Joe LIeberman, Tom Friedman and all the rest. Because it is perfectly clear that he and McGuirk don't get it yet and I suspect (although I can't know) that they don't really want to.

Jon Landau,

Former rock critic and current artist manager

Imus' original comments:


The original lame apology:


With Al Sharpton:


On the Today Show:


Al Roker's response.

Oh man.....

I can't believe I missed this!!!!!

These are my guys right here! That's Craig Finn, leader of THE HOLD STEADY fulfilling his dream of singing with the Boss man himself at the Bruce Springsteen Tribute at Carnegie Hall last Thursday. This was at the end of the show when everyone who had performed came out to sing "Rosalita." It seems like such a joyous moment, I'm sad I missed so many great young singers with someone they look up to.

Here was the Setlist:
01 "Nebraska" (Steve Earle)
02 "Streets Of Philadelphia" (The Bacon Brothers)
03 "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" (Elysian Fields)
04 "The River" (Josh Ritter"
05 "Because The Night" (Patti Smith)
06 "The Rising" (Marah)
07 "My City's In Ruins" (The Holmes Brothers w/ Young Peoples Chorus)
08 "Brilliant Disguise" (Robin Holcombe)
09 "Spirit In The Night" (North Mississippi All-Stars)
10 "New York Serenade" (Uri Cane)
11 "Cover Me" (Juliana Hatfield)
12 "One Step Up" (Low Stars)
13 "Thunder Road" (Badly Drawn Boy)
14 "Born In The U.S.A." (Joseph Arthur)
15 "Dancin' In The Dark" (Pete Yorn)
16 "Hungry Heart" (Jesse Malin & Ronnie Spector)
17 "I'm Going Down" (M. Ward)
18. "57 Channels" (Odetta)
19 "Atlantic City" (The Hold Steady)
20 "The Promised Land" (The Boss)
21 "Rosalita" (The Boss)
22 "Rosalita" (Bruce Springsteen And The Finn Street Band)

I am dying to hear/see the Hold Steady's version of "Atlantic City" and Joseph Arthur's "Born in the USA"--really the whole thing. I'm not sure if they are going to be putting an album out, but I hope somebody posts some of these!

Quick Hold Steady aside: Paste put the them on the cover this month--good call guys. I like that mag, it has pretty pictures and you usually get a CD when you buy the print version so that's a bonus.


Here's the new video for Stuck Between Stations, one of the finest tracks off Boys and Girls in America. STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS - The Hold Steady


Pete Yorn also played his beautiful version of "Dancing in the Dark" which I kind sorta like better than the original (sorry dad).


Joseph Arthur, "Born in the U.S.A."

My dad said this was particularly excellent.

Odetta with her funny, half-spoken, half-sung version of "57 Channels:"


I'm desperately hoping some better YouTube videos and audio's of this come out, but until then, Stereogum has a list of vids here.

All these pics are from Fresh Bread who was there.

There's also a great NYT write-up here.

I would sigh and say, I'll be there next time, but this seemed like a once in a lifetime kinda deal. No matter, I've had plenty of my own share of amazing Bruce experiences, like these 2 songs here:
Valentines Day
Real World

On that note, Happy Easter and goodnight.

The Old Jew

A female CNN journalist heard about a very old Jewish man who had been going to the Western Wall to pray, twice a day, every day, for a long, long time.

So she went to check it out. She went to the Western Wall and there he was walking slowly up to the holy site.

She watched him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turned to leave, using a cane in a very slow fashion , she approached him for an interview.

"Pardon me Sir, I'm Rebecca Smith from CNN, What's your name?"

"Maury Fishbein" he replied.

"Sir, how long have you been coming to the Western Wall and praying?

"For about 60 years."

"60 years! That's amazing! What do you pray for?"

"I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews and the Muslims. I pray for all the Wars and hatred to stop, I pray for all our children to grow up safely as responsible adults, and to love their fellow man."

"How do you feel after doing this for 60 years?"

"Like I'm talking to a fuckin' wall."

Kings of Leon Rock My World

“People call us renegades, we like living crazy. We like taking on this town, some people’s getting lazy. I don’t’ care what nobody says, no I’m going to be her lover. Always mad and usually drunk but I love her like no other…”

These lines from Because of the Times’ opening track “Knocked Up” pretty much sum up the Kings of Leon: drunken outlaws driving around, chasing a good time and bad women. On their huge third album, out today, the Kings add something else a little unexpected given their penchant for those aforementioned pastimes: musical maturity.

One of the best things about this band is that each album has shown marked development and improvement from the previous one without losing the essence of their sound. The first album Youth and Young Manhood has “Trani” which is probably still my favorite song and Aha Shake is underrated and excellent. Here’s “Trani” from Bonnaroo 2004 (I wasn’t there but I’ve seen it live and this song is a sick way to close a set).


Because of the Times, however, is the biggest jump for them: you can actually understand most of what brother Caleb sings, the instruments are given much more space to show off and sound big but not cheesy (like, say, the Killers), and Nathan Followill is driving on the drums--really interesting and clean. They experiment with new sounds without losing the nasty southern rocking soul that brought them a devoted following in the first place. Here’s one of my favorite tracks, the first single off the record called “On Call:”


The opening chords off “Knocked Up” and several other songs sound like something epic off a U2 track. Perhaps during their stint opening for that biggest band in the world, the Tennessee-based Kings set their sights a little higher than trying to one up southern fried rock bands like the Black Crowes: on their ambitious and brilliantly produced third album it shows. U2 isn’t the only new influence that can be heard in the Kings’ new and enriched sound: Red Hot Chili Peppers (“McFearless”), the Mars Volta, and the requisite Bob Dylan (check out their quotation of the beautiful “ 4th Time Around” on “The Runner”—Kings of Leon also opened for Dylan who loves them) also have made their impression on the young Followill boys. Zeppelin and Skynard still remain one of their biggest points of reference, but the last track “Arizona” even takes a complete 180 and sounds a little bit like really amazing, weirdly tripped out 80’s power pop to me.

McFearless:


Here are 2 of my faves:
Fans
Ragoo
I know I included a lot of video today and that's not just because the Kings of Leon are fun to look at, though they really are. It's just easier.

This is the kind of album you want to turn up and speed around too. Because of the Times is out today. I suggest you buy it.

Take Me Out to the Twins Game

My favorite rockers The Hold Steady have recorded a version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for Craig Finn's favorite hometown team, the Twins.

The song is here, and a video of them recording is here.

I like this band. They have a funny name.

It is Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin.
They look kind of like babies, except the dude on the left. I wonder how old they are.


They have a new song here.

Hypocrite says what?

Potential Presidential nominee (oh god) calls Spanish language the language of the ghetto. Dumbass.

Among Newt's other credentials for President is his opposition to the 1st Amendment. Here's a great Keith Olbermann ass-whopping of the guy.

And, lest we forget, the leader of Clinton's inquisition was having an affair at the same freaking time:

What does it all mean?

Today I'm starting a new section of posts entitled "What does it all mean?" in which I post music-industry news and think about....what it all means.

First up: From a couple of weeks back, the Big Four record labels settled with the FCC for $12.5 million (not billion, million, which is chump change for them) for their most recent payola lawsuit. They also voluntarily made a deal with the American Association of Independent Music to set aside a bunch of half-hour blocks for independent music on the radio. So, stay tuned to terrestrial radio at around 4am for a fleeting block of music that isn't Nickleback or terrible. More here and here.

And today's news: EMI will be the first major to lift the DRM (digital rights management) copy-protection anti-piracy system currently in place on the label’s online catalogue. Play songs wherever you want, whenever you want, in better quality. The catch? 30 cents more, so not for cheapskates. (via Rockdaily)

And now for something completely different...

From the sometimes obnoxiously repetitive throbbing bass, drums and synths of house music to the sometimes sappy singer-songwriters, I found something pretty for this yucky Monday morning...err afternoon. Here's Ray LaMontagne, a guy I used to love, who now I like a lot, sometimes, with Damien Rice (ditto). They're on a french music show doing the Bee Gee's song "To Love Somebody."

Go to I am Fuel, You are Friends to DL.