Music

Levon Helm…

This song changed my life.
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WoI95PTizs[/youtube]

I’d heard The Band on the radio. I’d heard The Grateful Dead play “The Weight”. But, it wasn’t until late one night, a day after I’d popped in a video tape to record Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull” on Cinemax and fortuitously captured a Scorsese double-feature, that I really discovered The Band.

It was, as I said, late, by the time “Raging Bull” ended. I sat drowsing in a recliner when the following enticing words appeared on the screen:

That got my attention.

Then The Band came out to play.

Since then I’ve become a fan, seen the 90’s version of the reformed group, and caught Levon another time besides. The man is a legend, an inspiration, and my favorite singing drummer. Any group would be lucky to have so strong a singer on hand but Levon has been known to modestly say that he didn’t consider himself a singer and was better off in the rhythm section.

That Arkansas boy could spit fire into a song or he could turn it around and break your heart.

He’s spent his later years much like his younger years; sharing his music and his stage because playing is what he loves and giving that love to the world is what he does best. He might be missed but his fans will carry that love everywhere they go.

Here’s hoping that he and his family feel the warmth of that love so that it might carry them through this difficult time.

-rj

Spring 2012 Mix

Spring has sprung and that’s as good a reason as any to offer to my readers & friends a mix of some of the music that I’ve been jamming lately.

Woods – Skull – 2011 Summer Tour Split 7″ (Woodsist 2011)
The Cosmic Dead – The Spaceman – Psychonaut (self-released 2011)
David Bromberg – Diamond Lil – Demon In Disguise (Columbia 1972)
Matt Valentine – Hit The Trails – What I Became (Woodsist 2011)
Megafaun – These Words – Megafaun (Hometapes 2011)
Alexander ‘Skip’ Spence – Little Hands – Oar (Columbia 1969)
John Hartford – Back In The Goodle Days – Aereo-plain (Warner Brothers 1971)
Flaming Lips with Neon Indian – Is David Bowie Dying? – s/t (EP) (Warner Brothers/Lovely Sorts Of Death 2011)
Woodsman – Inside Outside – Rare Forms (Lefse/Firetalk 2011)
Brian Eno – St. Elmo’s Fire – Another Green World (Island 1975)
Akron/Family – Sun Will Shine – Set Em Wild Set Em Free (Dead Oceans 2009)

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Favorite Albums of 2011*

​What a year 2011 has been. So much great music has come out that I’ve been completely unable to process and write about it on the regular (at all) on this pathetic excuse for a blog. For myself, 2011 has been the year psyche came home to roost. You’ll notice a distinct leaning in the list toward certain sounds while several long-time favorite artists make strong showings.

2011 has also been a heavy year for my record collection. If you follow my tumblr, you’ve seen a lot of new records come in and get a spin. For reasons of state, I can’t say precisely how many I acquired this year but I’m happy with the results. Lots of new and classic music at my fingertips. In fact, I own nine of this year’s top ten albums on vinyl and the tenth is simply not available on lp (yet!?)

Let’s jump in with a quick and dirty chunk of the list (#22-#11) then we’ll spend a little more time on the top ten. Why 22? Why not? If you don’t like it, you can start your own damned blog (which you probably have done in the time it’s taken me to update mine this year.)

22. Jovontaes – Things Are Different Here (Hello Sunshine)
Psychedelic, guitar-driven, kraut-flavored, space rock

21. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)
A strong follow-up record that distills the best of folk rock seasoned with stunning vocals.

20. Danger Mouse & Daniel Luppi – Rome (Parlophone/EMI)
Danger Mouse goes to Italy and captures Ennio Morriconi in a bottle.

19. Eternal Tapestry & Sun Araw – Night Gallery (Thrill Jockey)
Live, improvised, psychedelic dreaminess.

18. Woodsman – Rare Forms (101 Distribution)
Trippy “songs” in short, inspired bursts. See also: their Mystic Places EP from this Nov.

17. Bright Eyes – The People’s Key (Saddle Creek)
Great collection of songs that over burdened with bizarre narration…

16. White Denim – D (Downtown Records)
This is the kind of record that guitar-driven jam bands wish they could make.

15. Tinariwen – Tassili (Anti)
North African guitar trances… Another awesome record from these guys.

14. Bon Iver – Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)
An expanded band and enriched sound. Beautiful, honest, and dreamy.

13. Radiohead – King Of Limbs (Ticker Tape Ltd.)
Not the best Radiohead effort yet still a great album.

12. Moon Duo – Mazes (Sacred Bones)
A side project from Ripley Johnson (Wooden Shjips) geared to blow minds.

11. Real Estate – Days (Domino)
Dreamy pop songs with a wistful nostalgic sadness.

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Moving On

(Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Leave Phish Behind)

When asked about my favorite music, people who know me are likely to identify two groups: The Grateful Dead and Phish. They’d be half right. Not that anyone should feel remiss for the mistake; my kids would probably offer the same response. The truth is that I have fallen out of love with Phish.

In the 90’s my musical world exploded into full life with The Grateful Dead. A few years later, I saw my first Phish show. Those two became the largest contacts on my radar and so life went for quite some time. Yes, I listened to tons of other stuff. I worked in a record store and amassed a hefty collection of music ranging from Louis Armstrong to ZZ Top. But Phish and The Grateful Dead continued to pull me back and dominate my listening and concert attentions.

The Grateful Dead ended and still I’d play their albums and live shows endlessly. Phish remained on the road and I saw them as often as life would allow and still I wanted to see them even more frequently. I collected tapes (remember tapes?) and CDs of their shows and they too stayed near the top of my playlists even during their hiatus and after their eventual ‘break-up’.

Phish used to jam. As a serious fan, I loved most of their material, including that which does not incorporate jamming, but it was the jamming and wild unpredictability that held my attention with Phish. When Phish came back in 2009, I was as excited as any fan (this blog is my testimony) and I went to the Hampton reunion shows and many more that year. The shows were fun. I had an amazing time reconnecting with old friends and sharing the shows with newer friends as well. But the music was not the highlight.

Last year, I found that listening to new Phish had become a chore. What had been a pleasurable obsession became an annoyance and, at times, I felt guilt about that annoyance. Guilt? Here was one of my so-called favorite bands, returned from rock & roll oblivion, and I couldn’t really enjoy what they were doing. Was it me? Had I changed that much? Had they? Continue reading →