Levon and Dave

Yea!

I've been waiting for this music documentary to be released nationally, but it seems that's a longshot for now. It was orginally screened at SXSW last year to some great reviews. My move to Baltimore will inch me closer to a midnight ramble in Woodstock, NY. I vow before 2012 to experience Levon Helm live.

Speaking of music documentaries, I just watched The Foo Fighters documentary, "Back and Forth." I have a solid and mostly nostalgic crush on Dave Grohl. Though I'm not a big fan of their music, there was a certain time, post Nirvana, that Dave Grohl really made an imprint on my generation. He's an insanely talented drummer with endless knowledge about music. He's a great interview-honest, witty and entirely endearing. I recommend it.

Count Five - Pretty Big Mouth

hmmm, any possibility of this actually happening? a reunion show would be a sweet wish come true but these brothers love to not get along. who knows.


Man, it's a good day. even if my downstairs pipes are leaking and my landlord is "busy". 60s garage rockers Count Five make it all better.

Chadbourne and Nakatani

Hey all.

I've been preoccupied the last few days (but i can't think at the moment exactly what the hell i've been doing!). I do remember this. Eugene Chadbourne and Tatsuya Nakatani come from two different worlds. One is a distinguished percussionist and the other is a skilled banjo player. One of the most organic, improvised musical events i've experienced in a long time. Nakatani used every aspect of the drum and incorporated bowls, a violin bow- literally, whatever object he desired. It was an intimate ode to sound and how we can experiment with it. It's truly without limit. It was also a first time visit to The Scarab Club- a place i've been wanting to visit for years. It couldn't have been a more perfect spot for this freeform evening.

Romantic and emotional and other times quirky and jovial. One of the best times I've had in the city. I will miss that about Detroit. I hope these same type of traveling musicians will make a stop in Baltimore.

Beat me outta me

I have to admit, I didn't know this song until long after Kurt Cobain's death. I'm not sure how i missed it (uhh, it was the b-side to smells like teen spirit). I must have been so focused on teen spirit that i completely ignored everything else, at least musically.

It is absolutely one of their best songs. The 90s were so good to us(except for the fashion).

Always missed.

how much for those?

This lady needs to get it together.

In other news, Elizabeth Taylor's love letters to her first love William Pawley are being sold. Really, love letters? I realize nothing is sacred anymore. That's been made painfully clear every time I hear a Beatles tune attached to laundry detergent or Marvin Gaye's face on a hennessey ad- But can we just keep certain things private, Mr. Pawley? He sold these at his own discretion and that's fine,but i wonder what kind of monetary value he put on them and why? How is it possible to peruse through dozens maybe hundreds of letters from someone you dearly loved and feel content with discarding them? I have many questions here.

Is it too much to ask that I want this retired older gentleman to keep them in a little box he stores in the attic and every year on the day they met, glance back at what they used to have?

I'm hopeful.

and i didn't forget about the anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death. I've been searching for a good video all day. stay tuned.

a little bit of funk.

The melding of funk and soul is a beautiful relationship. Though a funked up smooth ballad from the early 60s is a bit confusing on first listen. A smooth balladeer wants to tell his lady he loves her, but there's a compulsion to dance for that love too. All those elements combine to make these five tracks a little piece of soul/funk heaven. Not to mention they are all inspired by James Brown. Trust me, these tracks will do so much more than make you move.

"Tell her". dammit, that's soul.

April 1, 1984

distant lover...come back.

It's been a long time since Marvin Gaye has been gone. 27 years, to be exact. He is the main reason I began exploring and loving soul music and i think that sentiment is shared with many people. I thank him for that. I began comparing every singer I heard thereafter to him. The pitch, the emotion, the lyrics- No one had it the way Marvin did. When he sang, he meant it. He wanted lovers to come back, desired the woman he couldn't keep and the world to listen to his troubled mind.

Unfortunate, tragic, mind blowing. All in all, he left too soon.

one of my personal favorites.