10/19/16: Digging in the bins

These days I buy a lot of albums by digital download, but I also like to go out and purchase real-live, physical CDs. I’m lucky enough that I’m near a very good used CD/DVD/vinyl store, so I still experience the fun of discovering music that you thought about once a couple of years ago and now

09/06/16: Personal motivation and audio cleanliness

Way back in 2011-12, I was unemployed, and it was really rough out there in the job market. Nobody was hiring. For anything. It was easy to get discouraged, after sending out resume after resume after resume. And yes, cheesy as it sounds, there were songs I would listen to during that time specifically to

8/17/16: The King

I can’t believe I missed August 16th. Elvis Presley’s death day. We’ve always had some kind of ironic celebration to the great man. There’s a bar in Manhattan that did an Elvis death day celebration every year – there would be Elvis food (gummy bears, peanut butter and banana sandwiches), Elvis movies on TV, an

7/26/16: Playing favorites

A lot of the decisions I made as a teenager are burned into my memory. I guess it’s because this is such an intense time in your life; everything is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. For example, there’s boys. When I was in junior high school, Duran Duran were The Thing. Of course, my girlfriends and I all

4/4/16: Monday Funday Dance Party!

Written by Randy Newman, the original version of “Mama Told Me Not to Come” was recorded by Eric Burdon, and of course Three Dog Night had a big hit with it in 1970. But right now, this version by Tom Jones + Stereophonics is my favorite. Great, great, singing, and I love the guitar solo.

January 11, 2016: David Bowie

David Bowie died on Sunday at the age of 69. In an age of macho bullshit rock & roll, he moved fluidly between styles of music, fashion, and taste, while writing great songs and lyrics. If you haven’t listened to much of Bowie’s music, 1969 – 1983 is recognized as being his “peak” period, but he

January 4, 2016 – Monday Funday Dance Party!

Wishing you a 2016 filled with love and glamour!  There are 2 Brians in this band – Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno. Very different, but both great. Personally, I’m more of a Brian Eno fan – he left the band after a couple of albums, and went on to a massive career as a solo artist

December 30, 2015

Oh, how I love this album. I bought it because I liked the cover, something that has served me very well in the past. Album art is really important, even now that physical album covers are becoming rare. It’s a fantastic record. It goes from total noise to neo-country music, and the song arrangements are

November 4, 2015

The first concert I ever went to was the Alarm, at the Beacon Theater in New York. Three of us drove into the city in a tiny little convertible that may or may not have been made out of fiberglass. I actually don’t remember anything about the show, except that I enjoyed it. Actually, my

July 28, 2015

This was playing in the drugstore today. Back when I was learning to play guitar, “House at Pooh Corner” was one of the first songs I learned. This is Loggins and Messina, but the song was originally done by the Nitty Gritty Dirt band back in 1970. It was okay to be earnest and sincere