Yeah, I was stunned to see how much of virulent right-wing nut he turned out to be. I was never much of a fan, but he had some brilliant moments in the Raspberries, above all "Overnight Sensation." Love that single to bits.by belfast
I've always loved "Fast Car," but for years, it was really the only Tracy Chapman music I'd ever play. The rest of her debut LP never quite lived up to my hopes - well-intentioned but never as great as I'd like it to be - and the albums that came later were underwhelming. Now that she's back in the spotlight by proxy, I gave her debut another chance. Though itby belfast
With the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Oscars (and really the awards broadcast) has become their main source of funding, so when ratings started to tank, it was the start of the ongoing and controversial tinkering with the broadcast, where they basically throw a lot under the bus in an attempt to bring general viewers back in. Nothing's really worked, and I think it'sby belfast
I didn't realize Swift set a record for most AOTY wins. She's made fine country and pop records, and looking at her four wins, two of them were up against lackluster competition so I can't argue against them. But another was over Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, arguably the best album of the decade, and I don't think her latest is nearly as good as those of fellow nby belfast
There's no doubt Tommy Mottola and Clive Davis would have pushed them in that direction, but that's also a common problem with all popular music, and one of the things that end up defining great artists is how they overcome or break away from those commercial pressures. Maybe not all the time, but at least enough times to put out a record of tremendous merit. The change Janet Jackson maby belfast
Some abysmal nominees this year that would've been taken as a prank 20 years go. Such is the influence of iHeart-employed committee members. A Tribe Called Quest, Eric B. & Rakim, Sinéad O’Connor and Mary J. Blige are easily my four favorites, they're slam dunks in my book. Most of them are long overdue - it's ridiculous it took O'Connor's death to finally get herby belfast
I didn't watch, and to be fair those do sound like genuine highlights, but I also saw it was reported that the show's big finish was the return of Celine Dion and Billy Joel. I'm sure they're good people, but I don't think their work is worth unearthing again, especially under the ridiculously misguided notion that those records were somehow the cultural highlight of theby belfast
Both passed away within days of each other. Familyman was the original bassist for (Bob Marley &) The Wailers, playing on the vast majority of their records - first as a session player, then as a full-time member when the Wailers signed with Island and Chris Blackwell told them they'd have a much better chance at commercial success if they became a full, self-contained band. Americanby belfast
Pretty boring for me - I just read about them in Clinton Heylin's book From the Velvets to the Voidoids and tracked down Rhino's compilation, The Big Bang! The Best of the MC5. Eventually I got the individual albums, but sorry to say, they've never been served well on reissued CD's. I had to fix the sloppy edit that restored "motherf*****" on that CD of Kick Out theby belfast
I really regret missing that show he did with Pere Ubu last year. I love all three albums (and the early singles) by the original MC5. Wayne's YouTube channel has collected quite a bit of amazing live footage too:by belfast
One quick update about that doc, Gerald did an interview on YouTube where he answers a question about it at the 13:40 mark: A pretty blunt answer, he says a previous attempt at a documentary fell apart, and this one is "whitewashed, manicured, cleaned up...there's no warts" and points out that "Mark's production company Mutato Entertainment gets front and center biby belfast
You're welcome Ira! Also a sad footnote, it's been reported that Brian Griffin passed away in his sleep on Monday. He photographed many memorable album covers, including the one for B Stiff, Devo's first EP. The original uncropped photo was published in Griffin's book, POP. I scanned the page, made an 8"x10" photo from it and was able to get Mark and Geraldby belfast
I was there! (It was actually last night.) I know Devo and Gerald's social media accounts advertised it, but I wasn't prepared for the large turnout. Tickets sold out in advance (which has happened to a lot of MoMA screenings lately) but interest was definitely higher than usual - an hour before the screening, there was both a long standby line and a long line of ticket holders showingby belfast
"More like an 'Oh, fuck off/Hmm, you might actually be right about that for once' relationship" sounds more accurate for me as well. I'm not too familiar with their earlier writing, partly because what little I saw was clearly not on the same level as the writers I liked reading, but I started checking them out more when I noticed veteran critics recommending them. (I forby belfast
Oh wow. I've never seen them before - is it still more or less the same original/classic group (minus Chas)? I'm not a complete convert yet, but I love their debut One Step Beyond... and those first two compilations (Complete and Utter Madness).by belfast
I don’t like the Moody Blues, but their hit cover of “Go Now” is a big exception - they were a very different band then and that record was Laine’s finest moment in his entire career. Absolutely love it.by belfast
He was great. Per the Chicago Reader: ...probably best known to Chicago jazz fans as a longtime member of the NRG Ensemble, the wild and woolly free-jazz quintet started in the late 70s by the late eccentric Hal Russell. A native of Chicago who’s been playing since he was ten, Williams first encountered Russell playing free-music duets with his dog around 1978. “I’ll never forget that moment,”by belfast
I was hoping the New York Dolls would get in by now. Sucks that that only Johansen is alive, but he's still fit and sharp. Unfortunate non-inductees ATCQ and De La Soul have now lost one of their members as well - they both deserved induction years ago. I'm surprised Beck, OutKast and the White Stripes didn't get in on their first ballots. Among those who more or less debuted inby belfast
Someone spliced together highlights from Noel's DVD commentary for their videos - pretty entertaining:by belfast
Noel seems like a consistently great person to interview. Greil Marcus once said the famous "Wibbling Rivalry" single (an interview with the Gallaghers that was actually put out as a record, becoming a hit itself) was his favorite Oasis record and I can see why - it's highly entertaining and Noel is just great in it.by belfast
I was never really a fan when they were together, but now that they've become elder statesmen with at least two still-revered albums, I've been giving their records another listen. Given the hype-driven evocations of the Beatles that accompanied their ascent, it's funny how they're now as old as the Beatles were when "Columbia" was first heard on the radio, and yet aby belfast
Nothing against the format, but this is why I sold my turntable and a whole stack of my records - not just to make some supplementary income, but more so I can pay like 80% less money on music in general.by belfast
I've seen EC more than any other artist partly for that reason - every tour, even the festival set I saw, is very different, and there's always some amazing and unique highlight related to that show that I'll vividly remember going forward.by belfast
I like Earth, Wind & Fire quite a bit. They were pretty good when they were more of a fusion outfit, but they definitely made a graceful and fruitful transition into the mainstream - some excellent albums, but more than anything I love going through their string of hits, most of which are well-documented on both volumes of their "Best of" LP's. I don't think the Commodoby belfast
FWIW, this is from the new box set:by belfast
I've enjoyed all of these box sets so far (consumer tip - if you're on a budget, stream them until the price comes down to about $30, which is how much I got the last two) but Tim may be my favorite partly because it's the best album of the four they've done. My favorite version of "Can't Hardly Wait" (labelled as the "Tim" version) is also on here witby belfast
Chris Frantz has been posting a lot of photos from this past week, and it's pretty amazing to see them together after all the acrimony and all that's been published and said, particularly Frantz's memoir. You've got to hand it A24 for getting them together - they told them they'd go all in with restoring, distributing and promoting their film, but the band HAD to help (inby belfast
I was in London for one school term, and I remember the first day I was there, I ended up watching some news footage of American football or rugby players crying during the U.S. national anthem, and the two British guys I was with (not acquaintances, both at least a full generation apart) cracked it was "SO American." Maybe it's more about how those respective symbols are usually pby belfast
I'm actually a huge fan of Sgt. Pepper and do think it's a great album from that era, but it was ridiculous how Rolling Stone insisted on inflating its reputation as the Mount Everest of rock throughout Wenner's reign, surely his doing. Among Beatles albums, I do prefer Revolver and Rubber Soul, and probably A Hard Day's Night and Abbey Road (moreso if "Maxwell's&quoby belfast
His daughter has set up an online memorial here:by belfast
