It is a little weird, when you think about it, how we ignore people’s privacy when they’re dead. Anything they might have said or wished concerning their legacy gets overlooked, as if the living know better what to do with the deceased’s mental remains than they did. When Kafka was on his deathbed, he asked […]
Music
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The regular guy look
We all knew Dave Edmunds could play guitar, we just had no idea how well. The legendary rocker blew the Montage Grille audience away last Monday with a sweet amalgamation of Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, and Mozart. Opener Marshall Crenshaw, though a terrific songwriter, seemed to rest entirely on the strength of his music. He […]
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A fan is born… again
The lights went down. The crowd roared. And I felt the same rush I’d experienced nearly 17 years ago, when I first saw legendary rockers The Blasters — a band that was instrumental in my career choice (music) and my demise. The Blasters’ original lineup is back on tour — Phil and Dave Alvin, […]
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Blood and cheesesteak
I’ve discovered that the later you stay up, the smarter you get. There’s a lot of wisdom to be found in a state of sleep deprivation. Those who complain that there aren’t enough hours in the day are clearly wasting their lives away in bed. The Purrs don’t need no stinkin’ sleep. Their CD […]
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Record Review
Pavement Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Redux Matador Records (ole-557) The ’90s were a sorry time for rock. Rap-metal hybrids, hordes of Nirvana clones, and many other no-talent morons pummeled the music into a tuneless, soulless, angry slab of crap. The only bright light in this dark decade was Pavement, a band of relentless […]
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Vocal ease
As a teenager, Karrin Allyson listened to all the usual suspects: Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Carole King, Aretha Franklin. She sang folk music and joined an all-female rock band called Tomboy. Then she heard Nancy Wilson. “When I finally discovered jazz it seemed to encompass all that I was really interested in doing,” […]
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On the record with The Asylum Street Spankers
It’s Dixieland. It’s Tin Pan Alley jazz and it’s the blues. It’s lonesome, Dylan-esque, ragtime wallowing in the bluegrass. It’s Sunday morning redemption from Saturday night’s temptation. It’s truly inspired and lyrically insane. Listen: “I’ll read Bukowski in the gutter With a hooker on each arm And a wine bottle up my […]
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Love For Sale
My darlin’ on the wrong coast was sweet enough to hold her cell phone to the speakers as The Blasters played “Shakin’” live in L.A. Reach out and rock someone. The Blasters are back, baby. It was all classic corduroy and sideburns as Thee Shams, from Cincinnati, wailed a la The Kinks at the […]
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The Purrs keep up the rock
…and God said, “Let there be attitude.” Before rock ‘n’ roll’s bloody birth somewhere in the deep, dark jungle; before some savage with a bone in his nose started beating the drum; there was attitude. It’s this primordial moxie that makes a band stand out, over and above their prowess, their message, their appearance. […]
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Worth the Waits
“The blues has always been the traditional underpinning of all American pop,” says John Hammond via telephone from his Phoenix hotel room. Hammond has been playing traditional folk-blues for more than 40 years. He’s now reaching even deeper, teaming with Tom Waits, whose oddball-troubadour Americana underpins the blues. Hammond’s latest album, the Waits-produced Wicked […]
