Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 7/12: Bob Dylan, “Blowin’ in the Wind”
Joseph Henry “T Bone” Burnett is probably best known for producing the soundtracks to the Coen brothers’ movies, particularly “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “Inside Llewyn Davis,” but he’s also got a side line: Designing new analog sound recording/playback systems. Back in 2008 he announced something called CODE, which purported to reproduce master-tape sound […]
DL Open Thread Monday, July 11, 2022
Why must we amend the Constitution to ban religion’s exalted place among non-rational belief sytems: The lobbying outfit called the Family Research Council is now considered a religion by the Internal Revenue Service. So is Scientology. So basically religion is nothing but a tax dodge and an opportunity to put bigotry into practice under cover […]
Song of the Day 7/10: The Heimatdamisch, “Highway to Hell”
It’s not showing up on the GPS, but I’m pretty sure we’re rolling down the highway to hell, which gets us there a lot faster than that old ferry boat ever could. As my dad used to say, we’re making good time. The Heimatdamisch is a Bavarian band in the New Folk movement — what, […]
Song of the Day 7/8: Chris Isaak, “Somebody’s Crying”
You’ve probably noticed that pronouns have become politically loaded. It’s become more common for people to declare themselves non-binary and ask that people use “they” instead of “he” or “she” because they don’t want to be assigned a gender or its attendant roles. I admit it irks me sometimes, particularly when I’m reading an article […]
Song of the Day 7/7: The Who, “Boris the Spider”
Despite what Pete Townsend says in the introduction, it’s not a very strange song — it was just decades ahead of its time when it debuted on “A Quick One” in 1966. Yeah, sure, it’s supposedly about a spider. He couldn’t very well have called it Boris the Johnson, now, could he? That would have […]
Song of the Day 7/6: Elvis Presley, “That’s All Right”
Elvis Presley, it turns out, is still a box-office draw. Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” is officially a hit, moving not only movie tickets but lots the King’s greatest hits albums too. Like most of Luhrmann’s films, this one is getting mixed reviews, based mostly on whether the reviewer likes or dislikes Luhrmann’s frenetic directing style. Even […]
Song of the Day 7/4: Taj Mahal, “Ain’t Gwine to Whistle Dixie (Any Mo’)”
I dunno about you, but I’m not feeling all that patriotic today as a Confederacy-worshiping minority tries to steer the country back to the past. Nobody should be whistling Dixie any more, but this buoyant tune always puts me in a better mood. Taj Mahal was born Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr. The son of […]
Song of the Day 7/3: Bachman-Turner Overdrive, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”
The story of Randy Bachman’s guitar came full circle this week. In case you missed the story when it broke last fall, Bachman lost the 1957 Gretsch guitar — one he bought as a teenager with his lawn-mowing money — when it was stolen in 1976. He searched for it fruitlessly for decades, until last […]
Song of the Day 7/1: Donald Byrd, “A Portrait of Jennie”
Last night was bittersweet for jazz fans — it was the last weeknight broadcast by DJ Bob Perkins on Temple University’s WRTI (90.1 FM), where he held down the 6-9 p.m. slot for the past 25 years. Now 88 years old, Perkins will continue to host his Sunday jazz brunch from 9 a.m. to 1 […]
Song of the Day 6/30: Moby Grape, “Murder in My Heart for the Judge”
I’m sure millions of people these days can relate to the sentiment expressed by Moby Grape’s Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson, first released on “Wow,” the band’s flawed 1968 follow-up album to their eponymous LP of 1967. That album would have established them as San Francisco’s best band if their manager and record company hadn’t […]
Song of the Day 6/29: Little Feat, “Willin’”
The death toll in the case of the tractor-trailer filled with migrants abandoned in stifling heat in San Antonio, Texas, now stands at 51, making it the deadliest such tragedy in history. This shouldn’t count as much of a surprise — the border between the U.S. and Mexico is among the world’s deadliest, according to […]
Chris Coons Deserves Every Turd Thrown at Him
I was talking to someone the other day who said he thought Jason gives Delaware’s junior senator too much shit. Duncan Black, who blogs as Atrios at eschatonblog.com, would beg to differ. His afternoon post: Don’t think Chris Coons gets enough shit for stopping witnesses from being called at Trump’s 2nd impeachment because he had […]
Song of the Day 6/28: Sean Ono Lennon, “Here, There and Everywhere”
At least two musicians recorded this song as a birthday tribute to Paul McCartney — one by Elvis Costello, the other by John Lennon’s son Sean. It’s an apt choice — McCartney said this was his favorite Beatles song. He wrote it one morning when he arrived at Lennon’s house while John was still sleeping, […]
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