Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 9/30: Death Cab for Cutie, “Summer Skin”
From 2005’s “Plans” LP, this is Ben Gibbard’s elegy for summer, youth and innocence. It was never released as a single, but it’s one of the strongest tracks on an album best known for “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.”
Song of the Day 9/29: The Changin’ Times, “Pied Piper”
Nothing says “we’re copying Bob Dylan!” quite like calling your folk-pop duo The Changin’ Times, and reinforcing it by using “masquerade” in the first line of the lyrics of your groovy tune. The song was co-written by Artie Kornfeld, who went on to be the musical director of the legendary Woodstock Festival. The song did […]
DL Open Thread 9/29
Joan Walsh writes what many of us have known for years now: Trump is going to take the GOP down with him. Worried that the Senate can simply refuse to hold a trial once the House votes to impeach?Don’t be. Even the GOP acknowledges it can’t do that. The courts batted down the administration’s attempt […]
DL Open Thread 9/28
Anti-Trump GOP strategist Rick Wilson says that by his count, more than 25 Republican Senators could vote against Trump given the right circumstances. “They live in terror of him and they are all moral cowards,” he continued. “They are fearful of Donald Trump’s mob and his horde. At one point somebody is going to break […]
Song of the Day 9/27: Jackson C. Frank, “Blues Run the Game”
Jackson C. Frank was an American folk singer who, like Paul Simon and a few others, moved to London shortly after the “British Invasion.” He met Simon there and impressed him so much that Simon offered to produce an album for him. It was released in 1965. This is the title track, which Simon and […]
DL Open Thread 9/27
Well, that was fast. One hearing in and already come the complaints that the Democrats are doing it wrong. Much gnashing of teeth over the GOP’s Sgt. Schultz routine — they see nossing, nossing that requires impeachment — but many reacted with less than the usual fervor. Those of us who like to point out […]
Song of the Day 9/26: The Black Keys, “Tell Me Lies”
I didn’t choose this because Republicans have stepped up the pace of their lying this week. OK, that’s a lie. But I also chose it because it’s a relatively new tune (released in June) by one of the few bands still playing something that sounds like rock. The whole “Let’s Rock” album is worth a […]
DL Open Thread 9/26
The whistleblower complaint has been released. The upshot: It’s not just the phone call that triggered concern, it was White House efforts to cover it up. In other words, they’re simultaneously arguing that the call was innocent and that they had every right not to let the public, or history, know about it. The entire […]
Song of the Day 9/25: George Jones, “The King Is Gone (So Are You)”
My biggest gripe about Ken Burn’s country music documentary so far: Not enough George Jones. Best country singer ever IMHO. Maybe tonight’s finale will treat his long decline. He sang a lot of songs lamenting the bottle, but none of the others offer the pathos of what this supposed novelty song. Ol’ George isn’t lamenting […]
Thoughts on the Ukraine Call That Broke the Camel’s Back UPDATE: Are There Trump Tapes?
I’ve been reading the summary of the Ukraine call released by the White House, and I’m surprised that anyone is surprised. It all sounds like classic Trump to me. And it’s nice to see what finally motivated Democrats to move — threats to their ability to get elected. In other words, naked self-interest. One revelation […]
DL Open Thread 9/25
Now that Nancy Pelosi has finally overcome the fear of monsters under her bed, pundits are writing pieces on how the Democrats might screw it up. At least the headlines won’t say “Democrats in disarray” for a while. As this piece points out, Trump’s “explanations” of the Ukraine phone call have been all over the […]
Song of the Day 9/24: Gillian Welch, “Elvis Presley Blues”
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings released this song on her second album, “Time (The Revelator),” and the sparse arrangement and their muted harmonies perfectly captures the sad ending of a legend whose greatest triumphs were long behind him. The song is much admired but seldom covered. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, even playing it acoustic, […]
DL Open Thread 9/24
The impeachment watch is on, so mainstream media will relegate all other stories to the back burner for the foreseeable future. Pundits, even those who previously advocated caution, are falling over each other to post “it’s time” columns. So expect this site to see more trolls than usual as Trumpkins get nervous about the joyride […]
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