Alby's Latest Posts
Dispatches From the ‘Biden 2020’ Front
Those of us who would prefer Joe Biden support the 2020 Democratic candidate than be the 2020 candidate — show of hands — are having a nervous week, at least in the media. New York Times columnist David Leonhardt implored Joe to run, though without endorsing him: My argument is that nobody — not the […]
What Your Tax Dollars Are Doing Instead of Working for You
Joe DiStefano of the Philadelphia Inquirer does what the News Journal doesn’t have the manpower or inclination to do: Hold the feet of Delaware’s corrupt Democratic Party to the fire. Last week he attended a New Castle County Council meeting with the Philadelphia traders who set up the Delaware Board of Trade — the one […]
Song of the Day, 1/14: “So It Goes,” Nick Lowe
This single was bassist/songwriter Nick Lowe’s first “solo” release as well as the first single released by Stiff Records, which Lowe founded with £400 he borrowed. He played everything but drums on the recording but, as the video shows, he recruited Dave Edmunds and the rest of Rockpile to perform this catchy slice of New […]
Song of the Day 1/13: Mandolin Orange, “Take This Heart of Gold”
Let’s end the week with something quiet. Mandolin Orange is a prolific duo from North Carolina. This spare ballad was released on the 2016 album “Blindfall.” They’ll be in Philadelphia Feb. 6 for a show at Union Transfer.
Song of the Day 1/12: Daft Punk vs. The Doobie Brothers, “Get Lucky/Long Train Running”
Mash-ups can be fun, but I’ve never heard one that goes together as seamlessly as this combination of Daft Punk’s big hit and the Doobies’ chestnut. Somebody obviously spent some time splicing together the concert footage, too.
Song of the Day 1/11: Warren Zevon, “I Was in the House When the House Burned Down”
Friday calls for kick-ass rock ‘n’ roll, and this is one of my go-to songs for getting revved up. The Warren Zevon songs everybody knows mostly come from the mid-1970s, when he was a favorite of the LA “Mellow Mafia” and championed by people like Jackson Browne and frequently covered by Linda Ronstadt. After that […]
Song of the Day 1/10: World Party, “Ship of Fools”
This song sums up the way I’ve felt just about every morning since Nov. 9, 2016. In fact, the refrain “save me from tomorrow” hasn’t lost an iota of urgency since Karl Wallinger released it in 1986. It was the only World Party single to reach the U.S. Top 40.
Trump’s Lies Bury Oddsmaker
The online oddsmakers at Bookmaker.eu demonstrated they’re not well versed in American, or at least Trumpian, political rhetoric. They set their over-under on how many lies Trump would tell in his Immigrants of Doom address at 3.5, and suffered the consequences. A staggering 92% of bettors took the over, soaking the site for $276,424. “We […]
Song of the Day 1/9: “Blind Willie McTell,” The Band
Most people, myself included, think this is one of Bob Dylan’s greatest songs, but almost nobody would have heard it if The Band hadn’t plucked it from obscurity for their “Jericho” album in 1993. A searing rumination on the the blues and the American South, Dylan wrote it for his 1983 “Infidels” album but — […]
Song of the Day 1/8: “American Tune,” Crooked Still
Paul Simon once said this was the closest he came to an overtly political song. He wrote it shortly after Richard Nixon’s landslide victory over George McGovern in 1972, well before the Watergate scandal broke, which makes its mood of grief seem prescient. I heard this spare version by Boston sort-of bluegrass band Crooked Still […]
Quote of the Day
“In the eyes of Trump’s base, whatever [he] is doing is the right thing, or he wouldn’t do it — it’s just that simple. Trump’s base is not holding him to a wall —- they never really did. The media has been holding Trump to a wall, specifically the right-wing media that Donald Trump watches […]
Song of the Day Jan. 7: Ray Lamontagne, “Crazy”
I’m a sucker for a good cover, especially when it gives a new perspective on the original. “Crazy” was the hit off the 2006 album by Gnarls Barkley (a collaboration between CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse). Later that year Ray Lamontagne sang it during a radio station acoustic session, and it quickly went viral. Its […]
Comment Rescue/Song of the Day Jan. 6
This contribution to the open thread by Mike Dinsmore is too good to leave in the comments. It’s the perfect response to the right-wing pearl-clutching about impeaching the motherfucker: Folk Uke — Amy Nelson (Willie’s daughter) and Cathy Guthrie (Arlo’s daughter) — is based in Austin.
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