Arts and Entertainment
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: April, 2019
Before we dip into this month’s sonic cornucopia, just a reminder that the amazing The Suitcase Junket is coming to the Arden Gild Hall on Friday, May 10. Let me know if you’re coming, and I’ll reserve the tickets in your name. Or you can buy ’em online. Or buy ’em at Between Books in […]
Song of the Day 4/30: The Click Five, “Just the Girl”
The Click Five was a power pop band founded in the mid-aughts in Boston, where most of them attended the Berklee School of Music. They scored a hit right out of the box with this tune penned by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne. Power pop isn’t a cool genre to begin with, but the […]
Song of the Day 4/29: Wildwood Kin, “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution”
I love covers that expand the original. I love harmonizing girl groups. And I love Tracy Chapman’s “Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution” as deconstructed and re-imagined by British indie folk-pop trio Wildwood Kin. They really are kin — sisters Beth and Emillie Key and their cousin Meghann Loney. Most of their material is original, and normally […]
Song of the Day 4/28: The Wood Brothers, “I Got Loaded”
Another video by the New Orleans outfit that put musicians in the back of mule-drawn carriages in the French Quarter for acoustic sets on wheels. This time it’s the Wood Brothers with the perfect tune for a Sunday morning, or maybe early afternoon, canter down Royal Street. Bassist Chris Wood is the same guy who […]
Song of the Day 4/27: Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Look Out Mama”
I don’t know what Our Man in New Orleans has on his agenda, but he’d be a fool to pass up a chance to see this homegrown Crescent City band fronted by a Puerto Rican singer and guitarist from the Bronx. Alynda Segarra grew up a punk kid but, as you can hear, New Orleans […]
Song of the Day 4/26: Van Morrison, “Real Real Gone”
This is Van Morrison’s best soul rave-up since “Jackie Wilson Says.” It was originally recorded in 1980 but wasn’t released until Van re-recorded it for 1990’s “Enlightenment.” At this tempo the song is worthy of all those soul greats he quotes in the outro. The slower original version was released on “The Philosopher’s Stone” in […]
Song of the Day 4/25: Buddy Holly, “Oh, Boy!”
I was reading about Ed Sullivan the other day and came across a tidbit I never heard before. I knew the legendary variety show host was known for holding grudges against performers who angered him, including Bo Diddley and the Doors, but I never realized he also feuded with Buddy Holly. When Holly and the […]
Song of the Day 4/24: Charles Bradley, “Changes”
When Charles Bradley was discovered by Daptone Records around the turn of the millennium, he was nearly 50 years old and performing a James Brown impersonation as Black Velvet. (Earlier he billed himself the Screaming Eagle of Soul.) Once he hooked up with Daptone’s Tom Brenneck he became an international success, partly because Brenneck steered […]
Song of the Day 4/20: Ben Harper, “Burn One Down” Live at Bonnaroo
Though there are enough weed anthems to make a playlist that lasts 4 hours and 20 minutes, my favorite is Ben Harper’s Jamaica-flavored proclamation of the freedom to fire up. Harper included the song on his second album, “Fight for Your Mind,” in 1995, and it’s been a staple of his live set since. Like […]
Song of the Day 4/19: Frank Zappa and the Mothers, “Son of Orange County/More Trouble Every Day”
Once upon a time in America, government oppression inspired protest. Lots of it was angry. Frank Zappa’s was, too, but his mode of expression was mockery, as in this oblique but incisive critique of our 37th president. The track as it appears on “Roxy and Elsewhere” was mostly recorded at Edinboro (Pa.) State College May […]
Song of the Day 4/18: Poole, “Superamerica”
Another forgotten power pop band from the ’90s, Poole hailed from northern Virginia, which helps explain why they shot this video in Ocean City, Md. “Superamerica” was the opening track of their first (and most critics think best) CD, the self-produced “Alaska Days.” “Oregon” pointed toward the sound they’d explore on their later discs. By […]
Song of the Day 4/17: Nat Turner Rebellion, “Laugh to Keep From Crying”
You might have seen the headline at Philly.com or the article in Rolling Stone about the Philadelphia soul-funk band whose LP finally is being released, 50 years after it was recorded at Philly’s legendary Sigma Sound Studios. The Nat Turner Rebellion was active during the heyday of Philadelphia soul. It was led by Joseph Jefferson, […]
The Suitcase Junket Coming To Arden!
Who the bleep is The Suitcase Junket, you ask? He’s this guy (I’m only providing live cuts b/c that’s the way he plays, and he plays everything): Here’s what you need to know: Fresh off the release of his critically-acclaimed new album, Mean Dog, Trampoline, The Suitcase Junket makes a triumphant return to the Arden […]
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