Sabotage

I love this version of the song. Wait until the end.

Jeep Techno

I've got a Saturn Vue for sale that I wouldn't mind doing this to - with a bunch of sledge hammers. With any luck, it would be a one time only performance.

H/T Instapundit

I'm Not There

I recently watched "I'm Not There", the film about Bob Dylan with a number of actors portraying Dylan at various points in his career - Cate Blanchett is phenomenal. To say the film is kaleidoscopic would be an understatement but if you know Bob's music it all fits together. Highly recommended for Dylan fans - all others beware as it will make very little sense.

Below are a couple of musical moments from the film I particularly enjoyed:

Anarchy In The Victorian UK

These steampunk people have a real sense of humor!

Different Drum

I have always been a big fan of Matthew Sweet. And tell me who doesn't love Susanna Hoffs? Check out more tracks from their most recent collaboration "Under the Covers - Vol 2" on their MySpace page.

"Got To Be Good Lookin', 'Cause He's So Hard To See" AKA Bart's Dead

Wipe Out Disco In Our Lifetime

I saw the title of this post spray painted on the wall of an elementary school in Queens, New York during the late Seventies. Over at Reason they are discussing the 1979 riot at Comiskey Park as rocks rebellion against disco. After disco's recent rehabilitation the riot may now be considered racist because of its identification as a black, Hispanic and gay music.

As someone who was very musically aware in the Seventies, I can assure you that disco, regardless of its affiliation with any downtrodden social group, sucked - as did the miserable corporate rock of the same era (think Fleetwood Mac). My personal reaction to the prevailing musical tastes of that period was to embrace the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and the Clash. While I never adopted the nihilistic punk lifestyle, I certainly enjoyed the music. Punk had that essential element of all great rock music – it scared you - just a little.

But what really disturbs me is that some revisionist fool feels compelled to explain the music of the Seventies through the lense of white oppression. What total nonsense! Am I a racist because I don’t like rap or hip hop? Am I so ignorant of rock music history that I am completely unaware of the huge influences exerted by Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and the Black Church, just to mention a few? And how are you going to pigeon hole me when you find my sizable collection of John Coltrane?

I once had lunch with a gentleman who was an opera devotee and whose opinion on musical matters I greatly valued. During our conversation, I made the mistake of saying that there were only two kinds of music – good music and bad music. He chuckled and said while he agreed that there were only two kinds of music, he was of the opinion that it was music you liked and music you didn’t like.

Sometimes it really is just that simple.

Rock And Roll

Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones sit in with the Foo Fighters at Wembley Stadium June 7, 2008.

Did You Know Michael Jackson Could Sing?

With all of the bilge in the media, here is the best article on Michael Jackson - and it was written four years ago.

The Black Cab Sessions

A friend recently e-mailed me about The Black Cab Sessions. The tag line of this unique project is "One song. One take. One cab." and they have managed to get the likes of Brian Wilson and Richard Thompson to play music in the back seat of their cab. Besides, anyone that films Death Cab For Cutie performing in a cab obviously has a wicked sense of humor.

New Music

I get most of my new music from two sources these days; my children and NPR's All Songs Considered. I use All Songs Considered to audition songs. If I don't like the first thirty seconds I'm on to the next tune.

I can also say that I am not a fan of a great deal of the new music I hear because it just doesn't speak to me the way music did back when I became a serious listener. But every once in a while I hear something that just jumps out at me and the most recent example is a song by Jenny Lewis called "Acid Tongue". The song's harmonies, provided by Chris Robinson of The Black Crows among others, and the out front production work took an otherwise plain vanilla folk tune to a completely different level. Give it a listen here and see if you don't agree.

Acid Tongue is the second solo effort for Lewis who is also a member of Rilo Kiley. Her first solo album was Rabbit Fur Coat which garnered a great deal of high praise from the critics.

Concert Review

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Cleveland, 07.15.08 from John Soeder on Vimeo.

SET LIST: "Rich Woman," "Leave My Woman Alone," "Black Dog," "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," "Through the Morning, Through the Night," "It's Goodbye and So Long to You," "Fortune Teller," "In the Mood," "Black Country Woman," "Bon Temps Rouler," "Trampled Rose," "Green Pastures," "Down to the River to Pray," "Nothin'," "The Battle of Evermore," "Please Read the Letter," "Gone Gone Gone"(encore) "Stick with Me, Baby," "You Don't Knock," "One Woman Man," "Your Long Journey"

Last Tuesday, M'Lady, our young miss, her young man and I went to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. This unlikely collaboration has grown on me since I first heard "Raising Sand" last year. Some of the songs, most notably "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" have improved considerably since they were recorded. The wonderfully re-worked "Black Dog", a note perfect version of "The Battle of Evermore", an interesting take on "In the Mood" and "Gone, Gone, Gone" were all show highlights.

The average age of the crowd was around 45 which made for some interesting people watching. And while I imagine that Robert Plant was the main draw for the audience, they were very respectful of Alison Krauss when she took center stage on her own. Krauss has a wonderful voice which she can wield like a sword when she chooses to. She cut loose a number of times during the concert and proved she can be a much more assertive singer than her bluegrass recordings would suggest. I am sure she made a number of converts by the end of the show.

But the most interesting part of the concert for me was the "stage presence" on display. When T Bone Burnett played "Bon Temps Rouler" with the band, I almost felt sorry for him; the charisma vacuum was almost palpable. When Alison Krauss performed by herself you could tell she was used to being in the spotlight and commanding a crowds attention. However, Plant was on a whole other level. His Led Zeppelin days taught him how to handle audiences up to 100,000 and keep them in the palm of his hand. Not to mention that he is a bona fide rock star who just can't help the occasional hair flip or mike stand twirl. Even when Plant took a back-up role to Krauss, trying diligently not to be the "rock star", it would leak out anyway.

Overall, a good, solid show which ended up taking both Plant and Krauss into new musical territory. Not to mention that the entire band seemed to be having a ball. And after everyone had taken their bows and said their "Good nights" the last thing Plant said to the audience was "Freedom".

Shuffle Mode

While this secret from PostSecret doesn't apply to me; I find that the shuffle mode on my iPod quite often provides the most mind-bending juxtapositions of music imaginable. They are also frequently, laugh-out-loud amusing.

The Making Of "A Day In The Life"

With A Buzz In Our Ears We Play Endlessly

I'm not sure what to make of Sigur Ros. I went from never having heard of them to hearing them on NPR's All Songs Considered to reading about them on National Review Online to seeing the video below on The Telegraph's website - all in the space of three days. Go figure. You can't buy buzz like that.

And the best part is it seems to be well deserved. If you like the video below you can download a free MP3 of the song "Gobbledigook" at the band's official website.

Sometimes A Zeppelin Is Just A Zeppelin

When I find $600.00 laying around to blow on on a docking station for my iPod, I'm getting this one. And why do I hear Barry White when I look at this picture?

One

Together As One

This is one of the coolest YouTube videos I have ever seen.

CWCID: American Digest is where I found out about it; DJ Earworm is the source.

Trout Mask Replica

When this album first came out I listened to it because it was beyond "hip". I have recently re-visited Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band but now through the prism of an abiding love for John Coltrane. Both of these artists stretched the musical boundaries and, forty years on, continue to do so.

"Moonlight On Vermont" anyone?

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Live

I recently had the pleasure of watching Robert Plant and Alison Krauss perform live on CMT's Crossroads thanks to a "heads-up" e-mail from our young miss. They played a number of songs from "Raising Sand", most notably "Gone, Gone, Gone" which sounded more fleshed out and robust than the studio version. However, the highlight of the concert for me was their amazing deconstruction of the Led Zeppelin classic "When The Levee Breaks". I laughed out loud when the banjo player plucked the bridge while in the back of my mind I heard Jimmy Page soloing at 150 decibels.

Fantastic!