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Sick and ill is the answer, I think.   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Thursday, November 30, 2023 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS cover "Six Days on the Road."

DIZZY visits World Cafe.

EELS shares "Christmas, Why You Gotta Do Me Like This?"

FUTURE ISLANDS shares "The Fight."

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN: Jim Reid, on their new material, their raucous past, and burying the hatchet.

WEIRD AL YANKOVIC, dissing Spotify, on Spotify. ALSO: Spotify Wrapped 2023.

ELVIS KEPT FOLLOWING ME: Country singer Mimi Roman on her all-star life - and playing live again at 89.

 

ZACK SNYDER'S Next Cut.

TIMOTHY OLYPHANT, in an Alien series by Noah Hawley.

BRADLEY COOPER takes the Eagles over the Oscars.

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN: Looking for work outside the galaxy?

BOB IGER: "I Don't Want To Apologize For Making Sequels."

SHANNON DOHERTY, as cancer spreads to her bones.

HENRY KISSINGER, the scholar-turned-diplomat who engineered the United States’ opening to China, negotiated its exit from Vietnam, and used cunning, ambition and intellect to remake American power relationships with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, sometimes trampling on democratic values to do so, died on Wednesday. He was 100.

 

OTTERS chase a butterfly.

TOM & JERRY, urban edition.

DOGGO welcomes the new pupper.

392 Reads

Am I sick? Always. Am I ill? We'll see.   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Wednesday, November 29, 2023 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

FLEETWOOD MAC: "Go Your Own Way," live circa 1979. Sounded great, fellas, but I coulda used a little More Cowbell.

JULIE BYRNE: A Takeaway Show.

JERRY GARCIA & MERL SAUNDERS at the Record Plant in Sausalito, CA. July 8, 1973.

THE HIGH LLAMAS return with "Hey Panda."

GARTH BROOKS released a 7-CD box set, but only at Bass Pro Shops.

CHARLI XCX & THE 1975's George Daniel are engaged.

PETE DROGE, getting back in the groove.

NICK CAVE's second novel, The Death Of Bunny Munro, is about to become a TV series.

 

TAYLOR SWIFT is reportedly shacking up with TRAVIS KELCE in KC for a few weeks. Then again, it's the Daily Mail.

PUFF DADDY has temporarily stepped aside as the chairman of the media network Revolt.

KURT RUSSELL is killing it in Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters.

LOONEY TUNES will remain on Max after fan outrage.

WILL & JADA PINKETT SMITH: Together forever?

MS. MARVEL may know what's wrong with the MCU.

MUSICALS are putting out non-musical trailers?

FORBES' 30 Under 30.

 

FERAL SUPER-PIGS, invading from Canada.

CATS & DOGS, living together...

HAVE YOU BEEN Petting Other Dogs!?

375 Reads

Jean Knight and Geordie Walker RIP.   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Tuesday, November 28, 2023 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

JASON and the SCORCHERS cover "Absolutely Sweet Marie" and play "Harvest Moon" for Twofer Tuesday.

CACTUS LEE covers Christine McVie, the Butthole Surfers, and the Grateful Dead for a Lagniappe Session.

PETER GABRIEL shares "Live and Let Live," thus completing his i/o LP.

REAL ESTATE shares "Water Underground."

SMASHING PUMPKINS plays Disney World.

BOYGENIUS, on their breakout year.

SPINAL TAP: Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Garth Brooks willappear in the sequel. No word on Puppet Show.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at LMFAO's ridiculous "Sexy And I Know It."

GEORDIE WALKER, a founding member and guitarist of the post-punk band and goth rock pioneers Killing Joke, has died. He was 64.

JEAN KNIGHT, the New Orleans soul singer who topped the R&B chart in 1971 with her Stax Records single “Mr. Big Stuff,” has died. She was 80.

 

CHRIS EVANS hasn't heard that Marvel has considered bringing back the original six Avengers for a future project.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN: Hollywood needs franchises (and other movies).

DISNEY'S bleak streak continues.

TAYLOR SWIFT's movie is streaming soon.

KYLIE JENNER, Interviewed by JENNIFER LAWRENCE.

STEPHANIE COURNEY: Why Flo from Progress got snubbed by SNL.

LINDA EVANGELISTA, on the cosmetic procedure incident that she said left her “permanently deformed” and “brutally disfigured.”

LOVE, ACTUALLY: Richard Curtis continues his apology tour.

 

A BORDER COLLIE goes to work.

A KINGFISHER frozen to a bridge is rescued.

CATS & DOGS, living together...

386 Reads

Marty Krofft RIP.   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Monday, November 27, 2023 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

THE WHO: "I'm A Boy."

RHIANNON GIDDENS visits World Cafe.

THE NATIONAL played The Late Show at David Letterman's request.

SUNNY WAR and LOGAN LEDGER play Americanafest.

DARYL HALL obtained a restraining order against JOHN OATES to block his longtime musical partner from selling his share in their joint venture to Primary Wave Music.

BLEACHERS: Jack Antonoff has revealed that his new song ‘Hey Joe' is not about Taylor Swift's ex.

RUSH: Paul McCartney wasn't familiar with their music, but told Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson to start touring again.

OZZY OSBOURNE: How the Prince of Darkness defied the odds and found happiness.

THE GREATEST ONE-ALBUM WONDERS, according to Paste.

BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE was a musical trailblazer and the first Native regular on Sesame Street. Now it appears she isn't actually Native.

 

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes tops the Thanksgiving chart with 42MMNapoleon places with 32.5MM, though that B- CinemaScore does not bode well for Ridley Scott's latest epic.  However, it did beat Wish, which showed with 31.7MM.  Below the fold, Eli Roth's Thanksgiving stands at 24.1MM-- almost as much as the total for Grindhouse, in which the original fake trailer for Thanksgiving appeared.

MARTY KROFFT, who with his brother Sid produced memorable kids shows “H.R. Pufnstuf” and “Land of the Lost” — as well as the 2009 feature based on the latter — has died. He was 86. 

STAR WARS: Dave Filoni is being given creative control over the galaxy.

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS knows laughter is the best medicine.

PUFF DADDY was hit with a second lawsuit in as many weeks, accusing him of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman who claims she was also a victim of alleged “revenge porn” by the music artist.

JAMIE FOXX has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a New York City restaurant, according to court records.

SUSAN SARANDON has been dropped by top Hollywood agency UTA after saying frightened Jews are “getting a taste of how it feels to be Muslim in America.”

CHRISTINA HENDRICKS is getting hitched again.

NOSFERATU: Robert Eggers is already hyping Bill Skarsgård's transformation into Count Orlock.

THE RIGHT STUFF: Philip Kaufman on the film fibs, demons, and labia that made it just right.

THE STRANGE 55MM NETFLIX SAGA you will never see.

 

AN ANTEATER wants to play.

SEALS: Doggos of the sea.

SOMETIMES all you need is a little push.

327 Reads

Faves 2023   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Wednesday, November 22, 2023 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

...with FAVES 2022!  I occasionally hear from folks who want to know what music -- from among all of the posts I do here -- I recommend.  To some degree, I recommend all of it, unless I expressly write otherwise (e.g., it's not my thing, but it might be yours).  With the holiday shopping season upon us, I have tried to make a list of reasonable size.  It's an unordered list. I likely will have overlooked something that I really dig. Indeed, the ebbs and flows of life were such that I did not get as much time to really dig into the music as I normally do, so that caveat is even bigger this year. Let's get to it.

THE REPLACEMENTS: Oh sure, if there's a deluxe 'Mats reissue, it's gonna be on my list.  But the Let It Bleed edition of Tim is probably the best of these.  Granted, Dead Man's Pop improved upon Don't Tell a Soul in a way that was revelatory.  But Tim was always a great album -- arguably the band's peak -- marred only by it's production.  Ed Stasium does a fantastic remix here (ironic given that he also produced the Ramones, while Tommy Ramone produced Tim), plus a complete(?) record of Alex Chilton's efforts as the earliest producer, early versions of "Can't Hardly Wait," plus a great live set at Chicago's Metro (a show I think I attended).  What's not to love? Nothing.

BOYGENIUS: Probably another obvious choice, given that this was the year they played SNL and MSG.  But the record lives up to the hype (though I could do without some of the toxic fan behavior that's started to waft around them).  While I have put Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker on the Faves list individually and as a band, I find that this is a case where the three really compliment each other.  Dunno if they edit each other well, or cause them to edit themselves better, or some combination, but the combo neatly distills things into my aesthetic wheelhouse.  And don't sleep on the rest EP, either.

LEMON TWIGS: I have championed this band for a while, though in part because of their potential (I have always been the sort who enjoyed bands the way some enjoy minor-league baseball players; some you get to see make the majors, and some you get to love knowing that their flaws may be too much).  And I can't say that Everything Harmony is a major league effort, simply because it's still outside whatever mainstream taste is these days. The PR suggests they want us to think of it as their "Simon & Garfunkel record," but I think they only get their near the end.  Most of it is even wimpier -- like the sort of soft-rock selections for K-Tel comps in the 70s.  But they do it proudly and well.  And most important, the actual songwriting chops here have gone up a notch, with plenty of catchy hooks.

YO LA TENGO has been doing it since I was in college, mostly variations on the Velvet Underground palette, and occasionally with a more ambient streak like the chirping of cicadas or the landing of the spaceship on a warm summer night. And they do it again on This Stupid World, with perhaps "Until It Happens" being the only left turn in the proceedings.  It may not rank for me like Painful or I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One, but it's as consistent as an old friend. 

THE FEELIES: Of course it you want the other VU-influenced New Jersey combo that's been doing it for decades, they put out a VU tribute LP this year titled Some Kinda Love.

THE NATIONAL: I thought very seriously about leaving First Two Pages of Frankenstein and Laugh Track off my list, as neither strikes me as the band's top tier.  But if you pretend they comprise a double-album, you can play the music nerd's double-album game of editing them down to really good single album.  And the material is strong enough that you could get into a fun debate wih your nerd friends about which tracks make the cut.

THE CLIENTELE is a band I've been aware of for a long time, but hadn't relly devoted the time to until I Am Not There Anymore. Perhaps I should have earlier, as the first half of this album is not so much chamber pop as chamber post-punk, and they make the fusion of a prominent, often programmed rhythm section work sith the strings in a surprising way.  And yet I may prefer the second half of the album, esp. from "Claire's Not Real" onward, even moreas a more trad chamber pop effort recalling Scott Walker and parts of early Bowie.

RATBOYS: In recent years, I have tended to get something from Chicago on the list, and the Chris Walla (DCFC) production of The Window shows off this combo's breadth quite nicely.

TEENAGE FANCLUB: I tend to start out "meh" on their later albums and almost always find myself coming back to them for the sort of comfort you get from an overstuffed couch (though the music is not overstuffed).  Nothing Lasts Forever is no exception. They're no longer Bandwagonesque, but then again, neither am I, except for the nostalgia. What they have kept since those early days is a Byrdsian sense of melody and harmony, and though this LP wouldn't fit neatly into the Byrds catalog, it does oddly remind me of The Notorious Byrd Brothers, which is a high compliment.

NATION OF LANGUAGE: Although I have always been more of a guitar rock guy, I have always tried to save a spot for the branch of post-punk that runs from New Order through The xx to Nation of Language.  I can't decide whether Strange Disciple is their best album, but it may be their most consistent, with the highest floor, if not the highest ceiling.

THE MURDER CAPITAL: On the other hand, if you prefer the branch of post-punk that is more rooted in Joy Division and runs eventually into Goth, you may want to check out Gigi's Recovery.

MARGO PRICE: I spent a decent chunk of last year listening to Angel Olsen go Country, so it's a nice balance to hear Margo Price lean a bit into rock on Strays, with assists from Sharon Van Etten ("Radio" is the most-streamed track, rightly so) and the Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell.  And if you dig that, there's Strays II to boot.

THE NO ONES: If you know me, you know that a post-stroke Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, Minus 5) and R.E.M.'s Peter Buck with a Norwegian rhythm section is going to be right in my wheelhouse. It's so great to hear that McCaughey's songwriting has remaned just as sharp and whimsical as ever on My Best Evil Friend.  Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake and Camper Van Beethoven's Victor Krummenacher help out, but the killer is the Bangles' Debbie Petersen lending her voice to the relentlessly catchy "Phil Ochs Is Dead."

MICKY DOLENZ: Speaking of "if you know me," I am obviously going to jump at The Monkees' most versatile singer returning for Dolenz Sings R.E.M., an EP featuring three obvious choices and "Leaving New York."  This is the sort of thing that could fail spectacularly, but thankfully is delightful.

LANA DEL REY: Given that critics had cooled on her a bit in recent years,I guess I am a little surprised to discover that my take --  that Did you know there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd is her best since NFW -- may actually be conventional wisdom, and correct conventional wisdom at that.  This is her best fusion of the stuff that makes her LDR with the Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter aesthetic she has been chasing since at least NFW.  But whereas earlier LDR tended to push raw and explicit material in an almost aggressive manner, this LP finds her leaning back a bit so that it takes on a more confessional tone, occasionally recalling Joni Mtchell herself.  It's not perfect; I could do without "Fishtail" and "Peppers" does not belong here.But almost everything else except the Jon Baptiste interlude is just gold.

THE WHO: I started with a reissue, so I'll end with one. Even though the material is already burned into your brain, you will want to fnd some version of Who's Next: Lifehouse (Super Deluxe) for the live material, esp. from the Civic Auditorum in San Francisco, as the recordings are excellent and the band has just sunk its teeth fully into some of its most iconic songs.

A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING has been relegated to AppleTV+, but it has resurfaced elsewhere.

WKRP: "Turkeys Away," in its entirety. And here's the turkey giveaway by itself. There's a WKRP purist backstory for this episode as well.

THANKSGIVING:  George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation (1789).  It was controversial at the time.

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