June 25, 2007
June 24, 2007
COMING UP
I have long had a plan and the plan is as follows—to create a list of albums that I can't get through. The idea is not assert that these albums are bad; I simply find it impossible to get to the end of these albums. This list was going to be called The Snoozedex™, which seemed like a big buxx innovation in terms of both technology and language (like "scrobbling").
But I changed my mind. The Snoozedex™ turned out to be both mean-spirited and inaccurate, because I rarely fall asleep while listening to an album. What I do is hit the stop button (space bar), or walk away. So coming up next: The Helpdex™, which will list album titles and append to each title a positive, pro-active suggestion for activities that might help you get through the album in question.
(P.S.: Don’t say Helpdex out loud, because people will think that you are saying “Help Desk.” This may cause someone to ask you how to load widgets, run Monsterlung in OS X or import bookmarks from a stopwatch to a telephonic jellybean.)
June 23, 2007
June 22, 2007
A RIOT OF ONE’S OWN
“Even when middle-class or wealthy families were displaced in, say, New Orleans, they mostly figured out how to get what they needed. For a start, they demanded it. Loudly. Insistently. But the people stuck in the shelters, black and white, were typically not only poorer but also less demanding, less assertive, less skilled in negotiating their way through the system. Poor families in the shelters were neglected precisely because they were suffering so patiently. After that experience, I caught myself thinking that the problem is not that the poor riot, but that they don’t riot enough.”
Nicholas D. Kristof, “Wretched of the Earth,” The New York Review of Books, Volume 54, Number 9, May 31, 2007.
June 21, 2007
June 20, 2007
June 17, 2007
June 15, 2007
June 14, 2007
June 13, 2007
THE CITIZENS BAND, HIGHLINE BALLROOM, TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2007
Never underestimate the value of a genius aerialist or “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today.” Angela McCluskey killed it, but I think UB40 own it. (Insanely beautiful album, “Signing Off.”)
Postscript: I think I’ve already sung the praises of UB40 and this song, but that won't stop me from doing it again: This compilation, “The Singles Album,” was fairly easy to find when it came out. (Got my copy at Bondy’s) Now it’s rare-ish, which is no big deal, as most of the compiled songs can be found elsewhere. Except for one—the twelve-inch version of “The Earth Dies Screaming,” which Al Gore needs to start blasting from his hemp-fueled Maybach NOW. Ali Campbell’s voice makes me feel like I am asleep and awake at the same time (reggae haters will say “Exactly!” but they can eat old fish sandwiches) and the tune is part of a small but submarine-deep tradition of hallucinatory dub ballads (e.g. The Congos’ “Fisherman.”)
June 12, 2007
FEIST, TOWN HALL, MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2007
Feist last night was exactly like this show, the only difference being red tights, an orthopedic sparkle cuff and a massive audience tribute to Byrd Gang in honor of Bundles.
June 11, 2007
June 10, 2007
June 09, 2007
June 08, 2007
June 07, 2007
GO OUTSIDE, SLEEPYHEADS
I am contributing “One-Line Interviews” to The New-York Ghost. The first installment can be found in Vol. II, No. 16.
